Court of International Trade Rules on Duty Free Treatment of Cargo Vans converted to Motorhomes

In an interesting ruling this week, the court of international trade ruled that cargo vans, which were imported into Canada to be altered into motorhomes, are not eligible for duty free treatment if sold back into the United States.

These vans were outfitted with subfloors, restrooms, and kitchenettes, and then sent back into the US with the associated tariff of 9802.00.50 as alterations.  US Customs liquidated these shipments this week as dutiable at 2.5%.

This ruling was supported by the section of the regulations that states the alteration cannot, “destroy the essential characteristics of, or create a new or commercially different good from, the good exported from the United States.”