USC - Marking of imported articles and containers

View all text of Part I [§ 1301 - § 1323]

§ 1304. Marking of imported articles and containers

(a) Marking of articlesExcept as hereinafter provided, every article of foreign origin (or its container, as provided in subsection (b) hereof) imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit in such manner as to indicate to an ultimate purchaser in the United States the English name of the country of origin of the article. The Secretary of the Treasury may by regulations—

(1) Determine the character of words and phrases or abbreviations thereof which shall be acceptable as indicating the country of origin and prescribe any reasonable method of marking, whether by printing, stenciling, stamping, branding, labeling, or by any other reasonable method, and a conspicuous place on the article (or container) where the marking shall appear;

(2) Require the addition of any other words or symbols which may be appropriate to prevent deception or mistake as to the origin of the article or as to the origin of any other article with which such imported article is usually combined subsequent to importation but before delivery to an ultimate purchaser; and

(3) Authorize the exception of any article from the requirements of marking if—

(A) Such article is incapable of being marked;

(B) Such article cannot be marked prior to shipment to the United States without injury;

(C) Such article cannot be marked prior to shipment to the United States, except at an expense economically prohibitive of its importation;

(D) The marking of a container of such article will reasonably indicate the origin of such article;

(E) Such article is a crude substance;

(F) Such article is imported for use by the importer and not intended for sale in its imported or any other form;

(G) Such article is to be processed in the United States by the importer or for his account otherwise than for the purpose of concealing the origin of such article and in such manner that any mark contemplated by this section would necessarily be obliterated, destroyed, or permanently concealed;

(H) An ultimate purchaser, by reason of the character of such article or by reason of the circumstances of its importation, must necessarily know the country of origin of such article even though it is not marked to indicate its origin;

(I) Such article was produced more than twenty years prior to its importation into the United States;

(J) Such article is of a class or kind with respect to which the Secretary of the Treasury has given notice by publication in the weekly Treasury Decisions within two years after July 1, 1937, that articles of such class or kind were imported in substantial quantities during the five-year period immediately preceding January 1, 1937, and were not required during such period to be marked to indicate their origin: Provided, That this subdivision shall not apply after September 1, 1938, to sawed lumber and timbers, telephone, trolley, electric-light, and telegraph poles of wood, and bundles of shingles; but the President is authorized to suspend the effectiveness of this proviso if he finds such action required to carry out any trade agreement entered into under the authority of sections 1351, 1352, 1353, 1354 of this title, as extended; or

(K) Such article cannot be marked after importation except at any expense which is economically prohibitive, and the failure to mark the article before importation was not due to any purpose of the importer, producer, seller, or shipper to avoid compliance with this section.

(b) Marking of containers

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no exception may be made under subsection (a)(3) with respect to pipes of iron, steel, or stainless steel, to pipe fittings of steel, stainless steel, chrome-moly steel, or cast and malleable iron each of which shall be marked with the English name of the country of origin by means of die stamping, cast-in-mold lettering, etching, engraving, or continuous paint stenciling.

(2) If, because of the nature of an article, it is technically or commercially infeasible to mark it by one of the five methods specified in paragraph (1), the article may be marked by an equally permanent method of marking or, in the case of small diameter pipe, tube, and fittings, by tagging the containers or bundles.

(d) Marking of compressed gas cylinders

(e) Marking of certain castings

(f) Marking of certain coffee and tea products

(g) Marking of spices

(h) Marking of certain silk productsThe marking requirements of subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply either to—

(1) articles provided for in subspan 6214.10.10 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, as in effect on January 1, 1997; or

(2) articles provided for in span 5007 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States as in effect on January 1, 1997.

(i) Additional duties for failure to mark

(j) Delivery withheld until marked

(k) Treatment of goods of a USMCA countryIn applying this section to an article that qualifies as a good of a USMCA country (as defined in section 4502 of this title)—

(1) the exemption under subsection (a)(3)(H) shall be applied by substituting “reasonably know” for “necessarily know”;

(2) the Secretary shall exempt the good from the requirements for marking under subsection (a) if the good—

(A) is an original work of art; or

(B) is provided for under subspan 6904.10, span 8541, or span 8542 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States; and

(3) subsection (b) does not apply to the usual container of any good described in subsection (a)(3)(E) or (I) or paragraph (2)(A) or (B) of this subsection.

(l) PenaltiesAny person who, with intent to conceal the information given thereby or contained therein, defaces, destroys, removes, alters, covers, obscures, or obliterates any mark required under the provisions of this chapter shall—

(1) upon conviction for the first violation of this subsection, be fined not more than $100,000, or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both; and

(2) upon conviction for the second or any subsequent violation of this subsection, be fined not more than $250,000, or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both.

(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title III, § 304, 46 Stat. 687; June 25, 1938, ch. 679, § 3, 52 Stat. 1077; Aug. 8, 1953, ch. 397, § 4(c), 67 Stat. 509; Pub. L. 98–573, title II, § 207, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2976; Pub. L. 99–514, title XVIII, § 1888(1), Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2924; Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1907(a)(1), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1314; Pub. L. 103–182, title II, § 207(a), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2096; Pub. L. 104–295, § 14(a), (b), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3521, 3522; Pub. L. 106–36, title II, § 2423(a), (b), June 25, 1999, 113 Stat. 180; Pub. L. 114–125, title IX, § 917(a), Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 279; Pub. L. 116–113, title II, § 209(a), Jan. 29, 2020, 134 Stat. 52.)