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- Protest vs PSC
Protest vs post-summary correction: fixing an entry after the fact
Entries get filed wrong: a bad HTS number, a missed trade agreement, a value keyed high. Customs law gives you two repair tools, and which one applies depends entirely on one event, liquidation, and two clocks around it.
Published September 18, 2026 · Updated October 5, 2026.
The dividing line is liquidation
Liquidation is CBP's final calculation of what an entry owed. Before it, the entry is still open and you fix mistakes with a post-summary correction, a PSC, available within 300 days of entry and up to 15 days before liquidation, whichever comes first. It is the low-drama tool: amend the entry, and an overpayment comes back in the reliquidation.
After liquidation, the PSC door closes and the protest opens: a formal challenge under 19 USC 1514, due within 180 days of the liquidation date. Not from when you noticed. From liquidation. Miss it and the entry becomes final against you, which is why the single most useful habit in customs is having your broker watch liquidation dates the way accountants watch quarter-end.
Two details changed in 2026. Under a CBP notice of July 6, 2026, a PSC may be filed after the 300 days when liquidation is suspended, for example by an antidumping or countervailing duty case, an EAPA investigation or a court injunction. And from August 5, 2026, any extra duty a PSC adds has to be paid electronically, by ACH, no longer by check or cash.
Choosing, and filing well
The choice is usually made for you by the calendar: unliquidated means PSC, liquidated within 180 days means protest, and past both means the fix is prospective only. What you control is quality. A protest is a legal argument; the ones that win cite the tariff provisions and attach the proof. Both filings are customs business under 19 USC 1641, licensed-broker work, and we prepare them with the same file discipline we put behind our entries.
Tariff refunds
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Licensed customs brokers since 2007, filer code EWV. We file your refund under our own license: IEEPA claims through CAPE, protests, post-summary corrections and duty drawback. Priced per entry and quoted before you commit, with no percentage of your refund.
FAQ
How long do I have to file a protest with CBP?
180 days from the date of liquidation, under 19 USC 1514. The clock runs from liquidation itself, not from when you discovered the error.
What is a post-summary correction?
An electronic amendment to an entry that has not yet liquidated, available within 300 days of the entry date and no later than 15 days before the scheduled liquidation date, whichever comes first. Because CBP usually liquidates around ten months out, the 15-day limb is often the one that binds. It is the simplest way to fix classification, value or claim errors and recover overpaid duty.
What is liquidation?
CBP's final computation of an entry's duties, usually around ten months after entry and deemed final at one year if CBP has not acted, unless liquidation is extended or suspended. It is the event that separates PSC territory from protest territory, and the deadline everything else counts from.
Can I recover overpaid duties from years ago?
Past the protest window, a liquidated entry is generally final, with narrow exceptions. Old overpayments sometimes have other routes, drawback if the goods were exported, or program-specific windows like CAPE. Worth one conversation before assuming the money is gone.
Think an entry was filed wrong?
Send us the entry number. A licensed broker will check the liquidation status and tell you which repair tool is still open, today.
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