Title 46ShippingRelease 119-73

§60502 Discriminating duty on goods imported in foreign vessels or from contiguous countries

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle VI— - Clearance, Tonnage Taxes, and Duties › Chapter CHAPTER 605— - DISCRIMINATING DUTIES AND RECIPROCAL PRIVILEGES › § 60502

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires an extra duty equal to 10 percent of a good’s value, on top of other duties, in two cases. First, when the goods arrive on a ship that is not a U.S. vessel, unless the ship is allowed into U.S. ports by law or treaty or is owned only by U.S. citizens and becomes documented as a U.S. ship before leaving the port. Second, when the goods were made in a country that does not border the United States and are brought in from a bordering country, unless they are brought in through normal retail trade. If the extra duty is not paid, the goods and the ship can be seized and kept by the U.S. government.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §60502

Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A discriminating duty of 10 percent ad valorem (in addition to other duties imposed by law) is imposed on goods—
(1)imported in a vessel not of the United States unless the vessel—
(A)is entitled by law or treaty to enter the ports of the United States on payment of the same duties as are payable on goods imported in a vessel of the United States; or
(B)(i)is owned only by citizens of the United States; and
(ii)after entering a port of the United States, becomes documented as a vessel of the United States before leaving that port; or
(2)produced or manufactured in a foreign country not contiguous to the United States and imported from a country contiguous to the United States, unless imported in the usual course of strictly retail trade.
(b)If goods are imported without payment of the duty required by this section, the goods and the vessel in which they are imported may be seized by, and forfeited to, the United States Government.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 60502(a)19:128.Oct. 3, 1913, ch. 16, § IV(J)(1), 38 Stat. 196; Mar. 15, 1915, ch. 171, § 1, 38 Stat. 1193; Pub. L. 103–182, title VI, § 689(a)(1), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2222. 46 App.:146. 60502(b)19:130 (last sentence related to 19:128).Oct. 3, 1913, ch. 16, § IV(J)(2), 38 Stat. 196. In this section, the word “goods” is substituted for “goods, wares, or merchandise” to eliminate unnecessary words. In subsection (a)(1), subparagraphs (A) and (B) are substituted for “but this discriminating duty shall not apply to goods, wares, or merchandise which shall be imported in vessels not of the United States entitled at the time of such importation by treaty or convention or Act of Congress to be entered in the ports of the United States on payment of the same duties as shall then be payable on goods, wares, and merchandise imported in vessels of the United States, nor to goods, wares, and merchandise imported in a vessel owned by citizens of the United States but not a vessel of the United States if such vessel after entering an American port shall, before leaving the same, be documented under chapter 121 of title 46” to eliminate unnecessary words. Subsection (a)(2) is substituted for “or which being the production or manufacture of any foreign country not contiguous to the United States, shall come into the United States from such contiguous country” and “but this discriminating duty shall not apply . . . nor to such products or manufactures as shall be imported from such contiguous countries in the usual course of strictly retail trade” to eliminate unnecessary words. Subsection (b) is substituted for the source provision for consistency with section 60501(d) and to eliminate unnecessary words. See note for section 60501(d) in this report.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 60502

Title 46Shipping

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73