A CBP Form 28 — officially the Request for Information — is one of the most consequential pieces of mail an importer ever receives, and one of the most commonly mishandled. On its face, the form looks routine: a one or two-page request asking for documentation, clarification, or supporting records relating to a specific import entry. In practice, a Form 28 is the opening move in what may become a duty reclassification, a Notice of Action, a liquidated damages claim, or a 19 U.S.C. § 1592 penalty case. How you respond — what you say, what you produce, what you decline to produce, and how quickly you do all of it — frequently determines whether the matter stops at Form 28 or escalates into something far more expensive.
This article explains what a Form 28 actually is, what CBP is doing when it issues one, what the response deadline really means, the most common mistakes importers make, and when you should involve counsel rather than handing the response to your customs broker.
What a Form 28 Actually Is
CBP Form 28 is the standard vehicle CBP uses to request information from an importer about a specific entry. The trigger may be a documentary inconsistency flagged during entry review, a query about classification, a question about declared value, an origin verification on a Free Trade Agreement claim, a request for production records relating to country of origin marking, or any number of other compliance issues. The form is typically issued by an Import Specialist at the port of entry where the merchandise arrived, not by the Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures office that handles enforcement actions.
The Form 28 itself does not impose a penalty, demand additional duties, or change the legal status of any entry. What it does is open an inquiry. CBP is gathering information to decide whether the entry as filed was correct or whether some change is warranted. The decision CBP reaches based on your response may be: no action, in which case the entry liquidates as filed; a Notice of Action on Form 29, which proposes or takes a change to the entry; a liquidated damages claim, if a bond condition was violated; or a referral to FP&F for a formal penalty proceeding under 19 U.S.C. § 1592 or another statute.
The point worth understanding is that the Form 28 is the input to that decision. What you produce in your response is the record CBP will rely on. There is no separate adjudication where you get a second chance to explain your position before CBP acts. The response is the presentation, and CBP’s next move follows from it.
The Response Deadline
The Form 28 itself specifies a response deadline, and that deadline is the controlling timeline — not any general regulatory rule. CBP typically gives 30 days from the date of issuance, though the form sometimes specifies a shorter or longer window depending on the nature of the inquiry. The deadline is measured from the date on the form, not the date you received it, which means a delay in your mailroom or a forwarding lag from your customs broker eats into your response time.
Missing the deadline does not extinguish your ability to respond, but it changes the dynamic considerably. If you do not respond within the stated window, CBP is free to make a decision on the entry based solely on the information already in its possession — which, by definition, is the information CBP found insufficient or questionable enough to issue the Form 28 in the first place. The practical consequence is that a non-response is treated as a concession that the entry should be adjusted in whatever way CBP’s file supports.
Extensions are available, but they have to be requested before the deadline, not after. A short, professional written request to the issuing Import Specialist explaining why additional time is needed — and how much time — is generally granted when the request is reasonable. Asking for an extension after the original deadline has passed is much less likely to succeed and creates a record that the importer is not managing the inquiry diligently.
Why a Form 28 Was Issued
Form 28 inquiries fall into a handful of recurring categories. Knowing which category your form falls into is the first step in deciding how to respond.
- Classification inquiries. CBP questions the HTSUS classification declared on the entry. The Form 28 will typically ask for product specifications, technical documentation, marketing materials, or samples. Reclassification frequently means a different — often higher — duty rate, and once the classification is changed for one entry, CBP can apply that change to all unliquidated entries of the same merchandise and pursue collection on liquidated entries within the statute of limitations.
- Valuation inquiries. CBP questions the declared customs value. The form may ask for the commercial invoice, purchase order, payment records, related-party documentation, royalty agreements, or evidence of any assists, commissions, or other additions to value that should have been declared. Valuation cases are some of the most consequential because the duty exposure scales with the underdeclared value across every affected entry.
- Origin verification. CBP questions whether the goods qualify for a claimed Free Trade Agreement benefit — USMCA, KORUS, or another agreement — or whether the declared country of origin is accurate. These inquiries can require extensive documentation from the importer, the exporter, and the foreign producer, and the production burden alone can be significant. See our country of origin page for the substantive rules at issue.
- Antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) inquiries. CBP questions whether the merchandise is within the scope of an AD/CVD order. These inquiries can produce some of the largest assessments — AD/CVD rates can exceed 100 percent or 200 percent of declared value — and frequently involve allegations of transshipment or scope evasion. Cross-reference our page on AD/CVD duties and scope rulings.
- Marking inquiries. CBP questions whether the merchandise was properly marked with country of origin under 19 U.S.C. § 1304 and 19 C.F.R. Part 134. Marking inquiries can lead to liquidated damages claims under the importation bond and may require remarking, re-export, or destruction.
- Other regulatory compliance inquiries. CBP may also question intellectual property compliance, FDA or other Partner Government Agency requirements, ISF (Importer Security Filing) timing, or any other regulatory issue affecting the entry.
Reading the form carefully and identifying the specific concern — not the general subject matter — is essential. A Form 28 that asks about “classification” may actually be focused on a single component within a multi-component product, or on a tariff engineering question that does not become apparent without close reading.
The Five Most Common Response Mistakes
Most Form 28 cases that escalate to formal penalty proceedings do so because of mistakes made in the response, not because of the underlying issue itself. The recurring patterns:
1. Producing More Than Was Asked For
The instinct to be transparent and helpful is reasonable. The instinct to volunteer documentation beyond what CBP requested is dangerous. Every additional document produced is a document CBP can use to evaluate the entry, to identify related compliance issues on other entries, and to support a later enforcement action. A Form 28 asking about the classification of one product is not an invitation to send CBP your full product catalog, your internal compliance manual, or your prior classification opinions.
The right response produces exactly what was asked for, in the format requested, with a clean cover letter and no extraneous material. Anything beyond that scope should be considered carefully and produced only when the strategic case for doing so is clear.
2. Making Concessions in the Cover Letter
The cover letter accompanying a Form 28 response is not a place for narrative explanations of why a mistake occurred, apologies for an oversight, or characterizations of past compliance practices. Statements like “we should have classified this differently” or “our broker made an error” or “we did not realize this was reportable” are admissions. They appear in CBP’s file. They can be used to establish culpability — negligence, gross negligence, or fraud — in a subsequent 19 U.S.C. § 1592 proceeding, where the level of culpability drives the penalty multiplier.
The right cover letter is brief, professional, and factual. It identifies the entry, the form being responded to, and the attached documents. It does not characterize the importer’s compliance practices or speculate about what happened.
3. Treating It as a Customs Broker Problem
Many importers receive a Form 28 and forward it to their customs broker with instructions to handle it. Customs brokers can and do respond to Form 28 requests competently in many cases — particularly straightforward documentation production. But the importer of record is legally responsible for the response, not the broker, and a broker’s response that concedes a legal position, mischaracterizes the merchandise, or produces unhelpful documentation cannot be unwound after the fact. The broker is not the importer’s attorney and does not owe the importer the same duties of loyalty or confidentiality.
For routine inquiries — for example, a request for an invoice copy that is already in your broker’s file — broker handling is usually fine. For anything involving classification disputes, valuation questions, FTA qualification, AD/CVD scope, or any inquiry where the underlying legal question is contested, the importer should be directly involved and should consider legal counsel before any response is produced.
4. Ignoring the Implications for Other Entries
A Form 28 nominally addresses a single entry. But CBP’s findings on that entry will be applied to every similar entry from the same importer, including entries that have already liquidated. If your response produces information that supports reclassification, revaluation, or denial of an FTA claim on Entry A, CBP can — and routinely does — pursue the same adjustment on Entries B through Z.
Before responding, the importer should assess the universe of affected entries: how many, over what period, with what total declared value, and with what duty exposure under the alternative position CBP appears to be considering. That exposure analysis sometimes changes the response strategy entirely. In some cases, the right move is to file a prior disclosure under 19 U.S.C. § 1592(c)(4) before responding to the Form 28, capturing the prior disclosure mitigation rate on the full universe of affected entries rather than having CBP discover the broader issue on its own.
5. Failing to Document the Response
Every Form 28 response should be sent in a way that creates proof of delivery — typically certified mail or courier with tracking, or an electronic submission method that produces a confirmation. The importer should retain a complete copy of everything sent, organized by entry number, indefinitely. If the matter escalates to a Notice of Action or a penalty proceeding two years later, the contents of the original Form 28 response will be the foundation of the defense, and the importer needs to know exactly what was produced.
When to Involve Counsel
Not every Form 28 requires an attorney. A request for an invoice copy on a single entry, or a question with an obvious documentary answer, can usually be handled by the importer and its broker. The Form 28 inquiries that benefit from legal involvement share several characteristics:
- The legal question is contested. Classification disputes where reasonable importers could disagree, FTA qualification under complex rules of origin, valuation questions involving related parties or assists, AD/CVD scope disputes — these are situations where the right response requires legal judgment, not just documentary production.
- The exposure is significant. If reclassification or revaluation across all affected entries would produce a six-figure or higher duty assessment, the cost of legal involvement is small compared to the exposure.
- A prior disclosure may be appropriate. If the Form 28 has surfaced an issue that affects multiple entries and the importer believes the original entries were in error, the strategic question of whether to file a prior disclosure must be answered before responding. That decision should not be made without counsel.
- Criminal or fraud exposure exists. If the Form 28 touches on conduct that could be characterized as intentional misrepresentation, the response strategy involves Fifth Amendment considerations that no customs broker can advise on.
After the Response
CBP will generally take one of four paths after reviewing your Form 28 response. The entry may liquidate as filed, with no further action — the best outcome and the one a well-prepared response is designed to produce. Or CBP may liquidate the entry with a change, which becomes a final decision the importer can challenge only by filing a protest under 19 U.S.C. § 1514 within 180 days. Or CBP may issue a Notice of Action on Form 29, which gives the importer one more opportunity to respond before the proposed action is taken. Or, in cases involving potential violations of 19 U.S.C. § 1592 or other enforcement statutes, CBP may refer the matter to Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures for formal penalty proceedings.
The path CBP takes is largely determined by what your response showed. A complete, well-documented, legally sound response frequently ends the matter at Form 28. A response that produces incomplete documentation, makes concessions in the cover letter, or fails to address the underlying legal question consistently leads to Form 29, liquidated damages, or penalties.
Received a CBP Form 28?
If CBP has issued a Form 28 on one of your entries, the response window is short and the stakes are higher than the form’s appearance suggests. Great Lakes Customs Law has handled Form 28 responses across every major category of inquiry — classification, valuation, origin, AD/CVD scope, and marking — and routinely works alongside customs brokers to produce responses that are both fully responsive to CBP and protective of the importer’s position on broader compliance questions.
Read our pages on customs violations and penalty defense and mitigation for context on the broader enforcement framework, and our companion article on the CBP Form 29 Notice of Action for what happens if the matter escalates. To discuss a specific Form 28 directly, call us at (734) 855-4999, send a text message, or reach us on WhatsApp. You can also contact us online for a free consultation.