U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) addressed the nuanced scope of the term “testing” concerning duty-free Temporary Importation under Bond (TIB) in a recent ruling. The ruling centered around a manufacturing company’s imported finstock metal (described as a mix of stainless-steel products, copper plates, sheet or strip, and aluminum foil) and its eligibility for classification under subheading 9813.00.30 which is designated for articles solely intended for testing, experimental, or review purposes.
Pursuant to General Note 1, HTSUS, all merchandise imported into the United States is subject to duty unless specifically exempted therefrom. Pursuant to Chapter 98, Subchapter XIII, U.S. Note 1(a), HTSUS, which contains subheading 9813.00.30, HTSUS, articles intended solely for testing, or experimental or review purposes, and not for the purpose of sale or sale on approval, may be entered free of duty under a TIB. Duty-free treatment is contingent on the exportation or destruction of such articles within one year from the date of importation. See e.g. 19 C.F.R. § 10.31. This one-year period may be extended for one or more additional years, not to exceed three years. See 19 C.F.R. § 10.37.
In this query, the manufacturer uses imported finstock only to test the machinery it produces not to run tests on the actual finstock. CBP stressed that the primary purpose of importation must be testing to qualify under subheading 9813.00.30. Despite finstock being selected as a testing material, CBP highlighted that the tests didn’t reveal new information about finstock itself, leading to the conclusion that these items didn’t meet the criteria for test materials under the subheading.
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