Marking Duties

Summary of Marking Duties

A special duty, in addition to ordinary duties, imposed upon merchandise not properly marked so as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser the country of origin. Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, requires that the country-of-origin marking be legible, indelible, and permanent. Imported articles may be exempted from the marking requirements in those cases where the country of origin is obvious or marking is not feasible. A listing of imports specifically exempted from marking can be found in 19 U.S.C. 1304 (a) (3) (J), the so-called J-LIST (read this and related legal terms for further details). Marking duties are levied at the rate of 10 percent, ad valorem, in addition to other duties; such marking duties are not construed to be penal and as such are not eligible for remission or mitigation as customs penalties. Marking duties do qualify for recovery through Drawback (read this and related legal terms for further details) should the foreign article be re-exported.

Payment of marking duties does not relieve the importer from the obligation to mark the goods retroactively as to country of origin.

(Main Author: William J. Miller)

Marking Duties and the GATT Policy Negotiations

In relation to the GATT Policy Negotiations, Christopher Mark (1993) provided the following explanation and/or definition of Marking Duties: A special charge on imported good, in addition to normal duties, imposed on merchandise not properly marked so as to indicate the country of origin. Under US law, marking duties are not considered to be penalty duties, and are not eligible for drawback should the foreign article be re-exported.