This an important reminder that Harbor Maintenance Fee refund claims (for waterborne exports), must be filed with Customs by December 31, 2001.

Exporters failing to file for refunds by December 31st will forfeit all rights to recover such fees paid to U.S. Customs since 1987.

Importers who previously filed Customs Form 350s pursuant to a court decision in Swisher or U.S. Shoe may wish to consider filing additional blanket requests for refunds.  We have filed such blanket claims for all of our current HMF clients.

Companies who timely file for refunds will receive a report from the Customs Finance Center detailing Customs records of HMF payments made since 1987, and will have 120 days to inform Customs of discrepancies found.    Thus, exporters may wish to begin organizing payment records in preparation for verification of the Finance Center Reports.  Companies should pay particular attention to HMF payments predating July of 1990, as Customs has informed the trade that the payment database is incomplete for this time period.

Other Recent Legal Developments on Harbor Maintenance Fees

On December 11th, 2001, Judge Restani of the Court of International Trade ruled against imposing interest payments on government refunds of Harbor Maintenance Fees on waterborne exports. The decision accorded the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's ruling in Swisher that ruled the export HMF be voided as of April 1, 1987, pursuant to protest jurisdiction before the court.  See Swisher International, Inc. v. U.S. and Sony Electronics, Inc. and Arbon Steel & Service Co., Inc. v. U.S.

On December 10, 2001, the Supreme Court denied an appeal from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's decision which upheld the Harbor Maintenance Fee on admissions of merchandise into foreign trade zones.  See BMW Manufacturing Corporation v. U.S. (Fed. Cir. 2001).

Should your company have any questions regarding the refund procedures, please feel free to contact us.