Main Idea: Subheading 9817.60.0000 provides a significant duty-saving opportunity for importers, so long that the subheading’s very specific requirements are met.

In ruling N273612 (Mar. 31, 2016), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discussed the tariff classification of various equipment and goods used for the Copa América Centenario, referred to in English as the 2016 Centennial Copa America. The Centennial Copa America was an international men’s football (soccer) tournament held in the United States in celebration of the centenary of CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation) and the Copa América (Spanish and Portuguese for America Cup).   The items under review included the following:

  • Soccer goals, nets, balls, stadium seating, food for team/family members, display racks;
  • Audio/media equipment;
  • Uniforms/banners/pictures;
  • Furniture/Office equipment;
  • Promotional materials tied to the event;
  • Timing equipment;
  • Venue equipment and materials to run the event, such as whistles, stretchers;
  • Medical/Training materials such as bandages;
  • Sponsor’s goods, materials and equipment to run the event;
  • Team training materials, equipment, tools, uniforms or accessories required for use or to be used to execute the games;
  • Hospitality items that assist an accredited member in displaying the culture of their country, team, sport or bid for future hosting of the event;
  • Broadcasters and Media accredited parties’ material, equipment and goods needed or used in conjunction with the event; and
  • Personal items of the accredited family members.

CBP considered whether the equipment and goods are classified under subheading 9817.60.0000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which allows, in part, for duty free importation of articles not intended for sale or distribution to the public, but belonging to participants, officials, accredited members, teams and delegations of an international athletic event held in the United States.  Specifically, subheading 9817.60.0000 provides:

“Any of the following articles not intended for sale or distribution to the public: personal effects of aliens who are participants in, officials of, or accredited members of delegations to, an international athletic event held in the United States, such as the Olympics and Paralympics, the Goodwill Games, the Special Olympics World Games, the World Cup Soccer Games, or any similar international athletic event as the Secretary of the Treasury may determine, and of persons who are immediate family members of or servants to any of the foregoing persons; equipment and materials imported in connection with any such foregoing event by or on behalf of the foregoing persons or the organizing committee of such an event, articles to be used in exhibitions depicting the culture of a country participating in such an event; and, if consistent with the foregoing, such other articles as the Secretary of the Treasury may allow.”

CBP found that the 2016 Centennial Copa America tournament was an international sporting competition viewed by millions around the world, and qualified as an international athletic (sport) event under subheading 9817.60.0000, HTSUS.  As such, CBP determined that the equipment and goods were classifiable under subheading 9817.60.0000, HTSUS.  The rate of duty is free.  Additionally, per U.S. Note 8, Subchapter XVII, Chapter 98, HTSUS, CBP noted that while the articles would be free of taxes and fees that may otherwise be applicable, they were not exempt or excluded from routine or other inspections as may be required by CBP.

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Photo of Simeon Yerokun Simeon Yerokun

imeon Yerokun is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s International Trade group and based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He advises clients on all areas of import regulatory compliance, trade remedies, and international trade litigation.

Simeon has extensive experience counseling companies in

imeon Yerokun is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s International Trade group and based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He advises clients on all areas of import regulatory compliance, trade remedies, and international trade litigation.

Simeon has extensive experience counseling companies in the areas of business and human rights law, including compliance with global anti-forced labor and human rights requirements. He regularly represents companies before U.S. government agencies on forced labor-related matters, including securing the release of goods detained and seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He also offers deep experience assisting companies in mapping their supply chains, including linking imported products back to their raw materials using enterprise software and other inventory management audit tools. Simeon is highly accomplished in forced labor supply chain mapping and risk assessments, as well as verifying due diligence efforts with on-the-ground visits to client facilities, incorporating third-party intelligence and audit resources.

Simeon’s experience also covers a broad spectrum of trade and customs issues, including those related to import regulatory compliance matters such as valuation, classification, duty drawback, marking and labeling, entry procedures, and penalties; free trade agreements; antidumping and countervailing duty issues; trade litigation; intellectual property issues such as trademark and copyright infringement; the enforcement of exclusion orders issued by the International Trade Commission (ITC); steel and aluminum tariffs under the Section 232 National Security Investigation; and the additional tariffs on products from China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Additionally, Simeon handles antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations before the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) under the Tariff Act of 1930, and litigation involving the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT).

Prior to joining Crowell, Simeon was a trade and finance attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and before that, he served as counsel to Commissioner Irving A. Williamson at the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Simeon is a proud graduate of Howard University School of Law, where he served as technical editor of the school’s Human Rights and Globalization Law Review.

Photo of Emily Devereaux Emily Devereaux

Emily Devereaux is a senior international trade analyst I in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. She provides practice support to the International Trade Group on import regulatory matters pending before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and U.S. Customs and

Emily Devereaux is a senior international trade analyst I in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. She provides practice support to the International Trade Group on import regulatory matters pending before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). She works closely with attorneys developing courses of action for clients impacted by investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. She also supports unfair trade investigations, including antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations, sunset reviews, and changed circumstance reviews before the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission (ITC).