CBP Withdraws Proposed Changes to the First Sale Rule
09/29/10 04:25 PM Filed in: Customs
| First Sale
On
September 29, 2010, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) issued a notice in the Federal
Register withdrawing proposed changes to the
so-called “First Sale” rule under which in a
transaction involving a series of sales, the
price actually paid or payable for customs
valuation purposes would be the price paid or
payable under the first sale or the sale between
the manufacturer and the middleman, rather than
the price paid by the U.S. importer or buyer in
the U.S.
CBP had proposed for the first time in January 2008 a new interpretation of the expression “sold for exportation to the United States” for purposes of determining transaction value. CBP suggested that, in a transaction involving a series of sales, the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods when sold for export to the U.S. would be the price paid in the last sale occurring prior to the entry of goods into the U.S., rather than the first sale. The effect of the proposed interpretation would have been that the transaction value would be determined on the basis of the price paid by the buyer in the United States.
CBP had proposed for the first time in January 2008 a new interpretation of the expression “sold for exportation to the United States” for purposes of determining transaction value. CBP suggested that, in a transaction involving a series of sales, the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods when sold for export to the U.S. would be the price paid in the last sale occurring prior to the entry of goods into the U.S., rather than the first sale. The effect of the proposed interpretation would have been that the transaction value would be determined on the basis of the price paid by the buyer in the United States.