MEMO TO CLIENTS ISSUE 19-002 – January 16, 2019

No Refund Checks Issued During Shutdown
During the partial government shutdown, there will be no checks issued for refunds of any kind from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). All
refund checks are issued by the U.S. Treasury and the Treasury department is closed during the government shutdown. CBP will continue to process protests and post summary corrections. Entry liquidations will be issued as normal. The checks for any entries that are liquidated with
duties or fees refunds, will have the checks processed after the shutdown is over. This includes any amounts due to be paid for all drawback claims.
USTR to Start Shutdown Furloughs
The Office of the USTR has been operating during the partial government shutdown by utilizing approved funds, but is now operating under its Lapse in Appropriations Contingency Plan. This means that 191 of the office’s 256 employees are being furloughed this week. Members of the remaining staff will continue the trade negotiations with China.
Exclusion Request Process for Third Tranche on Hold
U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Lighthouse, has indicated that his office will not issue a process to file exclusion requests on the third tranche of 301 duties from China during the 90-day negotiation period, as part of the ease of tensions for the negotiations. If the negotiations do falter and the increase to 25% goes into effect on March 2, the USTR will publish the exclusion request process.
New CBP Form 5106 Goes into Effect in February
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted a draft of the new CBP Form 5106 on its website. The final instructions have not been issued for the form yet, but the document is planned to be put into effect. The new form, which will be put into effect in February, will require much more information to complete, including personal information from business
owners and corporate officers. The new form is four pages. The revised CBP Form 5106 will not be immediately needed to replace the current form
on file. It will, however, be required for new bond requests and other interactions with CBP. The new CBP Form 5106 can be found on the CBP
website by clicking here. Further information and instructions on the new
form can also be found at the previous link.