Tips when contacting the AES Call Center

By: Eric Gauthier

How often do you call 1-800-549-0595 when you have questions regarding filing EEI? Ever emailed askAES@census.gov because you need clarification on filing EEI?

Support staff here at the Foreign Trade Division always aim to provide you accurate answers to your questions. However, there are times when we need pieces of information that are not always readily accessible to you. Here are a few tips on what information to include in your email or have ready when you make the call:

If you want to verify the status of your EEI:

• Filer ID
• Shipment Reference Number (SRN) 
• Date of original submission

Usually the Filer ID is your company’s Employer Identification Number (EIN). If a freight forwarder submitted the EEI on your behalf, the forwarder must provide its EIN as that would be the Filer ID.

If you received a Fatal Error, Compliance, Informational or Verify Message:

• The AES Response message with the three-digit code
• Filer ID or SRN

The three-digit code makes it easier to identify what could have caused that notification. It still may be necessary to take a look at your EEI to identify exactly what generated the alert, so please have your Filer ID and Shipment Reference Number available.

If you have received a Fatal Error Report or AES Compliance Report:

• Filer ID
• Report Number (RPXXXX) found on the subject line of the Report’s email

This information will allow us to pull up the report in question and evaluate the details.

Providing you the tools to be compliant is our priority. Feel free to contact us with your questions at 1-800-549-0595 Option 1 or at askaes@census.gov.