Liquidation is the final computation of duties, taxes, and fees on an entry. Until liquidation, the duties you deposited at entry are an estimate. At liquidation, CBP settles the account: the classification is confirmed, the value is confirmed, and the duty is fixed. CBP posts liquidation notices on cbp.gov, and that electronic posting serves as the legal evidence of liquidation.
The date matters because the protest clock starts there. Under 19 USC 1514, an importer has 180 days from the date of liquidation to protest the classification, value, or duty applied. Miss the window and the liquidation is final, whatever it says. Importers who do not watch the liquidation notices on cbp.gov can lose the right to protest an entry they never knew had liquidated.
Under 19 USC 1504, CBP generally has one year from the date of entry to liquidate a consumption entry. If CBP misses that deadline without extending or suspending it, the entry is deemed liquidated by operation of law, at the rate of duty, value, quantity, and amount of duties asserted by the importer of record. The statute covers all formal entries, including entries subject to antidumping and countervailing duties, drawback claims, and reconciliation entries.
Deemed liquidation is the importer's windfall and CBP's discipline. It rewards an importer who declared correctly and filed cleanly, because the entry locks at their numbers. And CBP is not even required to send a notice when an entry is deemed liquidated, which means the importer has to watch the clock themselves. The one-year window is not a suggestion. It is the statute, and it runs whether or not anyone is watching.
The clock can be extended. CBP may extend the liquidation period in one-year increments when it does not yet have the information needed to classify or appraise the goods, or when the importer requests an extension in writing and shows good cause. Each extension can add up to one year, and total extensions cannot exceed three years beyond the initial one-year period, so the absolute maximum is four years from the date of entry. CBP must notify the importer and the surety when it grants an extension, by posting on cbp.gov and through ACE.
A suspension is different from an extension. Extensions are discretionary decisions by CBP. Suspensions are compelled by statute or court order, usually because a court case or an administrative review will decide the duty rate. Once a suspension is lifted, CBP has six months to liquidate the entry, and if it fails, the entry is deemed liquidated at the importer's originally declared rate. And under 19 USC 1501, CBP may voluntarily reliquidate an entry within 90 days of the original liquidation date. The clock is the whole game: know when it started, know whether it was extended or suspended, and know the date it ends.
Keep reading: Section 232 Steel Tariffs: What Counts as Steel Content, Antidumping Duties: How Commerce Sets the Rate.
One year from the date of entry, for consumption entries. The clock can be paused by an extension or a suspension, but without either one it runs automatically, and at the end of it the entry is deemed liquidated at the rate, value, quantity, and amount of duties you originally asserted.
Deemed liquidation means the entry is liquidated by operation of law, at the importer's declared rate, value, quantity, and amount of duties. CBP is not even required to send a notice when an entry is deemed liquidated; the statute explicitly waives that requirement. The entry is final, and the importer keeps the benefit of their own declaration.
Extensions come in one-year increments, and total extensions cannot exceed three years beyond the initial one-year period. The absolute maximum under extensions alone is four years from the date of entry. If the entry still has not been liquidated at the four-year mark, it is deemed liquidated at the importer's declared rate.
Yes, within 180 days of the liquidation date under 19 USC 1514. The protest is the importer's tool for challenging the classification, value, or duty CBP applied at liquidation. Miss the 180-day window and the liquidation is final, whatever it says, which is why the liquidation notice date matters more than most importers realize.