§2637 Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

Summary

To start a lawsuit in the Court of International Trade that challenges a denied protest under Tariff Act section 515, you must have paid all final duties, charges, or fees for the entries when you start the case. If a bond company (surety) is responsible, it only owes up to the bond amount for each entry. To challenge a denied petition under section 516, you must first use the administrative steps in that section. A case under section 1581(h) can be started before using administrative remedies if you show the court what that section requires. For other types of cases, the Court of International Trade will usually make you try the available administrative remedies first when that is appropriate.