Title 19, Customs DutiesRelease 119-102
§1588 Transportation Between American Ports Via Foreign Ports
Title 19 › CHAPTER 4 — TARIFF ACT OF 1930 › SUBTITLE III — ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Part V — Enforcement Provisions › § 1588
Summary
If goods are loaded in a U.S. port onto a ship owned wholly or partly by someone from another country, and those goods are taken to a foreign port to be reloaded and then sent to a different U.S. port to dodge rules about moving cargo between U.S. ports on foreign ships, the goods will be seized and lost to the United States. The vessel must also pay a tonnage duty of 50 cents per net ton.
Full Legal Text
Title 19, §1588
Customs Duties, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
If any merchandise is laden at any port or place in the United States upon any vessel belonging wholly or in part to a subject of a foreign country, and is taken thence to a foreign port or place to be reladen and reshipped to any other port in the United States, either by the same or by another vessel, foreign or American, with intent to evade the provisions relating to the transportation of merchandise from one port or place of the United States to another port or place of the United States in a vessel belonging wholly or in part to a subject of any foreign power, the merchandise shall, on its arrival at such last-named port or place, be seized and forfeited to the United States, and the vessel shall pay a tonnage duty of 50 cents per net ton.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
19 U.S.C. § 1588
Title 19, Customs Duties
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102