Protesting a customs decision is one of the most important administrative remedies available to importers. When U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) makes a decision you disagree with — whether it involves how your goods were classified, how they were valued, or how much duty you owe — a protest is the formal mechanism for challenging that decision and seeking a correction.
Great Lakes Customs Law represents importers in filing and litigating customs protests at ports across the country. A protest is different from a petition for relief, which is an administrative request for relief from a forfeiture, a penalty, or a claim for liquidated damages. A protest challenges the underlying decision itself — and if denied, it opens the door to judicial review at the U.S. Court of International Trade.
What Decisions Can Be Protested?
Not every CBP action is protestable. The statute limits protests to specific categories of decisions, including:
- Classification of merchandise — How your goods are categorized under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTSUS), which directly determines the duty rate applied
- Appraised value — The value CBP assigns to your merchandise for duty calculation purposes
- Liquidation or reliquidation — The final computation of duties, fees, and taxes owed on an entry
- Exclusion of merchandise — A decision to deny entry of goods into the United States, including deemed exclusions when CBP fails to act on detained merchandise within the required timeframe
- Refusal to pay a drawback claim — When CBP denies a request for refund of duties on exported or destroyed merchandise
- Refusal to reliquidate — When CBP declines to reopen and recalculate a previously liquidated entry
These protestable decisions are set out in 19 USC § 1514, with detailed procedural requirements in Part 174 of Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
How a Protest Is Filed
A protest is filed with CBP either on paper using CBP Form 19, or electronically through the Customs ACE portal using a protest filer account. Electronic filing through ACE has made the process considerably more efficient than the old paper-based system.
Protests must be filed within 180 days of the date of liquidation or the date of the decision being protested. Missing this deadline means losing the right to challenge the decision administratively — and losing access to judicial review at the Court of International Trade.
What a Strong Protest Contains
A protest must include certain identifying information: the name and address of the protesting party, the importer number, the entry number and date, the date of liquidation or the decision being protested, and a description of the merchandise involved.
But the most critical component is what the regulations call the “nature of, and justification for the objection set forth distinctly and specifically” (19 CFR § 174.13(6)). In plain terms, you must tell CBP exactly why their decision was wrong and why your position is correct.
In most cases, this means filing a detailed protest memorandum alongside the formal protest. A well-prepared memorandum sets forth legal arguments supported by prior administrative rulings, decisions of the Court of International Trade, Treasury Decisions, the Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Tariff System, legislative history, prior treatment of the merchandise, and the relevant general notes, section notes, and chapter notes of the HTSUS. The quality of this legal analysis is often the difference between a protest that succeeds and one that is denied.
An Example of a Protestable Decision
Consider this scenario: an importer brings in $10,000 worth of fabric from China and classifies it as blankets, subject to a duty rate of 8.5% — resulting in $850 in duties owed. CBP reviews the entry, disagrees with the classification, and determines the fabric should be classified as a textile material subject to a 17.5% duty rate — nearly doubling the duty to $1,750.
Once the entry is liquidated and the higher duties are assessed, the importer can file a protest challenging CBP’s classification and liquidation decision, arguing that the goods should be treated as blankets at the 8.5% rate.
If the protest is granted, the importer receives a refund of the overpaid duties. If denied, the importer (formally called the “protestant”) can file a summons in the U.S. Court of International Trade and ask a judge to review the classification and make a binding determination.
Protests and the Court of International Trade
One of the most important features of the protest process is that it preserves the importer’s right to judicial review. If CBP denies a protest, the importer has 180 days from the date of denial to file a summons in the U.S. Court of International Trade — a specialized federal court that handles customs and trade disputes.
At the Court of International Trade, the case is reviewed de novo, meaning the court makes its own independent determination rather than simply deferring to CBP’s decision. This is a meaningful opportunity to overturn an incorrect decision, but it requires that the protest was properly filed and that the legal arguments were adequately preserved at the administrative level.
Why Legal Representation Matters
Many importers rely on their customs broker to handle protests, and brokers can be helpful — but not all brokers are comfortable filing protests, and many do not fully understand the legal arguments that can be raised. The more complex or novel the issue, the greater the need for an experienced customs attorney who can evaluate the merits, craft persuasive legal arguments, and — if necessary — take the case to the Court of International Trade.
Great Lakes Customs Law has extensive experience with the protest process. Whether you’re challenging a classification decision, disputing an appraised value, or seeking a refund of overpaid duties, contact us at our Michigan office at (734) 855-4999 or our Chicago office at (773) 920-1840.