Instruments of International Traffic; 19 U.S.C. § 1322(a); 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a; Solotech U.S. Corporation; Road Cases, Rack Sleeves, Briefcases, and Flight Cases

H351300 April 17, 2026 OT:RR:BSTC:CCR H351300 CBC CATEGORY: Carriers Annie Lavallée Solotech U.S., Corp. 1717 Diplomacy Row Orlando, FL 32809 VIA EMAIL: annie.lavallee@solotech.com RE: Instruments of International Traffic; 19 U.S.C. § 1322(a); 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a; Solotech U.S. Corporation; Road Cases, Rack Sleeves, Briefcases, and Flight Cases Dear Ms. Lavallée: This is in response to your January 29, 2025, request for a ruling pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 177.2, on behalf of Solotech U.S., Corp., (“Solotech”) that certain road cases, rack sleeves, brief- cases, and flight cases (“cases”) 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”). FACTS: The following facts are from your ruling request and ucts have a lifespan of between ten to fifteen years.1 supplements thereto. All four prod- The subject “road cases (rack cases) con- structed of plywood and aluminum double angle are designed to provide storage, protection, portability, and organization to electronic equipment. The interior is specifically fitted for elec- tronic equipment.” There are 23,321 in circulation. They are currently classified in 4202.12.2020, HTSUS, and pictured below. 1 Annie Lavallée, RE: N345501 Cases as IIT (Apr. 10, 2026). The subject U “rack sleeve[s] (constructed of plywood) are designed to provide storage, protection, portability, and organization to electronic equipment.” There are 3,872 in circulation. They are currently classified in 4202.12.2020, HTSUS, and pictured below. The subject briefcases are plastic and “designed to provide storage, protection, portabil- ity, and organization to electronic equipment.” They are currently classified in 4202.12.2020, HTSUS, and pictured below. 2 The subject “flight cases are designed to provide storage, protection, portability, and or- ganization to electronic equipment. The interior is specifically fitted for electronic equipment.” They are currently classified in 4202.12.2020, HTSUS, and pictured below. Between the briefcases and flight cases, there are 9,922 in circulation. Additionally, you state that: Solotech is a world-renowned high-end technology company, providing the best technical equipment for International Artist Touring the planet. We provide Audio, Video, Lighting, and rig- ging equipment, to light up the stage of such Artists as Elton John, Harry Styles, Madonna, Aerosmith Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Ad- ele, Luke Bryan and many more. We are shipping our material into road cases. These road cases are used repeatedly. In an oral conversation on March 31, 2026,2 you clarified that your request is not in- tended to cover cases imported for sale in the United States, that the cases historically have been entered for temporary admission under bond as equipment for musical performances, and that you have a direct and demonstrable interest in obtaining an IIT designation to avoid the adminis- trative burden of formally entering each shipment under single-transaction bonds.3 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.”).4 The four exceptions to the requirement of entry are 2 See 19 C.F.R. § 177.4(a) (“[T]he parties will not be bound by any argument or position . . . unless either party sub- sequently agrees to be so bound in writing.”). 3 IIT are exempt from entry, 19 C.F.R. § 141.4(b)(3); exempt from the Jones Act when empty, 19 C.F.R. § 4.93(a)(1); and eligible for a continuous bond, 19 C.F.R. § 113.66. 4 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 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: (1) Imported empty and not within the purview of a provi- sion which specifically exempts them from duty; or (2) Imported containing or holding articles, and which are not of a kind normally sold therewith or are entered separately 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 Treasury5 .” Pub. L. No. 243-397, § 14, 67 Stat. 507, 516; see 19 U.S.C. § 1322(a). “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).6 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 5 While “instruments of international traffic” include “containers” and “accessories,” they are subject to entry once “diverted into domestic use.” Sea-Land Serv. v. United States, 920 F.2d 922, 923 (Fed. Cir. 1990); 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a(d). 6 Section 127 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984, Implementation of the customs convention on containers, 1972, removed the qualification that the “exemption” in Section 322(a) was “traditional,” and revised duty-free treatment of “accessories” in the tariff schedules. Pub. L. No. 98-573, 98 Stat. 2948, 2959. 4 Customs Bulletin, such additional articles or classes of articles as he shall find should be so des- ignated.” 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.7 (“Convention”). So defined: [T]he term “container” shall mean an article of transport equip- ment (lift-van, movable tank or other similar structure): (i) fully or partially enclosed to constitute a compartment in- tended for containing goods; (ii) of a permanent character and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use; (iii)specially designed to facilitate the carriage of goods, by one or more modes of transport, without intermediate reloading; (iv) designed for ready handling, particularly when being trans- ferred from one mode of transport to another; (v) designed to be easy to fill and to empty; and (vi)? having an internal volume of one cubic metre or more; the term “container” shall include the accessories and equip-ment of the container, appropriate for the type concerned, pro-vided that such accessories and equipment are carried with the container. The term “container” shall not include vehicles, ac- cessories or spare parts of vehicles, or packaging. Demountable bodies, are to be treated as containers.8 The term “accessories and equipment of the container” shall cover in particular the following devices, even if they are removable: (a) equipment for controlling, modifying or maintaining the temperature in- side the container; (b) small appliances, such as temperature or impact recorders, designed to indicate or record variations in environmental condi- tions and impact; (c) internal partitions, pallets, shelves, supports, hooks, and similar devices used for stowing goods.9 7 Customs Convention on Containers, 1972, 988 U.N.T.S. 43. 8 Art. 1, 338 U.N.T.S. at 104–05. 9 Annex 6, 988 U.N.T.S. at 68. 5 “The Convention reflects a national policy to remove impediments to the use of contain- ers as instruments of international traffic.” Japan Line, Ltd. v. County of Los Angeles, 441 U.S. 434, 453 (1979). The “consistent practice” “of the other signatory nations” “is persuasive evi- dence of the Conventions’ meaning.” Itel Containers Int’l Corp. v. Huddleston, 507 U.S. 60, 84 (1993) (Blackmun, J. dissenting). “Such instruments may be released without entry or the pay- ment of duty, subject to the provisions of this section.” 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a(a)(1). To qualify for entry-free and duty-free treatment as IITs under the aforementioned statu- tory and regulatory authority, the article must be a substantial container or holder. As stated above, CBP is authorized to designate as an IIT such additional articles not specifically noted in 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a(a)(1). To qualify as an IIT within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. § 1322(a) and 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a(a)(1), an article used as a container or holder must be: (1) substantial; (2) suita- ble for and capable of repeated use; and (3) used in significant numbers in international traffic. See HQ H291037 (Jan. 9, 2018); HQ H016491 (Oct. 1, 2007); HQ 114150 (Dec. 12, 1997); HQ 107545 (May 7, 1985); Treas. Dec. 7110 -159, Cust. B. & Dec. 296 (June 18, 1971); 99 Treas. Dec. 533, No. 56247 (Aug. 26, 1964). The Cases Based upon review of the submission and information provided, the cases are substantial, suitable for and capable of repeated use, and used in significant numbers in international traffic. With respect to the road cases, “CBP has classified plywood reinforced with metal as substan- tial.”11 With respect to the rack sleeves, we have “held that cut-out plywood dividers . . . are in- struments of international traffic.”12 The briefcases and flight cases “are substantial inasmuch as they are made of outer case of hard plastic with a hinged lid and latched closure.”13 They are used in significant numbers in international traffic, sand for each category.14 37,115 combined, and at least several thou- 15 They are suitable for and capable of reuse with an expected lifespan of ten to fifteen years. Based on the foregoing, the cases are designated as IITs; therefore, they qualify for entry-free and duty-free treatment as IITs pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a(a)(1). 10 The requirement that an article be “substantial” is not only a threshold requirement under 9803.00.50, but also a requirement for an article to be an instrument of international traffic pursuant to CBP decisions. The origin for the criterion found in CBP decisions that an article be “substantial” is found in Schedule 8, Item 808.00 of the Tariff Schedule of the United States (1963) (TSUS), the predecessor provision to 9803.00.50, HTSUS. Likewise, the crite- rion that an article be “suitable for and capable of repeated use” is found in Schedule 8, Item 808.00, TSUS, Head- note 6(b)(ii), stating that the article must be capable of “reuse.” Although the requirement that an article be capable of reuse is no longer under subheading 9803.00.50, HTSUS (the successor provision to Item 808.00, TSUS), to re- ceive duty-free treatment thereunder, nevertheless, “reuse” is still required, pursuant to CBP decisions, for an article to be considered an instrument of international traffic. 11 HQ H323388 (May 9, 2022). 12 HQ H002927 (Nov. 2, 2006); see T.D. 77-283, 11 Cust. B. & Dec. 566 (1977). 13 HQ H253807 (June 27, 2014); see HQ H303878 (July 9, 2019). 14 We have previously considered 112, HQ H030677 (July 17, 2008), 70 per week, HQ H250334 (May 19, 2014), 25 to 100 per shipment, HQ H251366 (June 4, 2014), and 30, HQ H282408 (April 12, 2017), to be significant. 15 We have previously determined “a useful life of approximately three years [to] qualify.” HQ H030677 (July 17, 2008). 6 HOLDING: The cases qualify for treatment as instruments of international traffic within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. § 1322(a) and 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a(a)(1). Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and incor- porated in the ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and com- plete in every material respect. The application of a ruling letter by a CBP field office to the transaction to which it is purported to relate is subject to the verification of the facts incorporated in the ruling letter, a comparison of the transaction described therein to the actual transaction, and the satisfaction of any conditions on which the ruling was based.” If the facts at hand vary from the facts stipulated to herein, this decision shall not be binding on CBP as provided for in 19 C.F.R. § 177.2(b)(1), (2), and (4), and § 177.9(b)(1) and (4). Sincerely yours, W. Richmond Beevers, Chief Cargo Security, Carriers, and Restricted Merchandise Branch Office of Trade, Regulations & Rulings U.S. Customs and Border Protection 7