At Christianson we want you to be aware of industry-related legislative changes that may impact your biofuels business. There has been a change to drawback regulations that may qualify your exports for a refund of similar product import tariffs. Here’s how it may impact you:
Duty Drawback Simplification
Are you currently importing and/or exporting goods as a regular part of business? If so, you could be eligible for a reimbursement of certain duties, internal revenue taxes, and fees collected on the importation of goods. These refunds are allowed upon the subsequent exportation or destruction of goods. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 recently underwent an expansion and simplification that allows for increased opportunity for drawback eligibility, effective February 24th, 2018. Even better, with the necessary documentation, you will be able to apply for a retroactive refund going back five years from the date of export, versus the current three-year potential lookback.
For example, Brazil and the United States are the main producers of ethanol. Brazil announced in August, 2017 that there would be an increase in tariffs on ethanol imports from the U.S. at the rate of 20%, of anything in excess of 158 million gallons. In 2016, the U.S. exported 264 million gallons of ethanol to Brazil. Under duty drawback expansion, this could mean the ability to be refunded 33.3% of the tariff fees paid.
I May Qualify – What Now?
There are a variety of ways to obtain the drawback refund, and potential partnering with other importers/exporters to qualify. Additionally, there are certain trade agreements that United States has in place that could cause the amount of refund eligibility to differ, such as, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Contact Christianson, PLLP to speak with one of the members of our consulting team to gather more information regarding duty drawback eligibility and the information and forms needed to proceed with a refund request. Reach out to us to learn more!
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