H350673

H350673 October 9, 2025 OT:RR:CTF:VS H350673 EE CATEGORY: Classification, Valuation Mr. Cristopher M. Kane Simon Gluck & Kane LLP 55 Front Street, Suite 8 Rockville Centre, New York 11570 RE: Subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS; 9801.00.10, HTSUS; Appraisement Dear Mr. Kane: This is in response to your letter, dated June 18, 2025, on behalf of your client Mosti Mondiale Inc., in which you request a ruling concerning the applicability of subheading 9813.00.50, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), and 9801.00.10, HTSUS, to a certain wine bottling, washing, and disgorging machine and the appraisement of the machine. Our ruling is set forth below. FACTS: You state that Mosti Mondiale is a non-resident importer. The merchandise at issue is a wine bottling, bottle washing, and disgorging machine owned by Mosti Mondiale. The machine is transportable via truck on a flatbed trailer to locations where the machine will be used in the bottling process after wine has been made. You state that the machine is classified under subheading 8422.30.91, HTSUS. You indicate that the machine will be used in wineries in Canada and the United States several times a year as the need arises. As such, there will be multiple border crossings. You inquire about applicability of subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, to the machine. In the alternative, you inquire about the eligibility of the machine for duty-free treatment under subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUS. Lastly, you inquire about the appraisement of the machine based on the fallback method with allowance for depreciation for the period it was used abroad. ISSUES: I. Whether the bottling, washing, and disgorging machine at issue is eligible for duty-free treatment under subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS. II. Whether the bottling, washing, and disgorging machine at issue is eligible for duty-free treatment under subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUS. III. Whether the proposed method of appraisement of the imported bottling, washing, and disgorging machine based on the fallback method with allowance for depreciation for the period it was used abroad is appropriate. LAW AND ANALYSIS: I. Subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS Pursuant to General Note 1, HTSUS, all merchandise imported into the United States is subject to duty unless specifically exempted. Subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, provides for the temporary entry, duty-free and under bond, of: Professional equipment, tools of trade, repair components for equipment or tools admitted under this heading and camping equipment; all the foregoing imported by or for nonresidents sojourning temporarily in the United States and for the use of such nonresidents... U.S. Note 1(a) of Subchapter XIII, Chapter 98 of the HTSUS provides: The articles described in the provisions of this subchapter, when not imported for sale or for sale on approval, may be admitted into the United States without the payment of duty, under bond for their exportation within 1 year from the date of importation, which period, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be extended, upon application, for one or more further periods which, when added to the initial 1 year, shall not exceed a total of 3 years… U.S. Note 1(b) of Subchapter XIII, Chapter 98 of the HTSUS provides: For articles admitted into the United States under heading 9813.00.50, entry shall be made by the nonresident importing the articles or by an organization represented by the nonresident which is established under the laws of a foreign country or has its principal place of business in a foreign country. The CBP regulations pertaining to temporary importations under bond (“TIB”) are found in 19 C.F.R. §§ 10.31-10.40. Section 10.37, CBP Regulations, provides that extensions of the time for exportation of merchandise under a TIB may be granted by the appropriate Center Director upon written application on CBP Form 3173. Pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 10.31(f) a bond shall be given on Customs Form 301, containing the bond conditions set forth in 19 C.F.R. § 113.62. For professional equipment, tools of trade and repair components entered under subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, the bond 2 required to be given shall be in an amount equal to 110 percent of the estimated duties, including fees, determined at the time of entry. See 19 C.F.R. § 10.31(f). Subchapter XIII of the HTSUS and the CBP regulations do not define “professional equipment” or “tools of trade.” See Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) H256982, dated November 30, 2016. In HQ 223970, dated September 22, 1992, CBP held that “equipment under subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, is intended to be necessary for the exercise of the calling, trade, or profession of a person visiting this country to perform a specific task.” The type of articles allowed have been varied due to the liberal construction given to the terms “professional equipment” and “tools of trade.” Id. CBP has previously approved a variety of equipment, such as a mobile education vehicle for dealers; a van with permanently attached equipment of hydraulic tracer controls for machine tools admitted for demonstration tours in the United States; drilling equipment temporarily attached to a barge for use in underwater digging operations; rigging equipment used in the installation of offshore platforms, not permanently affixed to any vessel, rig or platform; chain saws for pulp or logging operations; diesel tractors for logging operations; television receivers for showing methods of installation and servicing; portable transmitter-receivers for broadcasting from an aircraft; photographic plates for cosmic ray studies; and foreign-origin cinematography equipment intended for use in the production of motion pictures. Id. You state that the facts at issue are similar to scenario #1 of HQ 222651, dated January 7, 1991, insofar as a machine entering the United States from Canada is used to perform onsite functions at a facility in the United States and returns to Canada. HQ 222651 concerned a mobile shredding unit that was transported from Canada into the United States for use at locations where document shredding was performed and then returned to Canada. CBP held that the mobile shredding unit may temporarily be brought into the United States under subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, to perform shredding services, provided that the conditions in that subheading, in U.S. Note 1(a) and (b) of Subchapter XIII, HTSUS, and in 19 C.F.R. 10.31-10.41 were met and that the mobile shredding unit was intended for use by the nonresident making entry or for use under his or her supervision. We agree that the bottling, washing, and disgorging machine at issue is professional equipment and tools of trade necessary for the nonresident to perform a specific task and thus falls within the scope of subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, provided the conditions in U.S. Note 1(a) and (b) of Subchapter XIII, HTSUS, are met. We note that CBP has consistently held that entry under subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, is personal to the nonresident, is nontransferable, and terminates when the nonresident ceases to use the imported merchandise. See, e.g. HQ 225808, dated May 9, 1995; and HQ 223970, dated September 22, 1992. II. Subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUS Section 904(b) of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-125, February 24, 2016) amended subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUS, to include any products which are returned within 3 years after having been exported. 3 Previously, subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUS, only applied to products of the United States. Subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUS, now provides for the duty-free treatment of: Products of the United States when returned after having been exported, or any other products when returned within 3 years after having been exported, without having been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process of manufacture or other means while abroad. Section 10.1, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Regulations (19 C.F.R. § 10.1) 

I. Subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS Pursuant to General Note 1, HTSUS, all merchandise imported into the United States is subject to duty unless specifically exempted. Subheading 9813.00.50, HTSUS, provides for the temporary entry, duty-free and under bond, of: Professional equipment, tools of trade, repair components for equipment or tools admitted under this heading and camping equipment; all the foregoing imported by or for nonresidents sojourning temporarily in the United States and for the use of such nonresidents... U.S. Note 1(a) of Subchapter XIII, Chapter 98 of the HTSUS provides: The articles described in the provisions of this subchapter, when not imported for sale or for sale on approval, may be admitted into the United States without the payment of duty, under bond for their exportation within 1 year from the date of importation, which period, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be extended, upon application, for one or more further periods which, when added to the initial 1 year, shall not exceed a total of 3 years… U.S. Note 1(b) of Subchapter XIII, Chapter 98 of the HTSUS provides: For articles admitted into the United States under heading 9813.00.50, entry shall be made by the nonresident importing the articles or by an organization represented by the nonresident which is established under the laws of a foreign country or has its principal place of business in a foreign country. The CBP regulations pertaining to temporary importations under bond (“TIB”) are found in 19 C.F.R. §§ 10.31-10.40. Section 10.37, CBP Regulations, provides that extensions of the time for exportation of merchandise under a TIB may be granted by the appropriate Center Director upon written application on CBP Form 3173. Pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 10.31(f) a bond shall be given on Customs Form 301, containing the bond conditions set forth in 19 C.F.R. § 113.62. For professional equipment, tools of trade and repair components entered under subheading 9813.00.50, HTS