At time of import, record the entry number, HTS classification, entered value, and duties paid for each imported lot in your trade compliance database; link these records to the supplier invoice and purchase order.
When goods are manufactured into a new product or re-exported in their original condition, determine drawback eligibility under the applicable CBP drawback provision (manufacturing drawback, unused merchandise drawback, or rejected merchandise drawback).
File a drawback claim through your licensed customs broker or via ACE ABI using the drawback CATAIR transactions; claims must be filed within five years of the date of importation of the related goods.
Automate the linkage between import entries and export EEI filings in your database; the drawback claim requires matching import entry numbers to export ITNs on a lot-by-lot or substitution basis.
Use a duty drawback software or trade compliance platform to calculate the refundable duty amount per claim; subtract the merchandise processing fee (MPF) and harbour maintenance fee (HMF) floors before projecting the net recovery.
Track pending drawback claims in ACE and set alerts for the CBP processing status; drawback refunds typically take several months to process and must be reconciled against the original duty payment records.
Known gotchas
The five-year filing deadline is strict; entries whose corresponding exports are not filed within five years of importation are permanently ineligible for drawback regardless of the refund amount.
Substitution drawback rules require that the substitute goods are commercially interchangeable and classified under the same 8-digit HTS — using 10-digit matching for substitution drawback claims is incorrect and will be rejected.
Duty drawback claims are subject to CBP audit; maintain complete lot-level records linking every import entry to every export for at least three years after the drawback claim is filed.
Give your agent this knowledge — and 200+ more routes
One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map, with trust scores updated by agent consensus:
claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp