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The Canada Border Services Agency announces extensions of timeframes for duty payments as response to COVID-19. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) recently announced that in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the timeframe for the payment of duties and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been extended to June 30. Debts due on the Statement of Account (SOA) dated March 25, 2020, and later will now be deferred to June 30, 2020.
The Trump administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a 90-day extension on the payment of certain estimated duties, taxes and fees to help those importers that have suffered significant financial hardship in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The COVID-19 Cargo Resolution Team is Coordinating Imports of Medical Supplies and PPE, as FEMA Issues New Rules on Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources. The COVID-19 pandemic is having a considerable impact on the trade of medical products needed for testing, treatment and prevention of the virus. As the pandemic spreads worldwide, with millions of people infected and a growing number of fatalities, governments are working to stem the spread of the virus and treat those infected. These efforts have affected the flow of critical medical goods as these products are in far more demand due to the pandemic.
In a recent article for American Shipper, Michael Cerny, chief legal officer for Charter Brokerage, explains how filing for a duty refund with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has become more efficient as filers become more familiar with the types of duty drawback and the new requirements for filing claims electronically. “We are seeing drawback for commodities/products where we did not see it before,” said Cerny. “No question that during that first year, issues cropped up with particular validations or data processing that resulted in CBP updating and fixing bugs and filers addressing issues in their own software programs.”.
Despite unease over Trump’s section 301 tariff disputes between the United States and China, Charter Brokerage is still successfully finding drawback refunds for their clients. Though some companies are hesitant to invest in an overall environment of uncertainty, Charter is ever aware of changing trade policies and still taking advantage of drawback opportunities. The Quarterly Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) is one example of how Charter uses their expertise in drawback procedure to stay ahead of other providers. The HMT is designed to pay for harbor maintenance and development. Also known as the Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF), it is a quarterly assessment on imports, domestic shipments, Foreign Trade Zone admissions (FTZ), and even passengers. Though other drawback service experts have found barriers with claiming drawback on HMT, Charter has been able to leverage their extensive knowledge of duty drawback laws and the industry to allow their clients to claim these additional refunds.