Title 19 — Customs DutiesRelease 119-73
§1309 Supplies for certain vessels and aircraft
Title 19 › Chapter CHAPTER 4— - TARIFF ACT OF 1930 › Subtitle SUBTITLE II— - SPECIAL PROVISIONS › Part Part I— - Miscellaneous › § 1309
Summary
Lets people take goods out of bonded warehouses, foreign-trade zones, or other customs custody without paying import duties or internal-revenue tax when those goods are used as supplies or for repairs on certain ships and planes. It applies to three main cases: supplies (not equipment) for U.S. government vessels or aircraft and for U.S. vessels used in fishing, whaling, or on specified foreign or domestic trade routes; supplies (including equipment) and repairs for foreign warships and for foreign commercial vessels when that foreign trade is allowed; and supplies (including equipment), ground equipment, maintenance, or repair for foreign-registered aircraft when that foreign trade is allowed. The ground-equipment exemption covers only import duties, not other taxes. Items loaded as supplies on such ships or planes count as exports for drawback purposes. If an item was duty-free or got drawback and later is taken off a vessel or otherwise returned to the United States, it will be treated as an import. The rule for foreign-registered aircraft only applies if the Secretary of Commerce says the other country gives similar treatment to U.S. aircraft. If the other country stops giving that treatment, the U.S. privileges stop too.
Full Legal Text
Title 19, §1309
Customs Duties — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Articles of foreign or domestic origin may be withdrawn, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, from any customs bonded warehouse, from continuous customs custody elsewhere than in a bonded warehouse, or from a foreign-trade zone free of duty and internal-revenue tax, or from any internal-revenue bonded warehouse, from any brewery, or from any winery premises or bonded premises for the storage of wine, free of internal-revenue tax—
(1)for supplies (not including equipment) of (A) vessels or aircraft operated by the United States, (B) vessels of the United States employed in the fisheries or in the whaling business, or actually engaged in foreign trade or trade between the Atlantic and Pacific ports of the United States or between the United States and any of its possessions, or between Hawaii and any other part of the United States, or between Alaska and any other part of the United States, or (C) aircraft registered in the United States and actually engaged in foreign trade or trade between the United States and any of its possessions, or between Hawaii and any other part of the United States or between Alaska and any other part of the United States; or
(2)for supplies (including equipment) or repair of (A) vessels of war of any foreign nation, or (B) foreign vessels employed in the fisheries or in the whaling business, or actually engaged in foreign trade or trade between the United States and any of its possessions, or between Hawaii and any other part of the United States or between Alaska and any other part of the United States, where such trade by foreign vessels is permitted; or
(3)for supplies (including equipment), ground equipment, maintenance, or repair of aircraft registered in any foreign country and actually engaged in foreign trade or trade between the United States and any of its possessions, or between Hawaii and any other part of the United States or between Alaska and any other part of the United States, where trade by foreign aircraft is permitted. With respect to articles for ground equipment, the exemption hereunder shall apply only to duties and to taxes imposed upon or by reason of importation.
(b)Articles withdrawn from bonded warehouses, bonded manufacturing warehouses, continuous customs custody elsewhere than in a bonded warehouse, or from a foreign-trade zone, imported articles, and articles of domestic manufacture or production, laden as supplies upon any such vessel or aircraft of the United States or laden as supplies (including equipment) upon, or used in the maintenance or repair of, any such foreign vessel or aircraft, shall be considered to be exported within the meaning of the drawback provisions of this chapter.
(c)Any article exempted from duty or tax, or in respect of which drawback has been allowed, under this section or section 1317 of this title and thereafter removed in the United States from any vessel or aircraft, or otherwise returned to the United States, shall be treated as an importation from a foreign country.
(d)The privileges granted by this section and section 1317 of this title in respect of aircraft registered in a foreign country shall be allowed only if the Secretary of the Treasury shall have been advised by the Secretary of Commerce that he has found that such foreign country allows, or will allow, substantially reciprocal privileges in respect of aircraft registered in the United States. If the Secretary of Commerce shall advise the Secretary of the Treasury that he has found that a foreign country has discontinued, or will discontinue, the allowance of such privileges, the privileges granted by this section and such section 1317 shall not apply thereafter in respect of aircraft registered in that foreign country.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in act Oct. 3, 1913, ch. 16, § IV, K, 38 Stat. 197, which superseded a like provision made by an amendment of R.S. § 2982, by the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of Aug. 5, 1909, ch. 6, § 21, 36 Stat. 88. Section IV, K, of the act of 1913, and R.S. § 2982 were superseded by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title III, § 309, 42 Stat. 938, and respectively repealed by section 321 and 642 thereof. section 309 of the act of 1922 was superseded by section 309 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.
Amendments
1990—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101–382 inserted “imported articles,” after “foreign-trade zone,”. 1960—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 86–606 inserted “, or between Hawaii and any other part of the United States or between Alaska and any other part of the United States” after “possessions” wherever appearing, and made the provisions for free withdrawals inapplicable to petroleum products for vessels or aircraft in voyages or flights between Hawaii or Alaska and any airport or Pacific coast seaport of the United States. 1953—Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 8, 1953, extended the exemption from payment of duty and internal revenue tax theretofore available to supplies for certain vessels and aircraft withdrawn from bonded warehouses, bonded manufacturing warehouses, or continuous customs custody elsewhere to supplies withdrawn from foreign trade zones; accorded free entry for equipment withdrawn for foreign vessels; and enlarged the classes of vessels and aircraft theretofore covered to include all vessels and aircraft operated by the United States. Subsec. (b). Act Aug. 8, 1953, made technical changes to conform with the changes made by such act in subsec. (a), including insertion of “or from a foreign-trade zone,”. 1941—Subsec. (a). Act
July 22, 1941, inserted “or from any internal-revenue bonded warehouse, from any brewery, or from any winery premises or bonded premises for the storage of wine, free of internal-revenue tax” after “internal-revenue tax”. 1938—Act
June 25, 1938, amended section generally, adding subsecs. (c) and (d).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1990 Amendment Pub. L. 101–382, title III, § 484A(c), Aug. 20, 1990, 104 Stat. 708, provided that: “Notwithstanding section 514 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1514) or any other provision of law, the
Amendments
made by this section [amending this section and section 1313 of this title] shall apply to— “(1) claims filed or liquidated on or after January 1, 1988, and “(2) claims that are unliquidated, under protest, or in litigation on the date of enactment of this Act [Aug. 20, 1990].”
Effective Date
of 1960 Amendment Pub. L. 86–606, § 5(b),
July 7, 1960, 74 Stat. 361, provided that: “The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall apply only with respect to articles withdrawn as provided in section 309(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended [subsec. (a) of this section], on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [
July 7, 1960].”
Effective Date
of 1953 Amendment;
Savings Provision
Amendment by act Aug. 8, 1953, effective on and after thirtieth day following Aug. 8, 1953, and
Savings Provision
, see notes set out under section 1304 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1938 AmendmentAmendment by act
June 25, 1938, effective on thirtieth day following
June 25, 1938, except as otherwise specifically provided, see section 37 of act
June 25, 1938, set out as a note under section 1401 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
19 U.S.C. § 1309
Title 19 — Customs Duties
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73