Customs Protest (Form 19)

A customs protest (filed on CBP Form 19) is the formal way to challenge CBP's decision on an entry — a misclassification, an incorrect duty assessment, or a denied exemption — after the entry has liquidated. It must be filed within 180 days of the liquidation date, and it is the primary administrative remedy before litigation at the Court of International Trade. Example: if CBP liquidated your entry at a higher rate than the correct HTS classification warrants, you file a protest with the supporting classification argument to recover the overpaid duty. It matters because it is a hard deadline — miss the 180-day window and the overpayment generally becomes unrecoverable.