You got a notice from CBP. Now what?
These pages are for the day something lands in your inbox with a deadline on it. Each one says what the document is, what the clock actually is, what happens if you do nothing, and where the honest answer is that nobody can fix it now. Every number on them carries the regulation it comes from.
ISF Penalty
The claim in your hand is liquidated damages under your customs bond, not a fine handed down by a judge, and that difference is the good news: a claim under a bond can be petitioned and it can be mitigated. Here is what the $5,000 is, how long you have to answer it, what CBP's published guidelines allow on a first violation, and the one popular belief about ISF penalties that is simply false.
Read the pageCBP Form 28
Answer it, and answer it soon. But the 30 days you have read about is not a regulatory deadline, and day 31 is not automatically fatal. The regulation that governs this form asks for promptness and nothing more specific, and the 30 days people quote is permissive text printed on the form itself, right next to an invitation to call the officer if you need longer. Here is what the rule actually says and what happens if you sit on it.
Read the pageCBP Form 29
A Form 29 tells you CBP intends to change something on your entry, usually the classification, the value, or a program claim, and usually in a direction that costs you money. The 20 days printed all over the internet is real, but it is not what most people think it is: it limits how long CBP will hold your liquidation open, it does not create a duty on you. Here is the distinction, why it matters, and what you should actually do with the notice.
Read the pageRedelivery Notice
CBP wants the goods back, or wants them properly marked with their country of origin. You have 30 days from the date of the notice, extendable for good cause shown, and if you do neither, the liquidated damages are the entered value of the merchandise, not a percentage of it. There are two separate money problems inside this notice and only one of them can be negotiated. Knowing which is which is the whole game.
Read the pageBond Insufficiency
You have 15 days from the date of notification to remedy the deficiency. Read the second half of the notice too, because that is the part that stops freight: until the deficiency is fixed, CBP may require a cash deposit or a single transaction bond on any and all of your transactions. A continuous bond is sized on ten percent of a year of duty. A single transaction bond is sized on the entire value of one shipment plus its duty. Falling back to those is what actually hurts.
Read the pageGeneral Order
Start with the good news, because it is real. Until the merchandise is actually sold, it can be entered or withdrawn for consumption at any time upon payment of the duties, any internal revenue tax, and all charges and expenses that have accrued on it. Nothing is lost yet. What you are fighting is the storage bill, which runs every day the cargo sits, and a clock that ends in a sale.
Read the pageSwitching Brokers
You can change brokers at any time, you do not need permission from the one you are leaving, and nothing in the power of attorney rules limits you to one broker. There is no CBP registry that locks you to anybody. There is one real limitation worth knowing before you move, and it has to do with refunds on entries your old broker filed. Everything else is a matter of paperwork you control.
Read the pagePower of Attorney
A broker asked you to sign a power of attorney and it reads like you are handing over the keys. You are not. It authorizes a licensed broker to transact customs business in your name, it is never filed with CBP, and it is revocable in writing at any time. The regulations also put duties on the broker's side of it, including one that says answering you is part of the license. Here is the whole shape of the document, including the parts that protect you.
Read the pageWorking out what you are holding
Something arrived from CBP and I cannot tell what it is. How do I work it out?
Look for the form number, usually top left. A CBP Form 28 is a Request for Information: they want documents, no decision has been made. A Form 29 is a Notice of Action: a decision is either proposed or already taken. Anything headed as a penalty or a claim for liquidated damages is a demand for money and is a different animal again. If there is no form number, send us a photograph of the first page and we will tell you which clock you are on.
How long do I have to respond?
It depends which document you have, and the differences are large. A Form 28 gives you 30 days. A Form 29 proposing an action gives you about 20 days to argue against it. Once an action has been taken and the entry liquidates, the remedy is a protest, and that window is 180 days from liquidation. Those are different clocks with different endings, which is why identifying the document is the first thing to do and not a formality.
What actually happens if I ignore it?
Nothing good, and rarely nothing. An unanswered Form 28 usually becomes a Form 29 with CBP's own conclusion in it, reached without your evidence. An unanswered proposed action becomes a taken action. Rate advances get billed, entries liquidate against you, and the cheap window to explain yourself closes. The one thing an ignored notice never does is go away quietly.
My broker filed the entry. Why is CBP writing to me and not to him?
Because the importer of record is responsible for what was declared, and that is you. A broker files under your direction and can answer on your behalf, but the liability for duty and for reasonable care sits with the importer. This surprises people most often when the entry was filed years ago by a broker they no longer use.
Can I answer this myself, or do I need a broker or a lawyer?
Most Form 28 requests are a document exercise and a broker is the right person: they are asking for invoices, specifications, origin evidence. Bring in a customs attorney when money is being demanded as a penalty, when fraud or gross negligence is alleged, or when the amount is large enough that the answer is worth arguing properly. We will tell you plainly which of those you are in, including when it is the third one.
The deadline has already passed. Is there still something to do?
Sometimes, and sometimes not, and you are better off knowing which. A missed Form 28 is usually recoverable in the sense that the next document can still be answered. A liquidation that went final more than 180 days ago generally is not, and no broker can honestly promise otherwise. Send it over and we will tell you which one it is on the same day, at no charge, even where the answer is that it is closed.