Customs recovery
Duty drawback: 99% of your import duty back
If you import goods into the United States and later export or destroy them, CBP will refund 99 percent of the duties, taxes and fees you paid — up to five years back. Most importers who qualify never file, because the eligibility test sits between the customs broker and the export team and nobody owns it. Below: how the two main claim types work, what Section 301 does to the refund, and an estimator wired to the full US tariff schedule.
Look up the duty rate
Loading full US tariff schedule…Chips are the highest-volume chapters — search reaches every chapter from 1 to 97.
Column 1 — General rate of duty, HTS Revision 2026 basic edition (US International Trade Commission — public domain), full schedule at the 8-digit tariff line. Excludes Section 301 and 232 remedies, AD/CVD orders and trade-agreement preference rates. Confirm the 10-digit statistical line before you file.
Your import and export profile
Claim basis
Estimated refund
- Ordinary duty paid
- $130,000
- Section 301 / 232 paid
- $500,000
- MPF + HMF paid
- $9,428
- Total duties, taxes and fees
- $639,428
- Attributable to the 30% exported
- $41,828
$150,000 of Section 301 / 232 duty is excluded on a substitution unused-merchandise claim. Direct identification or manufacturing drawback would recover it — worth the inventory tracking if that number is large.
Statutory refund at 99% — one year
$41,410
6.5% of everything you paid CBP on this profile.
- Filing / contingency fee (20%)
- − $8,282
- Net refund, one year
- $33,128
Net across 5 retroactive years
$165,640
TFTEA allows claims within 5 years of the date of importation, so a first filing usually sweeps several prior years at once.
Estimate only. Actual refunds depend on the 10-digit classification, proof of export, inventory accounting method, privilege approvals and CBP liquidation. Not customs advice.
Unused merchandise vs manufacturing
Unused-merchandise drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(j) covers imported articles that leave the country again without being used here — returns, re-exports to Canada and Mexico, distribution hubs that serve foreign customers, and destroyed obsolete stock. Direct identification traces the exact entry; substitution lets you export commercially interchangeable goods sharing the same 8-digit HTS classification, which is far easier to operate but gives up Section 301 and 232 recovery.
Manufacturing drawback under 1313(a) and 1313(b) covers imported inputs that become part of a different exported article. It needs an approved manufacturing ruling — a general ruling if your process matches a published one, a specific ruling if it does not — and a bill of materials that ties input quantities to finished goods, including waste and yield.
The five-year window
TFTEA fixed the deadline at five years from the date of importation. That cuts both ways: a first claim can usually recover several prior years in one filing, and every month you wait, the oldest eligible entries fall off the back. Run the eligibility test before the quarter closes rather than at year end.
Section 301 eligibility
China Section 301 duties at 7.5 to 25 percent and Section 232 steel and aluminium duties are refundable on direct-identification unused-merchandise claims and on manufacturing drawback, but not on substitution unused-merchandise claims. When remedy duty is the biggest line on your entry summary, the extra inventory discipline needed for direct identification usually pays for itself in the first claim — toggle the claim basis in the estimator to see the gap on your own numbers.
Getting paid faster
Without accelerated payment privilege, a claim waits for liquidation. With the privilege and a drawback bond in place, CBP typically pays an accepted claim in weeks rather than after liquidation. Apply for the privilege at the same time as your first claim, not after.
Common questions
What is duty drawback?
Duty drawback is a refund of 99 percent of the duties, taxes and fees paid on imported merchandise that is later exported or destroyed. It is authorised by 19 U.S.C. 1313 and administered by US Customs and Border Protection through the ACE drawback module.
How far back can I claim duty drawback?
Since TFTEA, a drawback claim must be filed within 5 years of the date the merchandise was imported. A first-time filer can therefore usually sweep up to five prior years of qualifying exports in the initial claim, which is why the first filing is normally the largest.
What is the difference between unused-merchandise and manufacturing drawback?
Unused-merchandise drawback under 1313(j) applies when the imported article is exported or destroyed without being used in the United States, either by direct identification of the original entry or by substituting commercially interchangeable goods with the same 8-digit HTS classification. Manufacturing drawback under 1313(a) and 1313(b) applies when the imported material is manufactured into a different article that is then exported, and requires an approved general or specific manufacturing ruling.
Are Section 301 China tariffs eligible for drawback?
Section 301 and Section 232 duties are recoverable on direct-identification unused-merchandise claims and on manufacturing drawback, but they are excluded from substitution unused-merchandise claims. For importers paying 25 percent remedies, that exclusion often justifies the inventory tracking needed to file on a direct-identification basis.
What records does CBP require for a drawback claim?
You need the import entry summary data, proof of export such as bills of lading and export invoices or a destruction certificate witnessed under CBP rules, and inventory records tying the exported goods to the imports under an approved accounting method. Records must be kept for three years from the date of payment of the claim.
How long does a drawback refund take?
A claim without accelerated payment privilege is paid after liquidation, which can take a year or more. With accelerated payment privilege and a drawback bond, CBP typically pays within a few weeks to a few months of an accepted claim, subject to later liquidation.
Reference information based on 19 U.S.C. 1313, 19 CFR Part 190 and CBP drawback guidance. Duty rates come from the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule, a public-domain US Government work. This is not customs or legal advice; a licensed customs broker or drawback specialist should review any claim before filing.