Certain Used-Car Shipments to Puerto Rico No Longer Considered Exports

CBP will no longer classify shipments of certain used vehicles from the U.S. to Puerto Rico as exports, CBP said in an Aug. 24 message. Although the change will eliminate some filing requirements, others will remain, including certain Electronic Export Information filings.

CBP determined in a July 21 ruling that “the shipment of used self-propelled vehicles from the continental” U.S. doesn’t constitute an export under 19 CFR 192.2. "Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States and 19 CFR 101 defines the 'Customs Territory of the United States' to 'include only the states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico,'" the agency said. "As a result 19 CFR 192 does not apply to the shipment of used vehicles from the United States to Puerto Rico." The agency will "cease and desist enforcing the requirements of 19 CFR 192 for used vehicles shipped from United States to Puerto Rico or from Puerto Rico to United States," it said. Exporters will still need to file EEI documents for all shipments worth more than $2,500, CBP said.

When EEI is required, exporters must submit the Title Number, Vehicle Identification Number or Product Identification Number along with a valid Title State Code for the used vehicles, CBP said. ACE “will not accept” the EEI if those data elements are missing when the Harmonized Schedule Number “specifically references a used vehicle.”

CBP also offered some guidance until it can “disable the validations for used vehicle exports” from the U.S. to Puerto Rico. The agency said exporters should still enter the true VIN for each vehicle and will enter the state where the export occurred as the Title State Code. For example: the exporter should list Florida as the state for the title if the vehicle was exported from Miami, the message said. Exporters will also be allowed to enter the Title State Code “followed by 12345” if the title number is “unavailable at the time of filing,” the message said. “For exports covered by HQ H318727,” exporters won’t “be required to update the EEI when and if the correct information becomes available.” The agency also clarified that the change doesn’t apply to exports to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The change comes nearly a year after Census first proposed eliminating certain filing requirements for exports to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 2009160033 and 2106250021). The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment about whether the efforts are related.