AI duty drawback
Duty drawback for consumer brands and e-commerce
Goods you export or destroy can return up to 99% of the duty.[1] The agent matches exports to imports; your broker files.†
About 3 minutes on a sample file. Your email and name open it. We never ask for your ACE login or bank details.
- Sealed on AMD SEV-SNP
- Published fees
2026 duties
What duty are you paying now that drawback can return?
Until August 29, 2025, a low-value parcel could enter duty-free under de minimis. That exemption is suspended.[2]
| Duty | In consumer goods | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary (MFN) duty | Depends on the product: 16.5% on cotton T-shirts, while much furniture is free[3][4] | Eligible[1] |
| Section 301, China | Lists 1 to 3 at 25%; List 4A at 7.5%[5] | Eligible[6][7] |
| Section 301, forced labor | 10% or 12.5% on goods from 60 economies since July 24, 2026, with exclusions[8][9] | Eligible[6][7] |
| Section 122 surcharge | 10% on entries from February 24 to July 24, 2026. Certain electronics, Section 232 goods and USMCA goods were exempt[10] | Eligible[11]see the ruling |
| IEEPA duties | Any IEEPA duty on your entries | CAPE first[12] |
| Antidumping and countervailing duties | Only goods under an order | Not eligible[13] |
| Merchandise processing fee, harbor maintenance tax | Most entries | Eligibleon the matched share[13] |
Selling furniture? Section 232 is on the Furniture and home goods page.
What changed for low-value parcels
Claim types
Which kind of drawback fits your business?
Retailers expected $849.9 billion of returns in 2025, 15.8% of sales, with an online return rate of 19.3%.[15] Returns alone don't create drawback.
19 U.S.C. 1313(c)
Returns you export or destroy
Goods returned after a retail sale, for any reason, can qualify under CBP's rules.[1][16]
19 U.S.C. 1313(j)
Cross-border orders
Duty-paid goods from U.S. stock that you ship unused to shoppers or stores abroad.[1]
19 U.S.C. 1313(j)
Unsold, damaged or expired stock
Destruction under CBP's rules can take the place of export.[17]
The rules for each kind
Returns you export or destroy. Match each return to an import from within 1 year before, with the same 8-digit HTS number and SKU.[1][16] Returns exported to Canada or Mexico can't use a substitute import, and the lesser-of cap applies.[18] Notice at least 5 working days before export, and 7 before destruction.[16][17]
Cross-border orders. Orders to Canada or Mexico in the same condition get full drawback. Otherwise, USMCA's lesser-of limit applies.[1][18] A notice of intent before each export, or a waiver. For daily parcels, ask your broker about a waiver. Past exports without either need a one-time retroactive approval.[19]
Unsold, damaged or expired stock. A routine disposal by a marketplace or warehouse counts only if it follows CBP's rules.[17] Notice at least 7 working days ahead.[17] If CBP doesn't attend, you need third-party evidence, and the value of anything recovered is deducted.[1][17]
Example
What could a returns program recover in a year?
| Step | Units | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Units sold, with $4.50 of duty on each | 400,000 | |
| Returned (8%) | 32,000 | |
| Returns destroyed under CBP's rules | 20,000 | |
| Returns exported to a liquidator outside North America | 6,000 | |
| Duty on the 26,000 units destroyed or exported | $117,000 |
Drawback at 99%
$115,830
| Sealed | Standard | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | $17,374.5015% | $15,057.9013% |
| You keep | $98,455.50 | $100,772.10 |
How we figured this
26,000 × $4.50 = $117,000; × 99% = $115,830.
Fees follow the published ongoing-program schedule: 15% of up to $1 million recovered a year in Sealed. Standard is 2 points less.[20] The other 6,000 returns aren't exported or destroyed, so they aren't claimed. The exported returns go to a buyer outside North America, so USMCA's limits don't apply.[18] MPF and harbor maintenance tax are left out to keep the arithmetic plain. Not a quote or a client result.
What to upload
What records does a returns program need?
Upload what you have, and the agent lists what's missing.
- Imports: entry summaries (CBP 7501), commercial invoices and packing lists.
- Your product list: each SKU with its HTS number.
- Orders and returns: exports from your store or marketplace with the order, RMA number, SKU, quantity, dates and what happened to each returned item.
- Proof of export: a transport or postal record of each export.
- Destruction: your notice and the destruction certificate, or third-party evidence.
- Notices: each notice of intent (CBP Form 7553), or your waiver.
What counts as proof
Once your package is complete, the agent drafts your claim package within 24 hours.*
Direct connections to store and marketplace systems are custom engagements and, at launch, feed Standard runs only.
See which store and marketplace exports we read*24 hours from a complete package: entry summaries (CBP 7501), commercial invoices, packing lists, transport documents and export records for the period, plus the bill of materials and production records for manufacturing claims. We tell you the moment your package is complete, and the clock starts then. CBP rulings, waivers and approvals are separate from this clock.
Get started
See it on records like yours.
Run the demo on a sample file. About three minutes.
-
01
Upload one quarter.
Entry summaries, invoices and export records.
WhoYou
-
02
AI drafts your claim.
It ties each export to its import, to the cent.
WhoThe agent
-
03
Your broker files. CBP pays you.
The refund goes directly to your bank account.
WhoA licensed broker
Your email and name open the demo. We never ask for your ACE login or bank details.
Ready now? Start a claimSealed or Standard
Which mode fits a consumer brand's file?
Your retail prices are on your site. Your landed cost per SKU is not.
| What changes | SealedPrivate by default. Provable on request. | StandardMay use outside AI. Staff access logged. |
|---|---|---|
| Who can read your documents | Only the people you approve, such as your broker | Named NexQloud staff, with every access logged |
| Outside AI | None. The model runs inside the sealed machine | May be used, on terms that bar training |
| Used to train any model | Never | Never |
| What your broker sees | The claim lines it files, and a document only if you release it | The claim lines and the documents behind them |
| After the run | Working copy erased, with a signed receipt | Deleted on schedule after the engagement |
Your fee at your size
Enter an amount, like 2.5m or 750k.
If CBP pays you $1,000,000: Sealed fee $175,000, Standard fee $155,000.
$175,000
- Effective rate
- 17.5%
- You keep
- $825,000
$155,000
- Effective rate
- 15.5%
- You keep
- $845,000
Sealed fits records that must stay private: trade secrets, such as landed costs, supplier prices or customer lists you protect, or a retail partner's contract that requires confidential processing.
Standard is enough when your records hold nothing you would mind a named, logged NexQloud specialist seeing, or an outside AI provider processing. It costs 2 points less.
Show the math
- Sealed
- 20% × 500,000 + 15% × 500,000 = $175,000 (17.5%)
- Standard
- 18% × 500,000 + 13% × 500,000 = $155,000 (15.5%)
What your file shows
A drawback file holds both: your entries and invoices show what you pay each supplier,[21] and your order records show what you charge. Together they show your margin by SKU. Return records can also hold shoppers' names and addresses. Ask your broker which fields the claim needs, and leave out the rest.
What each mode protects
Sealed. No outside AI provider ever receives your documents, and nothing trains on them. No one sees them without your consent, and a receipt proves it.
Standard. An outside AI provider may process your documents, only on terms that bar training. Nothing trains on them. Only named NexQloud staff can open them, to fix an exception or answer a support request, and every access is logged.
A trade secret stays protected only while you take "reasonable measures" to keep it secret.[22] Sealed gives you a receipt you can keep, showing the run was sealed.
You can change modes for later uploads. Read what Sealed does not cover
Commitments
What will we never do?
Charge you before CBP pays. The published fee comes only after CBP pays, on principal only; any interest is yours.
A broker we name invoices you. Your own broker sets its own fees and billing.
Put an IEEPA entry in a claim before CAPE.[12]
Decide the Section 122 question for you.
The ruling, and your choice
The Court of International Trade held the surcharge unlawful on May 7, 2026, with relief for named plaintiffs only. The appeal was pending as of September 8, 2026.[25] Drawback on exported goods is available now.[11] The agent flags every Section 122 line, so you, your broker and counsel can choose to claim now or wait.
Questions
Questions consumer brands ask
We sell on a marketplace. Can we still claim?
Often, yes. What matters is who paid the duty and who exported or destroyed the goods. The exporter or destroyer is the default claimant, and it can waive that right to the importer. Marketplace return and removal reports can serve as records.
19 CFR 190.82[26]
We ship parcels from abroad straight to U.S. shoppers. Is there anything to claim?
Possibly, on returns you then export or destroy. Low-value parcels now enter on regular entries, mainly informal entries for goods valued at $2,500 or less. Whether CBP accepts informal or postal entries as the import behind a claim isn't confirmed yet. Ask your broker first.
CBP interim final rule, June 24, 2026[2]
Can we claim on returns from past years?
It depends on what you filed at the time. Claims on returns need notice at least 5 working days before export, and 7 before destruction. For unused goods you exported without notice, your broker can ask CBP for a one-time retroactive approval. All claims must be filed within five years of import.
19 CFR Part 190, Subparts C and D; 19 CFR 190.71[19][16][17]