19 U.S.C. § 144a — Entry under bond of exhibits of arts, sciences, and industries, and products of soil, mine, and sea

submitted 94 years ago by ch. 511 to r/title-19-CUSTOMS-DUTIES · 454 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This law lets goods imported only for display at Rockefeller Center exhibitions enter free of tariffs and customs duties. The Secretary of the Treasury sets the rules. Items can be sold after display, but sold or withdrawn goods must pay any duty owed. Unsold items become dutiable after two years unless sold or exported first.

This section covers goods brought into the United States from other countries only to be shown or displayed at exhibitions of arts, sciences, industries, and products of soil, mine, and sea. These exhibitions must be held by Rockefeller Center (Incorporated), a New York corporation, or by its tenants or licensees, in a building that is or becomes part of Rockefeller Center, located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and Forty-eighth and Fifty-first Streets in Manhattan. Such goods, even if they would normally owe a tariff or customs duty, are let into the country free of that tariff, duty, fee, or charge. This happens under rules the Secretary of the Treasury sets. It is legal to sell, for delivery once the exhibition ends, any goods that were imported for and actually shown at the exhibition. This sale must follow Treasury rules meant to protect government revenue and to make sure import duties get collected. Any such goods that are sold, or taken out for use or consumption in the United States, must pay whatever duty applies under the tax laws in effect on the date they are taken out, and must meet the tariff laws in effect on that date. For customs purposes only, Rockefeller Center (Incorporated) is treated as the single "consignee" — the official recipient — of everything imported under this section. Rockefeller Center must also pay the Treasury for necessary government expenses caused by these exhibitions, including the salaries of customs officers assigned to watch over the imported goods, following rules the Secretary of the Treasury sets. Any goods that are not sold or exported within two years become subject to the regular import duty at that point. Nothing in this section is meant to invite, directly or indirectly, any foreign government, state, city, company, group, or person to import goods just to show them at these exhibitions.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

All articles which shall be imported from foreign countries for the sole purpose of exhibition or display at a permanent exhibition or exhibitions and/or at a temporary exhibition or exhibitions of the arts, sciences, and industries, and products of the soil, mine, and sea, to be held at any time and from time to time by Rockefeller Center (Incorporated), a corporation organized under the laws of the State of New York, and/or by its tenants or licensees in a building or buildings to be owned by Rockefeller Center (Incorporated), and to be a part of and to be known as Rockefeller Center and to be located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and Forty-eighth and Fifty-first Streets, in the Borough of Manhattan, city and State of New York, upon which articles there shall be a tariff or customs duty, shall be admitted free of such tariff, customs duty, fees, or charges under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe; but it shall be lawful, at any time during or at the close of any exhibition held pursuant to this section, to sell for delivery at the close thereof any goods or property imported for and actually displayed at such exhibition, subject to such regulations for the security of the revenue and for the collection of import duties as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe: Provided, That all such articles, when sold or withdrawn for consumption or use in the United States, shall be subject to the duty, if any, imposed upon such articles by the revenue laws in force at the date of their withdrawal and to the requirements of the tariff laws in effect at such date: And provided further, That Rockefeller Center (Incorporated) shall be deemed, for customs purposes only, to be the sole consignee of all merchandise imported under the provisions of this section, and that all necessary governmental expenses incurred as a result of exhibitions authorized under this section, including salaries of customs officials in charge of imported articles, shall be paid to the Treasury of the United States by Rockefeller Center (Incorporated) under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury: And provided further, That all such articles shall, at the expiration of two years, be subject to the impost duty then in force, unless the same shall have been sold or exported from this country prior to that period of time: And provided further, That nothing in this section contained shall be construed as an invitation, express or implied, from the Government of the United States to any foreign government, state, municipality, corporation, partnership, or individual to import any articles for the purpose of exhibition at the said exhibitions.

Source credit: (July 19, 1932, ch. 511, 47 Stat. 705.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1932Enacted · Act of July 19, 1932, ch. 511 · 47 Stat. 705

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 511 on 1932-07-19.

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