U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced in a message sent via the Cargo Messaging Service, that specific commodities are excluded from the reciprocal customs duty rates as set up by Executive Order 14257, issued April 2, 2025, and amended several times. The commodities are defined by their HTSUS – commodity code. The listed commodity codes cover mainly electronic devices, falling in chapter 84 and 85 of the Harmonized System.

Notably, the exemption is retroactive and applies to all HTSUS codes that were subject to the exemption and were released for free circulation in the U.S. as of April 5, 12:01 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection in particular points out the following:

For products covered by the HTSUS for the excluded commodities released for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after April 5, 2025, filers should take action to correct entries as necessary to reflect the exception under heading 9903.01.32, as soon as possible within 10 days of the cargo’s release from CBP custody. Importers may request a refund by filing a post summary correction for unliquidated entries, or by filing a protest for entries that have liquidated but where the liquidation is not final because the protest period has not expired.

Key takeaways: 

• Where goods were subject to reciprocal tariffs upon importation in the US on or after 5 April 2025, businesses can claim import duties back for certain goods specified in the announcement by the CBP
• This is possible within a short timeframe only, which is why businesses must act immediately, if affected
• The good quality of customs data and transparency over customs operations are essential to pursue this refund opportunity
• In the current trade environment, businesses must invest in data quality and internal processes to be able to react quickly to short-term regulatory changes.

Please reach out to your A&M team for an assessment and support with the execution of the relevant steps. 

Please note: This information is only intended to provide a general description of a current situation. It in no way relates to a specific case and does not constitute any kind of advice or any other kind of contractual relationship with any of the A&M Member Firms. No one should act on the basis of this information without first having examined the individual case in question, if necessary, with the assistance of a suitable advisor. The publication represents our interpretation of the legal situation at the time of publication. We are not obliged to update the information if the legal situation changes.