H352370

H352370 December 30, 2025 OT:RR:BSTC:CCR H325370 CBC CATEGORY: Carriers Kevin Garvey Steptoe LLP 1330 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, DC 20036 RE: Instruments of International Traffic; 19 U.S.C. § 1322(a); 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a; Volofleet Logistics Holding Company; Multi-Modal Smart Containers. Dear Mr. Garvey: This is in response to your August 14, 2025, and October 28, 2025, requests for a ruling pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 177.2, on behalf of your client, Volofleet Logistics Holding Company (“VoloX”), submitted to the National Commodity Specialist Division (“NCSD”), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), seeking confirmation that VoloX Intermodal Smart Containers (“VoloX Containers”) qualify for treatment as Instruments of International Traffic (“IIT”), properly classified under subheading 9803.00.50 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). Under 19 C.F.R. § 177.2(a), “Carrier rulings should be addressed to . . . Regulations and Rulings.” Our decision follows: FACTS: The following facts are from your ruling request and supplements thereto. The subject: VoloX Containers are enclosed unitized honeycomb panel contain- ers with an aluminum frame, with dimensions of approximately 2.5’ W x 6’6” L x 7’6” H,1 that are designed to be efficiently nested within standard international shipping containers, and then unpacked and integrated into different transportation modalities for “last mile” domestic freight transportation. . . . 1 You note that they accordingly have “an internal volume of greater than one cubic meter.” VoloX Containers allow for high density loading (high cube) of non-palletized shipments, in addition to palletized shipments. The format and function of the VoloX Container allows for varied sized, units, packages, totes and commerce to be readily shipped with all modes of transport from barge to truck, from truck to mi- cro-mobility. The subject containers are depicted below: Unitized Organized High Cube Multi-Modal Indexed in Real Time Cross Docking Reserved Containerized to the Last Mile “VoloX Containers are each assigned a unique identification number. . . . The lifespan of VoloX Containers is 5 years, and with routine maintenance, they are designed to last up to 10 years.” Additionally: VoloX Containers combine VoloX-ESP and Container 42 program Smart technology to enable real-time geospatial analytics, includ- ing GPS tracking, AI and machine learning capabilities, weather and temperature monitoring, and remote geolocking to ensure that VoloX Containers cannot be opened outside of a prescribed geo- fenced location prescribed in advance. You also state that “Marine insurers and logistics companies like [ ]2 are early adopters of parts of VoloX’s technology” and that “the Container 42 program” incorporates “Volo-X-ESP’s licensor.” You anticipate that: 2 You have asked this office for confidential treatment of bracketed information. CBP Regulations at 19 C.F.R. § 177.2(b)(7) provide that the requester of a ruling from our office may ask that privileged or confidential commercial or financial information supplied for purposes of preparing the requested ruling not be disclosed. Such requests will be considered if the information is clearly identified and the reasons for requesting that information not be disclosed are provided. If this office receives a Freedom of Information Act request for your submission, regulations at 6 C.F.R. § 5.12, regarding the disclosure of business information, provide that the submitter of business information will be advised of receipt of a request for such information whenever the business submitter has in good faith 2 The first deployments of the Volo-X Containers will be in several major US cities, followed by greater international expansion. Ini- tial international deployments will involve thousands of annual cross-border trips to 52 countries. . . . VoloX projects that globally scaled deployment would involve roughly 1,000,000 Volo-X Containers in circulation. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Instruments of International Traffic “All merchandise imported into the United States is required to be entered, unless specifi- cally excepted.” 19 C.F.R. § 141.4(a); see 19 U.S.C. § 1484(c) (“The Customs Service may per- mit the entry and release of merchandise from customs custody in accordance with such regula- tions as the Secretary may prescribe.”).3 The four exceptions to the requirement of entry are listed under 19 C.F.R. § 141.4(b), one of which is instruments of international traffic. See 19 C.F.R. § 141.4(b)(3). Subheading 9803.00.50, HTSUS, provides for the duty-free treatment of: Substantial containers and holders, if products of the United States (including shooks and staves of United States production when re- turned as boxes or barrels containing merchandise), or if of foreign production and previously imported and duty (if any) thereon paid, or if of a class specified by the Secretary of the Treasury as instru- ments of international traffic, repair components for containers of foreign production which are instruments of international traffic, and accessories and equipment for such containers, whether the ac- cessories and equipment are imported with a container to be reex- ported separately or with another container, or imported separately to be reexported with a container. (Emphasis added). Subchapter 98 of the HTSUS only applies to: (a) Substantial containers or holders which are subject to tariff treatment as imported articles and are: (i) Imported empty and not within the purview of a provi- sion which specifically exempts them from duty; or designated the information as commercially or financially sensitive information. We accept your request for confi- dential treatment as a good faith request. 3 Customs revenue functions have been delegated to the Secretary of Homeland Security by the Secretary of Treas- ury, with exceptions herein not applicable, under the authority of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107- 296, §§ 401–19, 116 Stat. 2135, 2177–82; see Treas. Dep’t Order 100-16 (May 15, 2003). 3 (ii) Imported containing or holding articles, and which are not of a kind normally sold therewith or are entered sepa- rately therefrom; and (b) Certain repair components, accessories and equipment. U.S. Note 1 et seq., Subchapter 98-III, HTSUS. Section 322(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, added by the Customs Simplification Act of 1953, codified the “customary exemptions from the application of the customs laws” for “instru- ments of international traffic to such extent and subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed in regulations or instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury.” Pub. L. No. 243-397, § 14, 67 Stat. 507, 516; see 19 U.S.C. § 1322(a).4 “These ‘customary’ exemptions had an estab- lished legal existence long before the Congress first recognized them in § 1322(a).” Inter-City Truck Lines, Ltd. v. United States, 408 F.2d 686, 689 (Ct. Claims 1969) (Nichols, J. dissenting).5 As empowered by Section 322(a), the Secretary has delegated authorization to CBP “to designate as instruments of international traffic, in decisions to be published in the weekly Cus- toms Bulletin, such additional articles or classes of articles as he shall find should be so desig- nated.” 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a(a). Lift vans, cargo vans, shipping tanks, skids, pallets, caul boards, and cores for textile fabrics, arriving (whether loaded or empty) in use or to be used in the shipment of merchandise in international traffic are [t]hereby designated as “instruments of international traffic” within the meaning of section 322(a). In so designating, “‘instruments of international traffic’ includes the normal accessories and equipment imported with any such instrument which is a ‘container’ as defined in Article 1 of the Customs Convention on Containers.” Id.6 (“Convention”). So defined: 4 While “instruments of international traffic” include “containers” and “accessories,” they are subject to ent

Instruments of International Traffic “All merchandise imported into the United States is required to be entered, unless specifi- cally excepted.” 19 C.F.R. § 141.4(a); see 19 U.S.C. § 1484(c) (“The Customs Service may per- mit the entry and release of merchandise from customs custody in accordance with such regula- tions as the Secretary may prescribe.”).3 The four exceptions to the requirement of entry are listed under 19 C.F.R. § 141.4(b), one of which is instruments of international traffic. See 19 C.F.R. § 141.4(b)(3). Subheading 9803.00.50, HTSUS, provides for the duty-free treatment of: Substantial containers and holders, if products of the United States (including shooks and staves of United States production when re- turned as boxes or barrels containing merchandise), or if of foreign production and previously imported and duty (if any) thereon paid, or if of a class specified by the Secretary of the Treasury as instru- ments of international traffic, repair components for containers of foreign production which are instruments of international traffic, and accessories and equipment for such containers, whether the ac- cessories and equipment are imported with a container to be reex- ported separately or with another container, or imported separately to be reexported with a container. (Emphasis added). Subchapter 98 of the HTSUS only applies to: (a) Substantial containers or holders which are subject to tariff treatment as imported articles and are: (i) Imported empty and not within the purview of a provi- sion which specifically exempts them from duty; or designated the information as commercially or financially sensitive information. We accept your request for confi- dential treatment as a good faith request. 3 Customs revenue functions have been delegated to the Secretary of Homeland Security by the Secretary of Treas- ury, with exceptions herein not applicable, under the authority of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107- 296, §§ 401–19, 116 Stat