US LAWS, STATUTES & CODES ON-LINE

§ 141. Suspension by President

Upon satisfactory proof being given to the President, by the government of any foreign nation, that no discriminating duties of tonnage or imposts are imposed or levied in the ports of such nation upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States, or upon the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same from the United States or from any foreign country, the President may issue his proclamation, declaring that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are suspended and discontinued, so far as respects the vessels of such foreign nation, and the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported into the United States from such foreign nation, or from any other foreign country; the suspension to take effect from the time of such notification being given to the President, and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels, belonging to citizens of the United States, and their cargoes, shall be continued, and no longer: Provided, That the President is authorized to suspend in part the operation of section 121 of this Appendix and section 2502 of the Revised Statutes so that foreign vessels from a country imposing partial discriminating tonnage duties upon American vessels, or partial discriminating import duties upon American merchandise, may enjoy in our ports the identical privileges which the same class of American vessels and merchandise may enjoy in said foreign country.

(R.S. § 4228; July 24, 1897, ch. 13, 30 Stat. 214.)

Section 2502 of the Revised Statutes, referred to in text, which imposed a discriminating duty upon merchandise imported in foreign vessels, was not classified to the Code and was repealed by act Mar. 3, 1933, ch. 202, § 1, 47 Stat. 1430. See section 146 of this Appendix.

Codification

R.S. § 4228 derived from acts May 24, 1828, ch. 111, § 1, 4 Stat. 308; May 31, 1830, ch. 219, § 2, 4 Stat. 425; July 13, 1832, ch. 207, § 3, 4 Stat. 579.

Act July 24, 1897, added proviso.

For delegation to Secretary of the Treasury of authority vested in President by this section, see section 1(f) of Ex. Ord. No. 10289, eff. Sept. 17, 1951, 16 F.R. 9499, set out as a note under section 301 of Title 3, The President.

Nations whose vessels are exempted by treaties or Presidential proclamations from the payment of any higher tonnage duties than are applicable to vessels of the United States, and are exempted from the payment of light money, see 19 C.F.R. § 4.22.

Proc. No. 2992, Oct. 13, 1952, 17 F.R. 9150, 67 Stat. c15, provided:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, HARRY S. TRUMAN, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the above-quoted statutory provisions [this section] do hereby declare and proclaim that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and imposts within the United States are suspended and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of Korea and the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in said vessels into the United States from Korea or from any other foreign country; the suspension to take effect from October 1, 1952, and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States and their cargoes shall be continued, and no longer.

Discriminating duty on goods imported in foreign vessels, exception, see section 128 of Title 19, Customs Duties.

§ 142. Retaliatory suspension of commercial privileges to foreign vessels

Whenever any foreign country whose vessels have been placed on the same footing in the ports of the United States as American vessels (the coastwise trade excepted) shall deny to any vessels of the United States any of the commercial privileges accorded to national vessels in the harbors, ports, or waters of such foreign country, the President, on receiving satisfactory information of the continuance of such discriminations against any vessels of the United States, is authorized to issue his proclamation excluding, on and after such time as he may indicate, from the exercise of such commercial privileges in the ports of the United States as are denied to American vessels in the ports of such foreign country, all vessels of such foreign country of a similar character to the vessels of the United States thus discriminated against, and suspending such concessions previously granted to the vessels of such country; and on and after the date named in such proclamation for it to take effect, if the master, officer, or agent of any vessel of such foreign country excluded by said proclamation from the exercise of any commercial privileges shall do any act prohibited by said proclamation in the ports, harbors, or waters of the United States for or on account of such vessel, such vessel, and its rigging, tackle, furniture, and boats, and all the goods on board, shall be liable to seizure and to forfeiture to the United States; and any person opposing any officer of the United States in the enforcement of this section, or aiding and abetting any other person in such opposition, shall forfeit $800, and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.

(June 19, 1886, ch. 421, § 17, 24 Stat. 82.)

Principals, see section 2 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

§ 143. Retaliation on denial of rights to United States vessels in British North America

Whenever the President of the United States shall be satisfied that American fishing vessels or American fishermen, visiting or being in the waters or at any ports or places of the British dominions of North America, are or then lately have been denied or abridged in the enjoyment of any rights secured to them by treaty or law, or are or then lately have been unjustly vexed or harassed in the enjoyment of such rights, or subjected to unreasonable restrictions, regulations, or requirements in respect of such rights; or otherwise unjustly vexed or harassed in said waters, ports, or places; or whenever the President of the United States shall be satisfied that any such fishing vessels or fishermen, having a permit under the laws of the United States to touch and trade at any port or ports, place or places, in the British dominions of North America, are or then lately have been denied the privilege of entering such port or ports, place or places in the same manner and under the same regulations as may exist therein applicable to trading vessels of the most favored nation, or shall be unjustly vexed or harassed, in respect thereof, or otherwise be unjustly vexed or harassed therein, or shall be prevented from purchasing such supplies as may there be lawfully sold to trading vessels of the most favored nation; or whenever the President of the United States shall be satisfied that any other vessels of the United States, their masters, or crews, so arriving at or being in such British waters or ports or places of the British dominions of North America, are or then lately have been denied any of the privileges therein accorded to the vessels, their masters, or crews, of the most favored nation, or unjustly vexed or harassed in respect of the same, or unjustly vexed or harassed therein by the authorities thereof, then, and in either or all of such cases, it shall be lawful, and it shall be the duty of the President of the United States, in his discretion, by proclamation to that effect, to deny vessels, their masters and crews, of the British dominions of North America, any entrance into the waters, ports, or places of or within the United States (with such exceptions in regard to vessels in distress, stress of weather, or needing supplies as to the President shall seem proper), whether such vessel shall have come directly from said dominions on such destined voyage or by way of some port or place in such destined voyage elsewhere; and also to deny entry into any port or place of the United States of fresh fish or salt fish or any other product of said dominions, or other goods coming from said dominions to the United States. The President may, in his discretion, apply such proclamation to any part or to all of the foregoing named subjects, and may revoke, qualify, limit, and renew such proclamation from time to time as he may deem necessary to the full and just execution of the purposes of this section. Every violation of any such proclamation, or any part thereof, is declared illegal, and all vessels and goods so coming or being within the waters, ports, or places of the United States contrary to such proclamation shall be forfeited to the United States; and such forfeiture shall be enforced and proceeded upon in the same manner and with the same effect as in the case of vessels or goods whose importation or coming to or being in the waters or ports of the United States contrary to law may be enforced and proceeded upon. Every person who shall violate any of the provisions of this section, or such proclamation of the President made in pursuance hereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.

(Mar. 3, 1887, ch. 339, 24 Stat. 475.)

§ 144. Suspension of free passage through Saint Marys Falls Canal; tolls

With a view of securing reciprocal advantages for the citizens, ports, and vessels of the United States, whenever and so often as the President shall be satisfied that the passage through any canal or lock connected with the navigation of the Saint Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, or the water ways connecting the same, of any vessels of the United States, or of cargoes or passengers in transit to any port of the United States, is prohibited or is made difficult or burdensome by the imposition of tolls or otherwise which, in view of the free passage through the Saint Marys Falls Canal, permitted to vessels of all nations, he shall deem to be reciprocally unjust and unreasonable, he shall have the power, and it shall be his duty, to suspend by proclamation to that effect, for such time and to such extent (including absolute prohibition) as he shall deem just, the right of free passage through the Saint Marys Falls Canal, so far as it relates to vessels owned by the subjects of the Government so discriminating against the citizens, ports, or vessels of the United States, or to any cargoes, portions of cargoes, or passengers in transit to the ports of the Government making such discrimination, whether carried in vessels of the United States or of other nations.

In such case and during such suspension tolls shall be levied, collected, and paid as follows, to wit: Upon freight of whatever kind or description, not to exceed $2 per ton; upon passengers, not to exceed $5 each, as shall be from time to time determined by the President: Provided, That no tolls shall be charged or collected upon freight or passengers carried to and landed at Ogdensburg, or any port west of Ogdensburg, and south of a line drawn from the northern boundary of the State of New York through the Saint Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and their connecting channels to the northern boundary of the State of Minnesota.

(July 26, 1892, ch. 248, § 1, 27 Stat. 267.)

This section is referred to in section 145 of this Appendix.

§ 145. Collection of tolls

All tolls charged under the provisions of section 144 of this Appendix shall be collected under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of Customs, who may require the master of each vessel to furnish a sworn statement of the amount and kind of cargo and the number of passengers carried and the destination of the same, and such proof of the actual delivery of such cargo or passengers at some port or place within the limits above named as he shall deem satisfactory; and until such proof is furnished such freight and passengers may be considered to have been landed at some port or place outside of those limits, and the amount of tolls which would have accrued if they had been so delivered shall constitute a lien which may be enforced against the vessel in default wherever and whenever found in the waters of the United States.

(July 26, 1892, ch. 248, § 2, 27 Stat. 268; Feb. 14, 1903, ch. 552, § 10, 32 Stat. 829; Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 141, § 1, 37 Stat. 736; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 101-104, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7875, 60 Stat. 1097.)

For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Treasury, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Treasury with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 26 of 1950, § 1, 2, eff. July 31, 1950, 15 F.R. 4935, 64 Stat. 1280, 1281, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Commissioner of Customs, referred to in text, is an officer of Department of the Treasury.

"Commissioner of Customs" substituted in text for "Secretary of Commerce" on authority of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 101-104, set out as a note preceding section 3 of this Appendix.

Upon incorporation into the Code, "Secretary of Commerce" substituted for "Secretary of the Treasury" to conform to act Feb. 14, 1903, which transferred certain powers and duties of Secretary of the Treasury relating to merchant vessels and yachts to Secretary of Commerce and Labor and act Mar. 4, 1913, which changed designation of Secretary of Commerce and Labor to Secretary of Commerce.

Administrative delegation of functions by Secretary of the Treasury, see note set out preceding section 3 of this Appendix.

§ 146. Discriminating duty on merchandise imported in foreign vessels; exception

A discriminating duty of 10 per centum ad valorem, in addition to the duties imposed by law, shall be levied, collected, and paid on all goods, wares, or merchandise which shall be imported in vessels not of the United States; but this discriminating duty shall not apply to goods, wares, or merchandise which shall be imported in vessels not of the United States entitled at the time of such importation by treaty or any act of Congress to be entered in the ports of the United States on payment of the same duties as shall then be payable on goods, wares, and merchandise imported in vessels of the United States, nor to goods, wares, and merchandise imported in a vessel owned by citizens of the United States but not a vessel of the United States if such vessel after entering an American port shall, before leaving the same, be documented under chapter 121 of title 46.

(Oct. 3, 1913, ch. 16, § IV, J, subsec. 1, 38 Stat. 195; Mar. 4, 1915, ch. 171, § 1, 38 Stat. 1193; June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title IV, § 651(d)(1), 46 Stat. 763; Pub. L. 103-182, title VI, § 689(a)(1), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2222.)

Codification

The provisions incorporated in this section, with portions of the original text omitted here, are classified to section 128 of Title 19, Customs Duties.

Section is a composite of acts Oct. 3, 1913, ch. 16, and Mar. 4, 1915, ch. 171, as amended. The words "nor to goods, wares, and merchandise imported in a vessel owned by citizens of the United States but not a vessel of the United States if such vessel after entering an American port shall, before leaving the same, be documented under chapter 121 of title 46" are based on the nonspecific amendment of act Oct. 3, 1913, by act Mar. 4, 1915, as amended.

Subsec. 1 of act Oct. 3, 1913, § IV, par. J, provided also for a discriminating duty on goods, wares and merchandise produced or manufactured in a foreign country not contiguous to the United States but coming into the United States from such contiguous country. That provision is classified to section 128 of Title 19.

R.S. § 2502 imposed a discriminating duty upon merchandise imported in foreign vessels. It was superseded by subsequent similar provisions in successive tariff acts, the latest of which is classified to this section.

Act June 5, 1920, ch. 250, § 34, 41 Stat. 1007, declaring it to be the judgment of Congress that provisions of treaties restricting the right of the United States to impose discriminating customs duties on imports entering the United States in foreign vessels and vessels of the United States, and discriminatory tonnage dues on foreign vessels, and on vessels of the United States, should be terminated, and directing the President to give notice to terminate them, was omitted.

1993--Pub. L. 103-182, which directed the amendment of act Oct. 3, 1913, by substituting "documented under chapter 121 of title 46," for "registered as a vessel of the United States,", was executed by making the substitution in that part of this section comprised of provisions of act Mar. 4, 1915. See Codification note above.

Section is expressly excepted from repeal or amendment by the Tariff Act of 1930 (act June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title IV, 46 Stat. 763) by section 651(d) of that act which is classified to section 1651(d) of Title 19, Customs Duties.

Authority to suspend operation of section, see section 141 of this Appendix.