An Act to provide for the review of customs tariff schedules, to improve procedures for the tariff classification of unremunerated articles, to repeal or1224 amend obsolete provisions of the customs laws, and for other purposes
PL 83-768 (H.R.10009), enacted 09/01/1954

1136 
PUBLIC LAW 768-SEPT. 1, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
Public Law 768 
CHAPTER 1213 
September 1, 1954 
[H. R. 10009] 
AN ACT 
To provide for the review of customs tariff schedules, to improve procedures for 
the tariff classificatiou of unenumerated articles, and for other purposes. 
Cust 
f i c a 
1954. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
'uS'n A^rt'oV United States of America in Go7igress assembled^ That this Act may be 
cited as the "Customs Simplification Act of 1954"'. 
46 Stat. 590. 
19 u s e 1654. 
Transmission of 
data, etc., to Pres-
i d e n t a n d 
C o n -
gress. 
Report. 
TITLE I—REVIEW OF CUSTOMS T A R I F F SCHEDULES 
SEC. 101. (a) The United States Tariff Commission shall proceed 
promptly to make a complete study of all provisions of the customs 
laws of the United States under which imported articles may be classi-
fied for tariff purposes, including the dutiable and free lists and related 
special provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended and as modi-
fied, the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to the duties 
designated as import taxes, as amended and as modified, and other 
laws. The Commission shall compile a revision and consolidation of 
such provisions of the customs laws which, in the judgment of the 
Commission, will accomplish to the extent practicable the following 
purposes: 
(1) Establish schedules of tariff classifications which will be logical 
in arrangement and terminology and adapted to the changes which 
have occurred since 1930 in the character and importance of articles 
produced in and imported into the United States and in the markets 
in which they are sold. 
(2) Elimmate anomalies and illogical results in the classification of 
articles. 
(3) Simplify the determination and application of tariff classifica-
tions. 
(b) The Commission shall seek to accomplish the purposes of sub-
section (a) without suggesting changes in any rate or rates of duty on 
individual products, whether those rates are applied by statute or by 
Presidential proclamation. 
Where, however, in the judgment of the 
Commission, the purposes of subsection (a) cannot be accomplished 
without such changes, the Commission shall specify each incidental 
change in rates which in its judgment would accomplish such pur-
poses, and shall accompany it with a summary of all the data on which 
such suggested change was based, together with a statement of the 
probable effect of such suggested change on any industry in the United 
States. 
Before suggesting any changes in rates of duty, the Com-
mission shall give public notice of its intention to do so and shall afford 
reasonable opportunity for parties interested to be present, to produce 
evidence, and to be heard at public hearings with respect to the prob-
able effect of such suggested changes on any industry in the United 
States. 
(c) Not later than two years after the enactment of this Act the 
Commission shall transmit copies of the schedules and accompanying 
data and statements to the President and to the chairmen of the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate. 
(d) On or before March 15, 1955, the Commission shall report to 
the President and to the chairmen of the Committee on Ways and 
Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance 
of the Senate (1) the progress that has been made in carrying out 
the provisions of this section, (2) the significant complexities of tariff 
classification that have been developed as existing in the present law, 
and (3) suggestions as to standards and methods which might be 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 768-SEPT. 1, 1954 
1137 
adopted for a simplification of existing tariff schedules without signifi-
cant changes in tariff levels. 
(e) The Commission may invoke all the powers granted to it under 
part II, title III, of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and is auth-
orized to make reasonable rules and regulations, for the purpose of car-
rying out its functions under this title. 
(f) The Commission may procure temporary and intermittent serv-
ices in accordance with section 15 of the Act of August 2, 1946 (5 
U. S. C, sec. 55a), but at rates not to exceed $75 per diem for individ-
uals. 
The Commission may reimburse employees, experts, and con-
sultants for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred 
by them in the performance of their official duties, and make reason-
able advances to such persons for such purposes. 
Service by a per-
son pursuant to the first sentence of this subsection shall not be con-
sidered as service or employment bringing such person within the 
provisions of section 281, 283, 284, or 1914 of title 18 of the United 
States Code, or section 512 of the Mutual Security Act of 1954, or 
section 190 of the Revised Statutes (5 U. S. C, sec. 99). 
(g) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
may be required to enable the United States Tariff Commission to 
carry out the functions assigned to it by this section. 
46 Stat. 672,685. 
19 u s e 120 1, 
1303-1351. 
60 Stat. 810. 
62 Stat. 697, 793. 
Appropriation. 
TITLE II—UNENUMERATED ARTICLES-
GOODS RETURNED 
-AMERICAN 
SEC. 201. Paragraph 1559 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (U. S. C-, 1952 
edition, title 19, sec. 1001, par. 1559), is amended to read as follows: 
"PAR. 1559. (a) Each and every imported article, not enumerated 
in this Act, which is similar in the use to which it may be applied to 
any article enumerated in this Act as chargeable with duty, shall be 
subject to the same rate of duty as the enumerated article which it 
most resembles in the particular before mentioned; and if any non-
enumerated article equally resembles in that particular two or more 
enumerated articles on which different rates of duty are chargeable, 
it shall be subject to the rate of duty applicable to that one of such 
two or more articles which it most resembles in respect of the mate-
rials of which it is composed. 
"(b) The words 'component of chief value', wherever used in this 
Act, shall be held to mean that component material which shall exceed 
in value any other single component material of the article involved; 
and the value of each component material shall be determined by the 
ascertained value of such material in its condition as found in the 
article. 
"(c) If two or more enumerations shall be equally applicable to any 
article, it shall be subject to duty at the highest rate prescribed for 
any such enumeration." 
CERTAIN METAL ARTICLES RETURNED TO UNITED STATES 
SEC. 202. Paragraph 1615 (g) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(U. S. C, 1952 edition, title 19, sec. 1201, par. 1615 (g)), is further 
amended to read as follows: 
"(g) (1) -^^y article exported from the United States for repairs 
or alterations may be returned upon the payment of a duty upon the 
value of the repairs or alterations at the rate or rates which would 
apply to the article itself in its repaired or altered condition if not 
within the purview of this subparagraph (g). 
46 Stat. 672. 
Definition. 
52 Stat. 1093. 
39777 O—55~pt. 1-
-74 
1138 
PUBLIC LAW 768-SEPT. 1, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
"(2) If— 
" •' 
"(A) any article of metal (except precious metal) manufac-
tured in the United States or subjected to a process of manufac-
ture in the United States is exported for further processing; and 
"(B) the exported article as processed outside the United States, 
or the article which results from the processing outside the United 
States, as the case may be, is returned to the United States for 
further processing, 
then such article may be returned upon the payment of a duty upon the 
value of such processing outside the United States at the rate or rates 
which would apply to such article itself if it were not within the 
purview of this subparagraph (g). 
"(3) This subparagraph 
(g) shall not apply to any article 
exported— 
"(A) from bonded warehouse or from continuous customs cus-
tody elsewhere than bonded warehouse with remission, abate-
ment, or refund of duty; 
"(B) with benefit of drawback through substitution or other-
wise; or 
"(C) for the purpose of complying with any law of the United 
States or regulation of any Federal agency requiring exportation. 
" (4) For the purposes of this subparagraph (g), the value of repairs, 
alterations, or processing outside the United States shall be considered 
to be— 
"(A) the cost to the importer of such repairs, alterations, or 
processing; or 
"(B) if no charge is made, the value of such repairs, altera-
tions, or processing, 
as set out in the invoice and entry papers; except that, if the Secretary 
of the Treasury concludes that the amount so set out does not represent 
a reasonable cost or fair value, as the case may be, then the value of the 
repairs, alterations, or processing shall be determined in accordance 
with section 402 of this Act. 
No appraisement of the imported article 
in its repaired, altered, or processed condition shall be required unless 
necessary to a determination of the rate or rates of duty applicable to 
such article." 
42 Stat. n . 
Dumping investi-
gation. 
Public notice. 
T I T L E III—AMENDMENTS TO T H E ANTIDUMPING ACT, 
1921 
SEC. 301. Section 201 of the Antidumping Act, 1921 (U. S. C , 1952 
edition, title 19, sec. 160), is amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 201. (a) Whenever the Secretary of the Treasury (herein-
after called the 'Secretary') determines that a class or kind of foreign 
merchandise is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States or 
elsewhere at less than its fair value, he shall so advise the United 
States Tariff Commission, and the said Commission shall determine 
within three months thereafter whether an industry in the United 
States is being or is likely to be injured, or is prevented from being 
established, by reason of the importation of such merchandise into the 
United States. The said Commission, after such investigation as it 
deems necessary, shall notify the Secretary of its determination, and, 
if that determination is in the affirmative, the Secretary shall make 
public a notice (hereinafter in this Act called a 'finding') of his de-
termination and the determination of the said Commission. The Secre-
tary's finding shall include a description of the class or kind of mer-
chandise to which it applies in such detail as he shall deem necessary 
for the guidance of customs officers. 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 768-SEPT. 1, 1954 
1139 
"(b) Whenever, in the case of any imported merchandise of a class 
or kind as to which the Secretary has not so made public a finding, the 
Secretary has reason to believe or suspect, from the invoice or other 
papers or from information presented to him or to any person to whom 
authority under this section has been delegated, that the purchase price 
is less, or that the exporter's sales price is less or likely to be less, than 
the foreign market value (or, in the absence of such value, than the 
cost of production), he shall forthwith authorize, under such regu-
lations as he may prescribe, the withholding of appraisement reports 
as to such merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for con-
sumption, not more than one hundred and twenty days before the ques-
tion of dumping has been raised by or presented to him or any person 
to whom authority under this section has been delegated, until the fur-
ther order of the Secretary, or until the Secretary has made public a 
finding as provided for in subdivision (a) in regard to such merchan-
dise." 
SEC. 302. Subsection (a) of section 202 of the Antidumping Act, 
1921 (U. S. C , 1952 edition, title 19, sec. 161 (a)) is amended to read 
as follows: 
"(a) In the case of all imported merchandise, whether dutiable or 
free of duty, of a class or kind as to which the Secretary of the Treas-
ury has made public a finding as provided for in section 201, entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, not more than one 
hundred and twenty days before the question of dumping was raised 
by or presented to the Secretary or any person to whom authority 
under section 201 has been delegated, and as to which no appraisement 
report has been made before such finding has been so made public, if 
the purchase price or the exporter's sales price is less than the foreign 
market value (or, in the absence of such value, than the cost of pro-
duction) there shall be levied, collected, and paid, in addition to any 
other duties imposed thereon by law, a special dumping duty in an 
amount equal to such diflPerence," 
TITLE IV—IMPORTATIONS FROM INSULAR POSSESSIONS 
SEC. 401. Part I of title I I I of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(U. S. C.J 1952 edition, title 19, subtitle III, pt. I ) , is further amended 
by inserting at the beginning thereof the following new section: 
"SEC. 301. INSULAR POSSESSIONS. 
"There shall be levied, collected, and paid upon all articles coming 
into the United States from any of its insular possessions, except 
Puerto Rico, the rates of duty which are required to be levied, collected, 
and paid upon like articles imported from foreign countries; except 
that all articles the growth or product of any such possession, or manu-
factured or produced in any such possession from materials the 
growth, product, or manufacture of any such possession or of the 
United States, or of both, which do not contain foreign materials to 
the value of more than 50 per centum of their total value, coming into 
the United States directly from any such possession, and all articles 
previously imported into the United States with payment of all ap-
plicable duties and taxes imposed upon or by reason of importation 
which are shipped from the United States, without remission, refund, 
or drawback of such duties or taxes, directly to the possession from 
which it is being returned by direct shipment, shall be admitted free 
of duty upon compliance with such regulations as to proof of origin as 
may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 
In determining 
whether an article produced or manufactured in any such insular 
possession contains foreign materials to the value of more than 50 
per centum, no material shall be considered foreign which, at the time 
Withholding of 
appraisement r e -
ports. 
42 Stat. 11. 
Special dumping; 
duty. 
46 Stat. 685. 
1140 
PUBLIC LAW 768-SEPT. 1, 1954 
[68 ST A T . 
Virgin Islands. 
Ante, p. 509. 
Ante, p. 1139. 
68A Stat. 907. 
Guam. 
such article is entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, in the United 
States for consumption, may be imported into the United States from 
a foreign country, other than Cuba or the Philippine Republic, free 
of duty." 
SEC. 402. (a) Section 28 (d) of the Revised Organic Act of the Vir-
gin Islands, approved July 22, 1954, is amended to read as follows: 
"(d) All articles coming into the United States from the Virgin 
Islands shall be subject to or exempt from duty as provided for in sec-
tion 301 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and subject to internal-revenue taxes 
as provided for in section 7652 (b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1954." 
(b) Section 27 of the Act of August 1,1950 (64 Stat. 392; U. S. C, 
1952 edition, title 48, sec. 1421e), is amended to read as follows: 
"SEO. 27. All articles coming into the United States from Guam 
shall be subject to or exempt from duty as provided for in section 301 
of the Tariff Act of 1930." 
46 Stat. 712. 
Repeals. 
TITLE V—CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS 
SEC. 501. (a) The parenthetical matter first appearing in the sec-
ond sentence of section 4197 of the Revised Statutes, as amended 
(U. S. C, 1952 edition, title 46, sec. 91), is amended to read as follows: 
"(other than a licensed yacht or an undocumented American pleasure 
vessel not engaged in any trade nor in any way violating the customs 
or navigation laws of the United States) . 
(b) Section 441 (3) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (U. S. C, 
1952 edition, title 19, sec. 1441 (3)), is further amended to read as 
follows: 
"(3) Licensed yachts or undocumented American pleasure vessels 
not engaged in trade nor in any way violating the customs or navi-
gation laws of the United States and not having visited any hover-
ing vessel: Provided^ That the master of any such vessel which has on 
board any article required by law to be entered shall be required to 
report such article to the collector within twenty-four hours after 
arrival." 
(c) Section 4218 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C, 
1952 edition, title 46, sec. 106), is repealed. 
SEC. 502. Section 3062 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C., 
1952 edition, title 19, sec. 483), relating to forfeitures and penalties 
for aiding unlawful importation, is repealed, and in lieu thereof there 
is inserted in the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, immediately after 
section 595 thereof (U. S. C , 1952 edition, title 19, sec. 1595) the 
following new section: 
"SEC. 596. AIDING UNLAWFUL IMPORTATION. 
"(a) Except as specified in the proviso to section 594 of this Act, 
every vessel, vehicle, animal, aircraft, or other thing used in, to aid 
in, or to facilitate, by obtaining information or in any other way, the 
importation, bringing in, unlading, landing, removal, concealing, 
harboring, or subsequent transportation of any article which is being 
or has been introduced, or attempted to be introduced, into the United 
States contrary to law, whether upon such vessel, vehicle, animal, 
aircraft, or other thing or otherwise, shall be seized and forfeited 
together with its tackle, apparel, furniture, harness, or equipment. 
"(b) Every person who directs, assists financially or otherwise, 
or is in any way concerned in any unlawful activity mentioned in the 
preceding subsection shall be liable to a penalty equal to the value of 
the article or articles introduced or attempted to be introduced." 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 7 6 8 - S E P T . 1, 1954 
1141 
46 Stat. 715. 
36 Stat. 901. 
SEC. 503. (a) The first two sentences of section 451 of the Tariff 
Act of 1930, as amended (U. S. C, 1952 edition, title 19, sec. 1451), 
are further amended to read as follows: "Before any such special 
license to unlade shall be granted, the master, owner, or agent of such 
vessel or vehicle, or the person in charge of such vehicle, shall be 
required to deposit sufficient money to pay, or to give a bond in an 
amount to be fixed by the Secretary conditioned to pay, the com-
pensation and expenses of the customs officers and employees assigned 
to duty in connection with such unlading at night or on Sunday or a 
holiday, in accordance with the provisions of section 5 of the Act of 
February 13, 1911, as amended (U. S. C, 1952 edition, title 19, sec. 
267). In lieu of such deposit or bond the owuier or agent of any 
vessel or vehicle or line of vessels or vehicles may execute a bond in 
an amount to be fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury to cover and 
include the issuance of special licenses for the unlading of such ves-
sels or vehicles for a period not to exceed one year." 
(b) The third sentence of section 451 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (U. S. C , 1952 edition, title 19, sec. 1451), is further amended 
^^ ^tat. 7i5. 
by inserting "deposits sufficient money to pay, or" after the words 
"person requesting such services" now appearing therein and by delet-
ing the words "a penal sum" and inserting in lieu thereof the words 
"an amount". 
SEC. 504. Section 581 (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (U. 
S. C, 1952 edition, title 19, sec. 1581 (d)), is further amended to read 
^^ stat. 522. 
as follows: 
"(d) Any vessel or vehicle which, at any authorized place, is directed 
to come to a stop by any officer of the customs, or is directed to come 
to a stop by signal made by any vessel employed in the service of the 
customs and displaying proper insignia, shall come to a stop, and upon 
failure to comply a vessel or vehicle so directed to come to a stop shall 
become subject to pursuit and the master, owner, operator, or person 
in charge thereof shall be liable to a penalty of not more than $5,000 
nor less than $1,000." 
SEC. 505. Section 605 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (U. S. C, 1952 edition, 
^^ stat. 754. 
title 19, sec. 1605), is amended by adding at the end thereof the fol-
lowing : 
"Pending such disposition, the property shall be stored in such place 
as, in the collector's opinion, is most convenient and appropriate with 
due regard to the expense involved, whether or not the place of storage 
is within the judicial district or the customs collection district in which 
the property was seized; and storage of the property outside the 
judicial district or customs collection district in which it was seized 
shall in no way affect the jurisdiction of the court which would other-
wise have jurisdiction over such property." 
SEC. 506. Sections 607, as amended, 610, and 612 of the Tariff Act of 
1930 (U. S. C, 1952 edition, title 19, sees. 1607,1610,1612) are amended 
^^s*^*- ^^4.755. 
by deleting "$1,000" wherever that amount is stated therein and sub-
stituting "$2,500". 
SEC. 507. Section 545 of title 18 of the United States Code is 
^2 stat. 716. 
amended by inserting after "this section" in the fifth paragraph the 
following ", or the value thereof, to be recovered from any person 
described in the first or second paragraph of this section,". 
TITLE VI—EFFECTIVE DATE 
SEC. 601. Titles II, III, IV, and VI of this Act shall be effective on 
and after the thirtieth day following the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Approved September 1, 1954.