What you need to know: Agricultural Use Provisions
Generally, the goods covered by headings 9817.00.50 and 9817.00.60, HTSUS are articles which are used for agricultural purposes but which are not already classified under a duty-free agricultural provision.
These two provisions of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) are:
- 9817.00.50 – Machinery, equipment and implements to be used for agricultural or horticultural purposes
and
- 9817.00.60 – Parts to be used in articles provided for in headings 8432, 8433, 8434 and 8436, whether or not such parts are principally used as parts of such articles and whether or not covered by a special provision within the meaning of additional U.S. rule of interpretation 1(c)
An article must satisfy the statutory requirements set forth in Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(b), HTSUS, which reads as follows:
A tariff classification controlled by the actual use to which the imported goods are put in the United States is satisfied only if such use is intended at the time of importation, the goods are so used and proof thereof is furnished within 3 years after the date the goods are entered.
It is imperative that the primary classification of a good must be established before proceeding with the rest of the process. Without this classification, it cannot be determined whether the article qualifies for consideration under heading 9817.00.50 or 9817.00.60, HTSUS.
THE THREE-PART TEST
CBP requires that before an article can be classified in either of these headings the following three-part test must be applied:
1) The articles must not be among the list of exclusions to heading 9817.00.50 or 9817.00.60 under Section XXII, Chapter 98, Subchapter XVII, U.S. Note 2;
2) The terms of heading 9817.00.50 or 9817.00.60 must be met in accordance with GRI 1; and
3) The merchandise must meet the actual use conditions required in accordance with sections 10.131-10.139 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR §§10.131-10.139). A good must satisfy each part of the test. If a good fails any part of the test, then it is treated according to its primary classification.
PART 1 – EXCLUSIONS
The first and easiest part of the test requires referral to the long list of articles which are excluded from consideration under heading 9817.00.50 or 9817.00.60, HTSUS. This list is found in Section XXII, Chapter 98, Subchapter XVII, U.S. Note 2, which reads as follows:
The provisions of headings 9817.00.50 and 9817.00.60 do not apply to:
(a) articles provided for in chapter 25;
(b) articles provided for in subheading 3212.10;
(c) articles provided for in subheading 3926.90.30;
(d) articles of leather or of fur on the skin;
(e) articles of textile material;
(f) articles provided for in section XIII (except heading 6808 and subheadings 6809.11, 7018.10, 7018.90, 7019.40, 7019.51, 7019.52 and 7019.59);
(g) articles provided for in chapter 71;
(h) articles provided for in chapter 72;
(ij) articles provided for in chapter 73 (except subheadings 7308.10, 7308.20, 7308.40 and 7308.90, subheadings 7315.81 through 7315.89, subheadings 7319.40, 7325.10, 7325.91, 7326.11 and 7326.19);
(k) articles provided for in chapter 74 (except subheadings 7419.10 and 7419.91);
(l) articles provided for in chapter 75;
(m) articles provided for in chapter 76 (except heading 7610);
(n) articles provided for in chapter 78;
(o) articles provided for in chapter 79 (except gutters, roof capping, skylight frames and other fabricated building components, of zinc);
(p) articles provided for in chapter 80;
(q) articles provided for in chapter 81 (except subheadings 8101.99 and 8102.99);
(r) articles provided for in chapter 82;
(s) articles provided for in chapter 83;
(t) articles provided for in subheadings 8419.81.50, 8419.81.90, 8427.10, 8427.20, 8427.90 and 8431.20, headings 8432, 8433 and 8434, subheadings 8435.10 and 8435.90, heading 8436, subheadings 8438.80, 8468.10, 8472.90.40 and 8479.89, subheadings 8482.10.10 through 8482.99.65 (other than subheading 8482.91) and subheadings 8483.10.50 and 8485.10;
(u) articles provided for in chapter 85 (except subheadings 8519.81.20, heading 8523, subheadings 8532.90 and 8539.90, heading 8542, subheadings 8543.11 through 8543.30, subheadings 8543.70.60, 8543.70.80; 8543.70.85; 8543.70.92; 8543.70.96, 8543.89.93, 8543.90, 8544.70, 8546.90, 8547.20 and 8548.90);
(v) articles provided for in chapter 86;
(w) articles provided for in chapter 87 (except bicycles and other cycles, not motorized, and parts thereof), but interchangeable agricultural and horticultural implements are classifiable in subheading 9817.00.50 even if mounted at the time of importation on a tractor provided for in chapter 87;
(x) articles provided for in chapter 88 (except heading 8805);
(y) articles provided for in chapter 89 (except headings 8901, 8902 and 8904, subheadings 8905.10 and 8905.20, and headings 8907 and 8908);
(z) articles provided for in subheadings 9006.69.01, 9032.89.20, 9032.89.40, 9032.90.20 and 9032.90.40;
(aa) articles provided for in subheadings 9101.19.20, 9102.12, 9102.91.20, 9103.10.20, 9104.00.05 and 9104.00.45;
(ab) articles provided for in heading 9405 (except subheadings 9405.60.60 and 9405.92); (ac) articles provided for in subheadings 9505.10.10, 9506.21.40 and 9506.21.80; (ad) articles provided for in subheading 9603.50.00, headings 9604.00.00 and 9605.00.00 and subheading 9616.10.00; or
(ae) articles provided for in heading 9705.
PART 2 – HEADING TEXT
The second part of the test calls for the merchandise to be included within the terms of heading 9817, HTSUS, as required by application of GRI 1. For heading 9817.00.50, HTSUS, this means that the good must be “machinery”, “equipment” or “implements” used for “agricultural or horticultural purposes”.
Heading 9817.00.50
Machine: A mechanically, electrically or electronically operated device for performing a task.
Equipment: The set of articles or physical resources serving to equip a person or thing: as the implements used in an operation or activity.
Implement: 1. An article serving to equip. 2. a device used in performance of a task.
Agriculture: The science, art, and practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock.
Horticulture: The science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants.
Heading 9817.00.60
“Parts:” which are (2) intended for use in articles provided for in headings 8432, 8433, 8434 and 8436. A “part” is “an integral, constituent, or component part, without which the article to which it is to be joined, could not function as such article.” Further, “imported item dedicated solely for use with another article is a ‘part’ of that article within the meaning of the HTSUS.”
Part 3 – Actual Use Certification
The last part of the test calls for compliance with the regulatory requirements governing actual use provisions. What this means is that a good which is not excluded by the Notes covering heading 9817.00.50 or 9817.00.60, HTSUS, and which satisfies the terms of the relevant headings, will qualify for the duty-free benefit of those headings, if the importer can certify that:
- At the time of importation, the article is intended for agricultural or horticultural use;
- The article is so used; and
- Proof of use is furnished within 3 years after the date the article is entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption.
Actual use is required for agricultural or horticultural purposes in an agricultural or horticultural setting.
Certification Process under 9817.00.50
The intended use at the time of importation must be evidenced by a declaration of intent which is filed with the entry for consumption or for warehouse or, by entering the proper actual use subheading of the HTSUS on the entry form.
Proof of actual used must be submitted within 3 years from the date of entry or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption, the importer shall submit in duplicate in support of his claim for free entry or for a reduced rate of duty a certificate executed by:
(1) the superintendent or manager of the manufacturing plant, or
(2) the individual end-user or other person having knowledge of the actual use of the imported article.
A blanket certificate covering all purchases of a given type of merchandise from a particular importer during a given period, or all such purchases with specified exceptions, may be accepted for this purpose, provided the importer shall furnish a statement showing in detail, in such a manner as to be readily identified with each entry, the merchandise which he sold to such manufacturer or end-user during such period.
The burden of satisfying the actual use certification requirement is on the importer. Certification of actual use may be accepted at the time of importation for an entry of articles if those articles are the subject of an existing contract of sale to an appropriate end user.
Certification of Parts under Heading 9817.00.60
Certification of actual use from importers and manufacturers of parts of machinery of headings 8432, 8433, 8434 or 8436, HTSUS, may be made after the imported parts are used in the assembly or manufacture of that machinery. Acceptable accounting procedures must be used to identify the actual use of the goods. Replacement parts for goods of the specified headings may be certified by an importer if he shows evidence that the parts are specifically designed for the machines of the named headings, that other uses are fugitive, and that the parts have been sold to other distributors of the replacement parts or to actual end users.
Recordkeeping
Certifications submitted for each entry must be capable of substantiation by evidence of use that is acceptable to the CBP officer and verifiable from the importer’s records or the records of a certifying person which are available to CBP through the importer. This information must be kept for a three-year period following the liquidation of the entry (19 CFR §10.137).
Additional information can be found through the following source materials:
Agricultural Actual Use Provisions Informed Compliance Publication