Duty Drawback

Duty drawback is a federal refund of up to 99% of the duties, taxes, and fees you paid on imported goods that were later exported or destroyed. It has been US law since 1789 and is governed today by 19 USC §1313. If you import and your goods (or goods like them) leave the country again, whether as finished products, raw materials, or unused inventory, you're owed a refund. Most companies have never filed one.

Any company that imports goods into the United States and later exports them, exports goods made from them, or destroys them under CBP supervision.  There are 80,000+ eligible US exporters. Fewer than 5% file claims. Eligibility is broader than most importers realize. Finished goods re-exported, raw materials in products sold abroad, merchandise returned overseas, and unused inventory all qualify under different drawback programs.

Up to 99% of the duties, taxes, and fees you paid on the imported goods. The recovery amount depends on which goods you're claiming, how they left the country, and which drawback program applies. Caspian's Trade Audit calculates the maximum recoverable amount across your full import and export history before any claim is filed.

Five years from the date of import, under the filing window established by TFTEA in 2018. Imports older than five years are no longer recoverable. Caspian's Trade Audit scans your full eligible window and surfaces every claim still inside it.

There are five primary programs Caspian files: Unused Merchandise (goods imported and re-exported without use), Manufacturing (goods imported, used in manufacturing, then exported), Rejected Merchandise (goods that didn't conform to specs and were returned or destroyed), Substitution (commercially interchangeable substitutes used in place of imported goods), and Same Condition (goods exported to USMCA partners in the same condition as imported). The programs have different documentation requirements, but the platform handles all five.

Because the process was built for Fortune 500 compliance departments. Filing requires reconciling import and export records across disparate systems, matching shipments to eligible imports at the product level, and preparing documentation that meets strict customs audit standards. Traditional drawback preparation can stretch 12 to 18 months before a claim is even submitted to CBP. Caspian was built to remove that barrier.

Drawback filing fees scale with claim complexity and volume. Caspian files across all major drawback types and provides a tailored fee estimate after reviewing your data. If you don't want to wait for CBP to process the refund, Refund Advances are available at 7 to 10% of claim value, with Caspian advancing up to 90% of your expected refund upon filing. Full pricing is on the platform pricing page.

Once filed, drawback claims are processed by CBP on their own timeline, which can take months.  Caspian's Refund Advance program shortcuts that wait. You receive up to 90% of your expected refund from Caspian upon filing, rather than waiting on CBP. Caspian then collects from CBP when the refund is processed. The 7 to 10% advance fee is netted against the recovered amount.