Glossary
Tariff & customs glossary
The terms that come up in duty recovery, in plain English.
ACECBPContingency feeDuty drawbackEntryExclusionHTSIEEPAImporter of RecordLiquidationMFN rateProtestSection 301 tariffsTariff / duty
- ACE (Automated Commercial Environment)
- CBP's electronic system of record for import entries. Your ACE entry summaries show exactly what you imported and the duties you paid, the raw material a refund review works from.
- Related:How it works
- CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
- The federal agency that assesses and collects import duties and processes refund claims. Tarisol and its partners are not CBP or a government agency.
- Contingency fee
- A success-based fee charged only as a share of money actually recovered, no upfront or hourly cost. If nothing is recovered, nothing is owed.
- Related:How it works
- Duty drawback
- A refund of duties paid on imported goods that are later exported or destroyed. One of several programs that can make previously-paid duties recoverable.
- Related:Tariff Refund Recovery
- Entry
- A formal customs filing that declares imported goods to CBP and establishes the duties owed. Refund eligibility is assessed entry by entry.
- Exclusion
- A granted exemption that removes specific products from a tariff (common with Section 301). Importers entitled to an exclusion who didn't claim it may have overpaid.
- Related:Section 301 Refunds
- HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule)
- The classification system that assigns every imported product a code and a duty rate. Misclassification between similar HTS lines is a common source of overpayment.
- Related:HTS Code Lookup
- IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act)
- The federal statute used to impose certain recent tariffs. IEEPA-based duties are a primary category of potentially refundable tariffs, especially where the measures have been challenged or adjusted.
- Related:Who qualifies ·Industries
- Importer of Record (IOR)
- The party legally responsible for an import entry and the duties on it. Critically, the importer of record, not a downstream buyer who paid higher prices, is the party positioned to claim a refund.
- Related:Who qualifies
- Liquidation
- CBP's final calculation of the duties owed on an entry. Refund deadlines are tied to liquidation, which is why eligible entries can age out if you wait.
- MFN rate (base duty rate)
- The standard 'most-favored-nation' duty rate for a product before any additional tariffs. Section 301 or IEEPA duties stack on top of this base rate.
- Related:Tariff Calculator
- Protest (19 U.S.C. § 1514)
- A formal challenge to a CBP decision on an entry, filed within statutory deadlines. It's one mechanism through which overpaid duties are recovered.
- Related:Customs Audit Support
- Section 301 tariffs
- Additional tariffs (commonly +25%) on many China-origin goods. Because they apply on top of the base rate across thousands of HTS lines, they're one of the largest sources of recoverable duty.
- Related:Section 301 Refunds ·Industries
- Tariff / duty
- A tax on imported goods, paid by the importer of record to CBP. Tariffs can be base (MFN) rates or additional measures like Section 301 and IEEPA duties.
See these terms in your own numbers
A free eligibility check tells you whether your entries carry recoverable IEEPA or Section 301 duties.