HQ 114952 - Instruments of International Traffic; Canadian-based Trucks; 19 U.S.C. § 1322 - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 114952

March 20, 2000

BOR-4-04-RR:IT:EC 114952 GEV

CATEGORY: CARRIER

Jeremy Kahn, Esq.
Kahn and Kahn
1730 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.
Suite 810
Washington, D.C. 20036

RE: Instruments of International Traffic; Canadian-based Trucks; 19 U.S.C. § 1322

Dear Mr. Kahn:

This is in response to your letter dated February 11, 2000, on behalf of a Canadian domiciled international trucking company, J.E. Fortin Inc. (“Fortin”), of St. Bernard de Lacoll, Québec, Canada (MC-119103), requesting a ruling as to the permissibility of a particular international round-trip move under 19 CFR § 123.14. Our ruling on this matter is set forth below:

FACTS:

Fortin plans to engage in international service, on an ongoing basis, using a Canadian tractor and trailer for the entire move. The tractor and trailer will both bear the appropriate license plates as required by the Province of Québec, where they are domiciled.

The round-trip move will consist of the following: (1) picking up a load of freight in the vicinity of Montréal, Québec, for transportation to destination in Florida; (2) picking up a load of freight in Florida for transportation to destination in the metropolitan area of an East Coast United States city, such as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New York, New York, or Boston, Massachusetts; and (3) picking up a load of freight in the same metropolitan area for transportation to destination in the Montreal area. The entire international round-trip movement will be performed with the same tractor and trailer.

In regard to the move under consideration, Fortin is aware that the driver must be admissible under the applicable laws and rules of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). For purposes of this inquiry, it is assumed that the driver of the above-described round-trip movement is admissible under INS rules.

ISSUE:

Whether the use of a Canadian-based truck in the United States as described above is violative of 19 CFR § 123.14.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 141.4, Customs Regulations (19 CFR § 141.4), provides that entry as required by title 19, United States Code, §1484(a) (19 U.S.C. §1484(a)), shall be made of every importation whether free or dutiable and regardless of value, except for intangibles and articles specifically exempted by law or regulations from the requirements for entry. Since Canadian trucks are not so exempted, they are subject to entry and payment of any applicable duty.

Vehicles and other instruments of international traffic may be entered without entry and payment of duty under the provisions of 19 U.S.C. §1322. To qualify as instruments of international traffic, trucks having their principal base of operations in a foreign country must be arriving in the United States with merchandise destined for points in the United states, or arriving empty or loaded for the purpose of taking merchandise out of the United States (see 19 CFR § 123.14(a)). It is Customs position that a foreign truck tractor which arrives in the United States in international traffic towing a foreign trailer, either empty or loaded, constitutes a foreign “truck” as that term is used in §§123.14(a), (b), and (c)(1) (19 CFR §§123.14(a), (b), and (c)(1)).

Furthermore, certain foreign-based vehicles engaged, in whole or in part, in the domestic carriage of merchandise that either originates from a location outside the United States or will be subsequently moved to a destination outside the United States, or such vehicles moving without a payload between two points in the same country, shall be considered as engaged in international traffic. (See Customs Bulletin of October 1, 1997, Vol. 31, No. 40, at pp. 7-13.)

Section 10.41(d), Customs Regulations (19 CFR § 10.41(d)), provides, in part, that any foreign-owned vehicle brought into the United States as an element of a commercial transaction, except as
provided in §123.14(c) (pertaining to the use of foreign-based vehicles in local traffic in the United States), is subject to treatment as an importation of merchandise from a foreign country and a regular entry therefor shall be made.

Pursuant to §123.14(c)(1), Customs Regulations (19 CFR §123.14(c)(1)), as amended by T.D. 99-10, a Canadian-based vehicle “may carry merchandisebetween points in the United States if such carriage is incidental to the immediately prior or subsequent engagement of that vehicle in international traffic.” This regulatory provision further provides that, “[a]ny such carriage by the vehicle in the general direction of an export move or as part of the return of the vehicle to its base country shall be considered incidental to its engagement in international traffic.”

With respect to the round-trip move under consideration, the Canadian truck would be arriving in the United States from Canada with merchandise destined to Florida. Consequently, the truck would qualify as an instrument of international traffic pursuant to 19 CFR §123.14(a). The subsequent immediate use of the truck to carry a load of freight from Florida to a destination in the metropolitan area of an East Coast United States city such as Philadelphia, New York or Boston where it picks up a load destined to the Montréal area would be local traffic incidental to its engagement in international traffic in view of the fact that such carriage would be in the general direction of an export move and/or part of the return of the vehicle to its base country. A round-trip itinerary such as this would be in compliance with 19 CFR §123.14(c)(1).

In addition, we note your request for confirmation that the regulations of the U.S. Customs Service do not apply to the nature of the license plates on the Canadian tractor and trailer in question. In particular, you ask that we confirm that Customs does not have any rules or regulations or even jurisdiction over the license plates on the tractor and trailer and that any such rules or regulations would be under the jurisdiction of other state, provincial, and/or Federal government agencies.

Notwithstanding any jurisdiction over a vehicle’s license plates that may be within the purview of other United States Federal, state or local agencies, Customs is nonetheless charged with enforcing numerous laws administered by such agencies in view of our presence at the border. As part of the mission of Customs at

United States border crossing points, any improprieties concerning vehicle license plate requirements cited by Customs would be referred to the appropriate agency.

HOLDING:

The use of a Canadian-based truck in the United States as described above is not violative of 19 U.S.C. § 123.14.

Sincerely,

Acting Chief

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