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Customs & Tariff Classification

Liquidation

Also known as: Entry Liquidation

Liquidation is the final step in the customs entry process, the point at which the customs authority reviews the importer's declaration and makes its conclusive assessment of the duties, taxes, and fees owed on a shipment. Until an entry liquidates it remains open and subject to adjustment; once it liquidates, the calculated amount becomes final unless a timely protest is filed. Liquidation may confirm the amounts the importer originally deposited, or it may result in a refund or an additional bill, and in trade-remedy cases entries can be suspended from liquidation for years while dumping or subsidy rates are recalculated.

The JFS takeLicensed customs broker · Filer 82G

Delivery is not the end. The entry stays open until CBP liquidates it, and until then the duty figure is provisional. Importers who assume the file closed when the truck arrived are the ones surprised by a bill months later.

Where it matters for compliance

  • Liquidation is CBP's final computation of duties on an entry. Deadlines for protest run from that date.
  • Keep the file well past liquidation. The five-year retention runs from the date of entry — 19 CFR § 163.4 — and liquidation normally falls inside that window, not after it.

Related terms

Customs EntryA customs entry is the formal declaration an importer or its broker files with the customs authority to secure the release of imported goods and to account for the duties and taxes owed.Antidumping DutyAn antidumping duty is a special additional duty imposed to offset 'dumping' — the sale of imported goods in a market at a price below their fair or home-market value — when that dumping is found to injure a domestic industry.Duty DrawbackDuty drawback is a refund mechanism that returns most of the customs duties, taxes, and certain fees paid on imported goods when those goods, or articles manufactured from them, are subsequently exported or destroyed.

Reviewed by a licensed customs broker. Definitions are general information, not legal or customs advice for a particular shipment. Duty rates, tariff programs and agency requirements change frequently.