CBP ACH Debit Considerations Due to Increased Tariffs

Due to the increased tariffs, customs brokers may want to communicate with their banks to ensure they will accept increased dollar amount debits for duty.  

The bank may need to increase the Debit Cap/Debit Blocker for debits from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Company ID. The CBP Company ID was provided by CBP on the initial ACH Debit Acceptance letter.

Review ACH reports to understand the amount that is being debited to discuss with the bank and make sure the account is funded for the appropriate amount in addition to increasing the debit voucher cap.

If CBP is unable to debit your account for the amount due, a debit voucher will be issued with potential removal from the ACH Debit program and result in liquidated damages consequences.

Other tips you should consider or share with your importers moving to their own ACH Debit Pay Type 3/7/8 include:

• Notifying your financial institution to authorize CBP to debit your account.
• Providing the CBP Customer ID to your bank.
• Establishing an allowable dollar amount for the authorization(s). (Please discuss this with your financial institution to ensure the amount is large enough to cover the Duties, Taxes, and Fees that have been authorized to help ensure CBP debits will not be blocked.)
• Choosing an allowable number of transactions with your bank that can be charged by Customs daily. (PMS customers may have dozens of charges or more during the monthly billing phase, and your bank may have a set transaction count limit.)  

*Reprinted with permission from NCBFAA.