If you import goods into the United States and later export or destroy them, you can usually reclaim up to 99% of the duties, taxes and fees you paid. Drawback is one of the few genuinely large refunds in trade, and it is heavily under-claimed — partly because the deadline is widely misreported.
General information, not legal advice. Drawback is technical and the tariff landscape changed several times in 2026. Verify against CBP and take specialist advice before filing. Checked against the statute, 19 CFR Part 190 and CBP guidance in August 2026.
The deadline nearly everyone gets wrong
You will still find articles saying you have three years from exportation. That was the pre-TFTEA rule and it was repealed.
The current rule is one clock: five years from the date of importation. The statute says a drawback entry must be filed not later than five years after the merchandise was imported, and claims not completed within that period are considered abandoned. That single window has to cover the export or destruction event and the filing.
The practical consequence is that old entries expire quietly. If you have been importing and re-exporting for years without claiming, the oldest recoverable entries are dropping off every day.
The main types
| Type | When it applies |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing, direct identification | Imported material used in manufacture; the finished article is exported or destroyed |
| Manufacturing, substitution | Substitute merchandise classifiable under the same 8-digit HTSUS subheading, used within five years of import |
| Unused merchandise | Goods exported or destroyed without being used — direct identification or substitution |
| Rejected merchandise | Goods not conforming to sample or specification, shipped without consent, or defective at import |
Unused merchandise drawback is the one most importers overlook. If you imported goods, paid duty, and shipped them onward without using them — returns, overstock moved to another market, cancelled orders — that is a claim.
"99%" needs one qualification
The refund is 99% of duties, taxes and fees, with 1% retained. That is straightforward for direct-identification claims.
For substitution claims it is 99% of the lesser of the duties paid on the imported merchandise or the duties that would apply to the substituted article. So say "up to 99%" and model your actual recovery rather than assuming the headline figure.
Which tariffs qualify — this is where it gets specific
- Section 301 duties are eligible. CBP has said so directly. Given how large 301 duties are on Chinese goods, this is frequently the biggest component of a claim.
- Section 232 bars drawback by default, with two narrow exceptions that only permit manufacturing drawback: certain automobile and medium/heavy-duty vehicle parts, and metals meeting a set of conditions including origin in named trade-agreement partner countries. Unused and rejected merchandise drawback remain unavailable across Section 232 entirely.
- IEEPA-based tariffs are no longer a drawback question. The Supreme Court held in February 2026 that IEEPA does not authorise tariffs and those duties were terminated. Recovery of amounts already paid runs through CBP''s refund process, not through drawback — and importantly, entries you have already drawn back on cannot be routed through that refund process. See US tariffs after the IEEPA ruling.
The newest Section 301 action, effective July 2026, has no published CBP position on drawback either way at the time of writing. Nothing in the statute bars it, but do not assume — confirm before building a claim on it.
Filing is electronic only
All drawback claims must be submitted through a CBP-authorised system. There is no paper option and no exception. A complete claim consists of the electronic transmission of the drawback entry, any applicable notices of intent to export, destroy or return merchandise, the import entry data, and evidence of exportation or destruction.
In practice most companies use a customs broker or a drawback specialist, because the recordkeeping requirements — linking imports to exports across years — are where claims succeed or fail.
What a claim needs from your records
- Import entry data showing what was imported and what was paid.
- Proof of export or destruction, with dates falling inside the five-year window.
- A traceable link between the two — direct identification, or the classification match that supports substitution.
- Notice to CBP before destruction, where destruction rather than export is the basis.
- Consistent HS classification, since substitution turns on the 8-digit subheading — see HS codes explained.
Is it worth doing?
Run the arithmetic before dismissing it. Duty paid on re-exported volume, multiplied by 99%, across five years of entries, is frequently a six-figure number for a mid-sized importer — and where Section 301 duties are involved it can be far larger. Against that sits the cost of a specialist and the recordkeeping effort.
The strongest candidates are importers who: re-export a meaningful share of what they bring in, operate returns or repair programmes, destroy expired or defective stock, or manufacture in the US for export.
Drawback is not the only duty-relief route. Compare it with preferential origin claims, which reduce duty at entry rather than refunding it afterwards, and with zone and warehouse programmes that defer it entirely.
Find customs brokers and forwarders who handle drawback, or post a request.
