Entry corrections are getting a payment gate
Entry corrections now have a payment-control problem: ACH setup, full-payment gates, and cleaner entry data before the next fix.
Briefing Table
The issue in operating terms: change, impact, required action.
Exposure Matrix
Which flows move first, who owns the handoff, and what to check.
Dates / Watchlist
Dates that belong in broker, compliance, finance, and operations calendars.
Most importers treat a post-summary correction as routine housekeeping: the entry was filed, something was off, the broker fixes it, the money settles later. Starting August 5, 2026, that assumption gets expensive.
CBP has modified its Post-Summary Correction (PSC) test. From August 5, any increase in duties, taxes, or fees resulting from a PSC must be paid through ACH — and a new correction cannot be filed on an entry until the prior PSC's increase is paid in full and processed. At the same time, CBP opened comment dockets on revisions to the core entry-data paperwork: Entry Summary, Entry/Immediate Delivery with ACE Cargo Release, and the Cargo Manifest/Stow Plan/ISF collection.
The operator read: CBP is tightening the plumbing around how entries are filed, corrected, and paid — and the burden of being ready lands on importers and brokers, not on CBP.
Read This First
- Signal: entry-correction and entry-data reset.
- Exposure: importers of record, customs brokers, self-filers, and compliance teams that use ACE entry summaries and PSCs.
- Watch dates: July 21, July 24, August 5, August 10, August 31, and September 30, 2026.
- First move: confirm ACH enrollment and rework PSC payment procedures before August 5.
Bottom Line
What changed: CBP published modifications to the PSC test on July 6: effective August 5, 2026, PSC duty increases must be paid via ACH Debit or Credit, a follow-up PSC cannot be filed until a prior PSC's increase is fully paid and processed, and the practice of allowing PSCs beyond the 300-day window when liquidation is suspended is now formalized. Separately, on July 1 CBP opened comment periods (due August 31) on revisions to the Entry Summary, Entry/Immediate Delivery + ACE Cargo Release, and Cargo Manifest/ISF information collections.
Operator impact: Importers without ACH enrollment, or with slow internal payment approval, can lose the ability to file a correction exactly when they need one. Brokers inherit a client-discipline problem: one unpaid or partially paid increase blocks the next fix on that entry.
What to do next: Enroll in ACH now if you have not, inventory open PSCs and unpaid increases, and rewrite importer/broker procedures so payments on corrections are always made in full — before the August 5 compliance date.
The Clearance Brief
1. PSC payments go ACH-only — and unpaid increases block the next fix
CBP's July 6 Federal Register notice modifies the Post-Summary Correction test effective August 5, 2026. Three changes matter operationally. First, increases in estimated duties, taxes, and fees resulting from a PSC must be paid via ACH Debit or ACH Credit — checks and cash are out. Second, filers may pay the increase before liquidation or wait for the bill at liquidation, but a subsequent PSC cannot be filed until a prior PSC's increase is paid in full and processed; a partial payment blocks further corrections. Third, the notice formalizes what CBP has permitted in practice since 2022: PSCs beyond the 300-day window are allowed where liquidation is suspended with an ACE suspension basis (for example AD/CVD suspension, EAPA, or a court injunction). CBP also clarified that interest is not accepted before liquidation — it is assessed and billed at liquidation.
Operator read: the mechanics changed more than the deadlines. If you are not enrolled in ACH (questions go to ACH-Customs@cbp.dhs.gov), start now — enrollment is the gate to correcting your own entries after August 5.
2. The entry-data paper trail is being revised at the same time
On July 1, CBP opened comment dockets on revisions to three core information collections: Entry Summary, Entry/Immediate Delivery Application and ACE Cargo Release, and Cargo Manifest/Declaration, Stow Plan, Container Status Messages and Importer Security Filing. Comments on all three are due August 31, 2026.
Individually these are administrative. Together with the PSC changes, they signal where CBP is heading: more structured entry data, cleaner corrections, and tighter payment discipline across the filing lifecycle.
Operator read: if entry data quality is a recurring pain in your operation — classification, valuation, origin, manifest mismatches — this is the window to put specifics on the record, and the reminder that corrections are getting costlier to manage downstream.
3. Morocco phosphate gets an emergency duty-free lane — including a CVD deposit waiver
A June 29 presidential proclamation, published July 2, declares an emergency and authorizes temporary duty-free importation of phosphate fertilizers from Morocco, including a waiver of countervailing-duty cash deposits. The window runs until the earlier of eight months after June 29, 2026 — roughly late February 2027 — or termination of the emergency. Commerce has now published the mechanics: in a July 8 implementing notice, exporters and importers must request CVD-free treatment from Commerce under 19 CFR part 358; Commerce then instructs CBP to allow the requested entries without regard to countervailing duties.
Operator read: the duty-free lane is not automatic. If you import or buy phosphate fertilizers, file the request with Commerce first, then confirm entry treatment and deposit handling with your broker before filing — this is a mechanism entry teams will not have muscle memory for.
4. Two new tariff fronts open: anthracite coal and German pharma pricing
Commerce initiated a Section 232 national-security investigation of anthracite coal imports on June 29; BIS is taking comments through July 21, 2026. Separately, USTR initiated a Section 301 investigation into Germany's pricing of innovative pharmaceutical products: written comments and hearing requests are due August 10, with a public hearing September 22, 2026.
Operator read: neither action changes a duty rate today. Both are early-stage signals — coal-adjacent industrial buyers and pharma importers should track them now, while the comment windows are open, not after remedies land.
5. The AD/CVD docket keeps moving
Recent case activity worth a screen: a countervailing-duty order on steel concrete reinforcing bar from Algeria (July 6), a new circumvention inquiry on corrosion-resistant steel from China (July 6), final affirmative AD/CVD determinations on silicon metal from Norway and Australia (June 30), and the July round of sunset-review initiations and opportunities to request administrative review (ITA case announcements).
Operator read: AD/CVD exposure is a moving target this month. Re-screen affected supply chains — especially steel and metals — and remember the PSC item above: suspended-liquidation entries now have a formalized correction path.
6. Sanctions operations: a new delisting portal and a hard September deadline
OFAC's recent actions show continued list churn into July, plus two operational items: a new Reconsideration Portal (launched June 29) for delisting requests, and the annual Report of Blocked Property — covering property held as of June 30 — due September 30, 2026. Failing to file is itself a violation.
Operator read: treat the blocked-property report as a compliance deadline with an owner and a calendar entry, not a legal-team afterthought. And keep screening cadence weekly; the lists did not slow down for summer.
Correction Readiness Review
Work through this before August 5.
- Pull open entries and PSC history from ACE or your broker's reports; list any PSC increases not yet paid in full.
- Confirm ACH Debit or ACH Credit enrollment. If missing, start enrollment now (ACH-Customs@cbp.dhs.gov).
- Decide your default: pay PSC increases before liquidation or wait for the bill — and document who makes that call per entry type.
- Set one hard control: no partial payments on PSC increases. A partial payment blocks the next correction on that entry.
- Map who files PSCs on each lane — broker or self-filed — and align procedures with the August 5 rules on both sides.
- Push data quality upstream: classification, valuation, and origin errors are what force corrections in the first place, and corrections are getting more procedural.
Dates / Watchlist
Now in effect
- June 29, 2026: Morocco phosphate emergency duty-free window running (about eight months, into late February 2027).
- July 1, 2026: CBP entry-data information-collection revisions published; comment dockets open.
- This week: the Drewry World Container Index rose 2% to $4,639 per 40-foot container on July 9 — its highest level since September 2024, with carriers announcing Transpacific GRIs effective July 15; the next reading lands July 16.
Coming up
- July 21, 2026: Section 232 anthracite coal comments due to BIS.
- July 24, 2026: comments due on CBP's de minimis suspension interim final rules (covered in Issue 002).
- August 5, 2026: PSC modifications become operational — ACH-only payment and the full-payment gate take effect.
- August 10, 2026: Section 301 Germany pharma comments and hearing requests due.
- August 31, 2026: comments due on all three CBP entry-data information collections.
- September 22, 2026: Section 301 Germany public hearing.
- September 30, 2026: OFAC annual Report of Blocked Property due.
Operator Checklist
- Confirm ACH enrollment for duty payment; if not enrolled, contact ACH-Customs@cbp.dhs.gov this week.
- Inventory open PSCs and unpaid or partially paid increases; clear them before August 5.
- Update importer/broker procedures: full payment on PSC increases, no partial payments, clear ownership of the pay-now-vs-at-liquidation call.
- Calendar the comment deadlines that touch your operation: July 21 (232 coal), July 24 (de minimis), August 10 (301 Germany), August 31 (entry data).
- If you import phosphate fertilizers, file the CVD-free request with Commerce (19 CFR part 358) and verify the Morocco emergency treatment and deposit handling with your broker before entry.
- Re-screen AD/CVD exposure against the new rebar order, the corrosion-resistant steel circumvention inquiry, and the silicon metal finals.
- Assign an owner and a date for the September 30 OFAC blocked-property report; keep restricted-party screening weekly.
Operator Tool - From Our Partner
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