§55107 Empty Cargo Containers and Barges

Summary

The Secretary of Homeland Security can say that a general transportation rule does not apply when certain empty containers and related gear are being moved. That covers five kinds of items: empty cargo or lift vans and empty shipping tanks; gear used with those containers; empty barges built to be carried on a ship and their non‑propulsion gear; empty instruments used in international traffic that are exempt from customs law; and stevedoring equipment and material. The first four kinds only qualify if the ship owner or operator owns or leases them and moves them for the ship’s use in handling cargo in foreign trade. Stevedoring gear only qualifies if it is owned or leased by the ship owner/operator or the contracted stevedoring company and is moved without charge for handling foreign‑trade cargo. For foreign ships, the Secretary must find, using information from the Secretary of State, that the foreign government gives the same privileges to U.S. ships.