Late Entry Summary, a Single-Entry Bond, and a Reclassification

Timeliness

Entry was timely (within 15 calendar days of arrival, 19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(1)). The entry summary, however, is due within 10 working days after entry, with estimated duties deposited at that time. March 12 to June 2 is roughly 55 working days - far outside the window.

CBP's remedies

• Issue a demand for the missing summary and the estimated duties.
• Because the merchandise was released without a completed summary, CBP may demand its return to CBP custody; failure to redeliver is a breach of the bond's redelivery condition.
• Assess interest on the late deposit from the date it was due until paid.
• Pursue the bond for the unpaid estimated duties and for liquidated damages if a bond condition (redelivery, document production) is breached.

The surety notice

It is not a new penalty; it preserves CBP's claim against the bond. Under a basic importation and entry bond the obligor and surety agree to pay duties, taxes, and charges and to respond to demands. Notice to the surety starts the surety's own obligation to answer and lets CBP make a claim up to the bond amount. Note the limit: a single-entry bond covers only this shipment, and the surety's liability cannot exceed the penal sum.

No. The liquidation clock runs from the date of entry, not from the date the summary is filed. CBP must liquidate within 314 days after entry, and the entry is deemed liquidated at the rate and value asserted at entry if CBP misses that date (19 U.S.C. 1504(a)).

• Entry: March 12. The 314-day mark falls in late January of the following year.
• Actual liquidation: January 8, day 302 - inside the window, so the liquidation is valid and no deemed liquidation occurred.
• Had CBP done nothing until, say, February 5, the entry would have deemed liquidated at 3.1% and Northline would have won by default.

The operative lesson: a delinquent entry summary does not extend CBP's 314 days, and it does not stop deemed liquidation from rescuing an importer. The extension provisions (suspension of liquidation for a ruling request, protest, or investigation) are the only lawful ways to move the date, and none was triggered here.

Vehicle: a protest, filed under 19 U.S.C. 1514 and 19 CFR Part 174, against the liquidation (and against the Notice of Action, to the extent it is protestable).

Deadline. 180 days after the date of liquidation. Liquidation was January 8, so the protest must be received by roughly July 7. Filing a protest does not itself stop the clock on collection; a timely protest plus a bond may be required to avoid enforced collection.

Who and how. The importer of record, or its broker under a valid power of attorney, may file. It must be in writing (electronic filing is standard), identify the entry and the protested decision, and state distinctly and specifically each objection and the relief sought. A bare assertion that "the rate is wrong" is subject to denial for lack of specificity.

Substance. The protest should set out the competing subheadings, the GRI analysis, and any lab or product literature supporting the ceramic/porcelain composition. Because this is a classification dispute capable of repetition, a request for a binding ruling under Part 177 should be considered for future entries even while the protest proceeds. Denial of the protest opens the Court of International Trade.