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Sign inApril 2026 · Q70 · Valuation & Duty
Buyer-supplied free components are an assist
Explain that printed circuit components supplied free of charge by a U.S. buyer to a foreign switch producer in Taipei, and incorporated in the switches exported to the United States, are an assist under 19 CFR 152.102(a)(1)(i) because every gate is met together: supplied by the buyer, directly or indirectly, free or at reduced cost, for use in connection with production or sale for export to the United States, and incorporated in the imported merchandise. Recognize the boundaries: not every free equipment gift is an assist, engineering or design work undertaken in the United States is outside the engineering category, and items the producer buys for itself are not buyer assists. Add the assist value, apportioned as appropriate, only to the extent not already included in the price and only on sufficient information, using a reasonable method consistent with generally accepted accounting principles and supported by the importer's documentation.
What you will learn
Explain that printed circuit components supplied free of charge by a U.S. buyer to a foreign switch producer in Taipei, and incorporated in the switches exported to the United States, are an assist under 19 CFR 152.102(a)(1)(i) because every gate is met together: supplied by the buyer, directly or indirectly, free or at reduced cost, for use in connection with production or sale for export to the United States, and incorporated in the imported merchandise. Recognize the boundaries: not every free equipment gift is an assist, engineering or design work undertaken in the United States is outside the engineering category, and items the producer buys for itself are not buyer assists. Add the assist value, apportioned as appropriate, only to the extent not already included in the price and only on sufficient information, using a reasonable method consistent with generally accepted accounting principles and supported by the importer's documentation.
19 CFR 152.102(a)(1)-(2) Assist (definitions); 19 CFR 152.103(b)(1)(iii), (b)(2) Additions to price actually paid or payable; 19 CFR 152.103(c) Sufficiency of information; 19 CFR 152.103(d)(1) Assist value; 19 CFR 152.103(e)(1) Apportionment · Exam cover: HTSUS 2025 Basic Edition, no supplements; 19 CFR cover 'Revised as of January 1, 2024'. Actual GovInfo annual edition files used here are revised as of April 1, 2024 (2024-04-01); disclosed, not relabeled as January 1.
Explained using the historical edition for this exam.