Penalties are assessed by United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) for a variety of violations including but not limited to 19 U.S.C. § 1592 (civil penalties for negligence, gross negligence, and fraud with regarding lost revenue or duties where required documentation is false or incomplete or the transaction between parties is false), 19 U.S.C. § 1526(f) (intellectual property violations).
Liquidated Damages are predetermined civil penalties assessed against importers who have breached the terms of their Customs Bond. These liquidated damages claims arise when an importer fails to adhere to the Customs regulations and/or requests made by CBP on behalf of other government agencies.
Petitions for mitigation from penalties and/or liquidated damages must be filed within sixty (60) days from the date of mailing to the bond principal, the notice of claim for liquidated damages, or penalty secured by a bond. The degree at which CBP will grant mitigation is dependent on CBP’s mitigation guidelines and the facts and circumstances of the case.
Our firm frequently files petitions for mitigation and is successfully in substantially reducing penalties and/or liquidated damages claims.