The file starts with the entry summary, the CBP Form 7501, which shows what was imported, what it was classified as, and what duty was paid. Without it, there is nothing to refund. The entry summary is the proof of the payment, and the claim is a refund of that payment, so the summary is the first document and the one that has to be right.
The entry summary also carries the duty split, and the split is where claims fail. Section 301 duties are recoverable. Section 232 and antidumping duties are not. The summary shows which is which, and the claim has to follow it. A claim that asks for the total duty on the summary, without the split, will be rejected.
The second document is proof that the goods left. A bill of lading, an air waybill, or an export declaration all work, and the proof has to show the goods, the quantity, and the date they left. A warehouse receipt does not prove export. A transfer to another domestic warehouse does not prove export. The goods have to leave the country, and the document has to show it.
Destruction is the alternative, and it has its own proof: a certificate of destruction from the facility, witnessed where CBP requires it, showing what was destroyed and when. A brand that destroys returned goods without the certificate has destroyed the evidence along with the goods, and the claim dies with it.
The third piece is the link, the documents that connect the exported goods to the imported entry. Inventory records, lot numbers, serial numbers, and warehouse receipts all serve, and the standard is identification: CBP has to be able to trace the goods that left back to the goods that came in. A claim that says goods left, without showing which goods, is not a claim.
This is the document that gets built at the time, or not at all. A warehouse that tracks lots and serial numbers has the link ready. A warehouse that does not has to reconstruct it from shipping records, and the reconstruction is the work that makes most brands give up. The link is a system, not a document, and it has to be built before the claim is filed.
Before any of this, the importer needs drawback privilege, CBP's approval to file drawback claims. The application takes four to twelve months, and the brand that applies when it first needs the refund is a year late. The application is the first step, and it should be filed before the first return ships back, not after.
The records have to be kept for the five year filing window, and the window runs from the export, not the import. A claim filed four years after the export needs the records from four years ago, and the file that was complete when the goods shipped is the file that pays. The claim file is a habit, not a project.
Keep reading: Drawback Claims: Recovering Duty on Re-Exported Goods, How does the five year filing window work for duty drawback claims?, FTZ vs Bonded Warehouse: Which Defers Duty Better.
Three things: the entry summary showing the duty paid, proof that the goods were exported or destroyed, and documents linking the exported goods back to the imported entry. The claim also needs drawback privilege, which takes four to twelve months to get approved.
A bill of lading, an air waybill, or an export declaration showing the goods, the quantity, and the date they left. A warehouse receipt does not prove export, and a transfer to another domestic warehouse does not either. The goods have to leave the country and the document has to show it.
With inventory records, lot numbers, serial numbers, and warehouse receipts that trace the goods that left back to the goods that came in. The link has to be built at the time, in the warehouse system. Reconstructing it from shipping records after the fact is the work that makes most claims fail.
Four to twelve months for CBP to approve. The application should be filed before the first return ships back, not after, because the brand that applies when it first needs the refund is a year late. Records must be kept for the five year filing window.