The renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which was signed by President Trump in late March, will go into effect April 22, 2018. CBP will begin issuing GSP refunds on qualified goods shortly after the effective date, but will not offer any interest payments. Refund requests must be submitted prior to September 19, 2018.

Duty payments will subside on April 22nd, but until then, importers should continue to flag GSP-eligible importations as SPI ‘A” and expect to pay normal duty rates. Entry summaries submitted by importers during the lapse period wherein a special program indicator ‘A” was not transmitted are still eligible to submit a refund request, known as a post-importation GSP claim. According to CBP; letters, Post Summary Corrections (PSC) or Protests are all acceptable ways to submit duty refund requests.

To quicken the refund process when the renewal goes into effect, members of the Automated Clearing House (ACH) refund program should ensure all information is up to date and correct.