Sell on Amazon, Walmart or Shopify from the U.S.? International orders and customer returns may carry duty you can get back.
If you import inventory into the U.S., pay duty, and then sell some of it to buyers outside the U.S., up to 99% of the duty on those units can be refunded through U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Customer returns can qualify too, when they are exported or destroyed instead of resold.
You have five years from each import to claim. With Section 301 tariffs on many Chinese goods, the duty per unit is often large.
Selling from Canada instead? See drawback for Canadian marketplace sellers.
Marketplaces make it easy to sell worldwide. A U.S. brand can ship to buyers in Canada, the UK, Europe and Australia from the same warehouse it uses for domestic orders.
What the marketplace does not tell you is that the import duty on every unit that leaves the country can come back. Most sellers never claim it.
How much duty is in your international orders?
Goods you import and export without using them qualify for unused merchandise drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(j). Relabelling, repacking and kitting do not count as use.
With substitution, you do not have to trace each unit back to its exact import. You match exported goods to imports with the same 8-digit HTS code.
Goods sold at retail and returned for any reason can qualify for rejected merchandise drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(c), if the returns are exported or destroyed under CBP supervision. You match returns to an import from the past year with the same SKU and 8-digit HTS code.
| Scenario | Drawback? |
|---|---|
| Order shipped from a U.S. warehouse to a buyer in the UK, EU, Australia or elsewhere | Yes, potentially |
| Order shipped to a buyer in Canada or Mexico | Yes, but only by direct identification of the imported units. Substitution is not allowed under USMCA |
| Inventory moved to a fulfilment centre in another country | Yes, potentially |
| Unsold stock returned to your overseas supplier | Yes, potentially |
| Customer returns sent to an overseas liquidator | Yes, potentially |
| Customer returns destroyed under CBP supervision | Yes, potentially |
| Order shipped to a buyer in the U.S. | No |
| Returns resold or liquidated in the U.S. | No |
| Charge | Drawback? |
|---|---|
| Regular (MFN) duties, MPF and HMF | Yes |
| Section 301 duties | Generally yes |
| Section 232 steel and aluminum duties | No |
| Antidumping and countervailing duties | No |
| IEEPA tariffs | Not through drawback. Recovered through CBP's IEEPA refund process |
See our 2026 tariff breakdown for more detail.
A U.S. kitchenware brand imports from China and pays about $6 of duty per unit, including Section 301 tariffs. It sells on its own Shopify store, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
With five years of lookback, unclaimed past exports can make the first claim much larger.
Example figures are simplified for illustration. Actual duty depends on classification, origin and customs value.
Most marketplace sellers already hold what a claim needs. It is spread across different systems:
The work is in matching them, tying each exported or returned SKU to an eligible import. That is what we do.
Claims must be filed within five years of each import. For returns, the matched import must be from the year before the returns were exported or destroyed, so returns are best claimed regularly.
Marketplaces handle the sale, not your import duty. Nobody files drawback for you.
If a marketplace export program or a forwarder is listed as the exporter, you need their written waiver of the right to claim drawback.
Destruction only counts if CBP is notified first and can supervise it. Standard marketplace disposal programs usually do not meet this.
Orders to Canada and Mexico need direct identification of the imported units.
A few dollars of duty per unit adds up across thousands of orders and five years.
Send us your entry summaries and an export of your orders and returns. We match international orders and eligible returns to your duty-paid imports, and our licensed U.S. drawback partners file the claim with CBP. No upfront cost. We are paid a percentage of what we recover, so if there is no refund, there is no fee.
Yes, potentially. If you imported the goods into the U.S., paid duty, and sold them to buyers outside the U.S., up to 99% of the duty on those units may be refundable.
Yes, if they are exported or destroyed under CBP supervision. Returns resold in the U.S. do not qualify.
Yes, but only by direct identification of the imported units. Substitution drawback is not allowed for exports to Canada or Mexico under USMCA.
Generally yes. Section 232 steel and aluminum duties and antidumping or countervailing duties are not. IEEPA tariffs are refunded through a separate CBP process.
Five years from the date of each import.
Usually your entry summaries and an order export showing SKU, quantity and ship-to country. Carrier records help prove the goods left the U.S.
Nothing upfront. Drawback Hero is paid a percentage of the refund.
This page provides general information and is not legal, tax or customs advice. Sources: 19 U.S.C. 1313(c) and (j), and 19 CFR Part 190. Marketplace names are used for illustration only. Eligibility depends on the facts of each transaction and the rules in effect at the time.
Enter your annual duties and the share you ship abroad. Get an instant estimate, then let us handle the claim.
Estimate My Refund →