Duty drawback is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection program under 19 USC 1313 that lets importers and exporters recover up to 99 percent of customs duties, taxes, and fees paid on imported merchandise that is subsequently exported from the United States or destroyed under CBP supervision. The program dates back to 1789, the current regulations are in 19 CFR Part 190, and the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 modernized the rules. Industry estimates suggest only 5 to 10 percent of eligible drawback is actually claimed, leaving several billion dollars in unclaimed refunds every year, because companies do not know the program exists or believe the record-keeping is too daunting.
The asterisk is that not every duty qualifies. Antidumping and countervailing duties are generally not eligible for drawback. Section 232 duties on steel, aluminum, and their derivatives are barred: the 2025 proclamations bar drawback on those charges, so a claim that includes them gets rejected. IEEPA tariffs from 2025 to February 2026 are not recovered through drawback either. After the Supreme Court's February 2026 ruling, IEEPA duties are refunded through a separate CBP process, not drawback, and mixing them into a claim causes rejections. The 99 percent applies to the duties that qualify. The duties that do not qualify stay paid.
The first mistake is assuming 2025 tariffs come back through drawback. They mostly do not, and the claim that mixes them in gets the whole claim questioned, not just the bad lines. The second mistake is using substitution on Canadian or Mexican exports. USMCA bars substitution drawback for those destinations, and only direct identification works for Canada and Mexico. The third mistake is missing export proof. Parcel exports often lack EEI filings, and a commercial invoice to a foreign buyer is not proof of export by itself. Carrier data can fill the gap, but it has to be collected, and a booking confirmation is not an export record.
The record-keeping is the part that decides the claim. Drawback claims are auditable by CBP, and inadequate records are the primary cause of claim denials and penalties. Claims filed after the fact with reconstructed records are frequently denied. The goods must be exported or destroyed within five years of the import date, and the claim must be filed within that same five-year period. Records must be retained for three years after the drawback claim is paid. CBP liquidates entries on a one-year clock, and the drawback clock is five years, so the two clocks run on different schedules and both have to be watched.
Before filing, sort the charges on the entry summary into three piles: the duties that qualify for drawback, the duties that are barred, and the duties that go through a separate refund process. The qualifying pile is the column 1 duty and the Section 301 list duty, where the goods were exported or destroyed and the claim type matches. The barred pile is Section 232 duties and antidumping and countervailing duties. The separate-process pile is the IEEPA duties, which CBP refunds through its own mechanism. File the claim on the qualifying pile only, and claim the rest through their own channels.
The other check is the claim type. Unused merchandise drawback covers goods exported in the same condition they were imported, under 19 USC 1313(j), with direct identification for the exact goods and substitution for commercially interchangeable goods under the same 8-digit tariff code. Manufacturing drawback covers goods built from imported inputs and then exported, and it needs an approved ruling describing the production process. Using the wrong category, like filing under unused merchandise when the goods were actually manufactured, can result in a rejected claim. Section 232 copper has the same structure: the annex decides who pays, and the claim that ignores the annex gets denied. Tariff stacking is why the sort matters: the entry reports one rate, but the refund turns on which of the stacked duties qualify.
No. The 2025 proclamations bar drawback on Section 232 duties for steel, aluminum, and their derivatives. Mixing them into a claim causes rejections. Check which charges you paid before you file.
Through a separate CBP refund process, not through drawback. After the Supreme Court's February 2026 ruling, IEEPA duties are refunded through CBP's own mechanism. Filing them as drawback gets the claim rejected.
Goods must be exported or destroyed within five years of the import date, and the claim must be filed within that same five-year period. Records must be retained for three years after the claim is paid.
No. USMCA bars substitution drawback for Canada and Mexico. Only direct identification works for those destinations, tracking the exact imported goods to the export.