Duty drawback in 2026: what you can (and can't) recover

Last reviewed June 2026. Customs rules on this are still evolving — the regulations and court decisions are changing fast. We keep this post updated as the picture develops; for your specific situation, ask us.

Duty drawback is one of the most underused tools in importing: if you import goods and later export them (or products made from them), or destroy them under customs supervision, you can often recover up to 99% of the duties you paid. At today’s tariff levels, that can be real money. Here’s the honest version, including the parts that catch people out.

The basic idea

You paid duty when the goods came in. If those goods (or goods made from them) leave the country again, the economic reason for the duty goes away, so the law lets you claim most of it back. Common flavors:

• Unused merchandise drawback — you import something and re-export it without using it.
• Manufacturing drawback — you import components, build a product, and export it.
• Rejected merchandise drawback — goods that were defective or not to spec, then exported/destroyed.

Why it’s underused

Two reasons. First, it takes setup: recordkeeping that ties your exports back to specific imports, and a claim process with CBP. Second, people assume it’s not worth it, until they add up the duty they’ve been leaving on the table, especially now that tariffs have inflated the duty in the first place.

The 2026 catch (this is the important part)

Not every duty is drawback-eligible, and the exclusions matter more than ever because the excluded programs are exactly the ones inflating your bill:

• Some tariff programs are drawback-eligible.
• But key 2025–2026 programs are not — notably Section 232 (steel/aluminum/copper) and certain IEEPA-based duties are generally excluded from drawback.

So the answer to “can I get my tariffs back through drawback?” is “some, maybe a lot, but not the 232/IEEPA portion.” Anyone who tells you drawback recovers all your 2026 tariffs is oversimplifying. Confirm eligibility program-by-program against current rules before counting on it.

Is it worth it for you?

Drawback tends to pay off when you:

• Import meaningful volume and export a chunk of it (or products made from it),
• Have (or can build) the recordkeeping to link the two,
• Are paying enough duty on eligible programs to clear the setup cost.

If that’s your business, the recovery can be substantial and recurring.

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Drawback is exactly the kind of “found money” a proactive broker should be checking for — alongside classification, first sale, and free-trade agreements. If you import and export, it’s worth a look at whether a drawback program pencils out for you, and which of your duties actually qualify.

Sources & further reading

• CBP — Drawback
• U.S. International Trade Commission — Harmonized Tariff Schedule
• CBP — Trade