ATA Carnet: Bringing Machinery, Samples and Show Equipment Into the US Duty-Free

An ATA carnet lets a machine, a set of commercial samples or a crate of professional equipment cross the border without paying duty, as long as it leaves again. Under 19 CFR 114.0 the carnet does two jobs at once: it is the customs entry document and it is the customs bond. For an industrial equipment maker shipping a press to a U.S. show, or a foreign engineering team flying in with its own test gear, that means no entry summary, no duty deposit and no separate bond, provided the goods fit the categories the United States accepts and go back out within the carnet’s validity.

The catch is that the U.S. accepts the carnet for fewer purposes than many exporters assume, the validity cannot be extended, and a missing stamp at re-export turns into a liquidated damages claim of 110% of the estimated duties. In 2026 those duties are not trivial for machinery: Section 301 China list duties and the Section 301 forced labor duty stack on top of the MFN rate if the equipment ends up staying. Below: U.S. coverage, carnet vs temporary importation under bond (TIB), validity and counterfoils, where claims come from, and the duty at stake on typical machinery lines. Rules verified against the eCFR and HTSUS Revision 21 as of October 27, 2026.

What an ATA Carnet Covers in the US: Professional Equipment and Commercial Samples

ATA stands for Admission Temporaire, Temporary Admission. The carnet is the document annexed to the Customs Convention on the A.T.A. Carnet for the Temporary Admission of Goods, and each country decides which underlying conventions it applies. Under 19 CFR 114.22(a), the United States accepts an ATA carnet for two categories of goods:

• Professional equipment, under the Customs Convention on the Temporary Importation of Professional Equipment: the tools, instruments and equipment a business person or technician needs to work while in the country.
• Commercial samples and advertising material, under the International Convention to Facilitate the Importation of Commercial Samples and Advertising Material: samples shown to take orders, and motion-picture advertising films of 16 mm or less, which need an additional statement on how they meet the convention’s conditions.

Exhibitions and trade fairs are a separate route

Part 114 does not list exhibitions and fairs as a carnet category. A machine sent to a U.S. trade show travels on a carnet only when it qualifies as a commercial sample shown to take orders, or as professional equipment. Fairs designated by the Secretary of Commerce under the Trade Fair Act of 1959 have their own procedure in 19 CFR part 147, and 19 CFR 147.2(b) bars goods already entered under HTS chapter 98, subchapter XIII from switching into it. The route has to be chosen before the goods land, not at the show.

Two further limits apply. Carnets are not accepted for importations by mail (19 CFR 114.31(a)), and goods that would not qualify for temporary importation under bond cannot use a carnet either (114.31(b)). The carnet is valid in the States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and any goods description in another language needs an English translation (114.3).

ATA Carnet vs Temporary Importation Under Bond (HTS 9813, 19 CFR 10.31-10.40)

Temporary importation under bond is the domestic U.S. procedure the carnet substitutes for. HTS chapter 98, subchapter XIII lists the articles that can enter free of duty under bond when they are not imported for sale or for sale on approval. The importer files an entry and an entry summary stating the subheading claimed, the intended use and a declaration that the goods will not be put to any other use or sold (19 CFR 10.31(a)). The goods must be exported within one year, extendable on CBP Form 3173 for further one-year periods up to three years in total (U.S. note 1 to subchapter XIII; 19 CFR 10.37).

The subheadings that matter for machinery and engineering importers are 9813.00.20 (samples solely for use in taking orders), 9813.00.30 (articles solely for testing, experimental or review purposes), 9813.00.50 (professional equipment and tools of trade of nonresidents) and 9813.00.05 (articles to be repaired, altered or processed). Note that 9813.00.50 must be entered by the nonresident or by a foreign organization the nonresident represents, so a U.S. subsidiary cannot simply enter its parent’s engineers’ equipment in its own name.

Which one to use

The carnet wins when equipment or samples move through several countries on one trip, when the foreign owner already holds a carnet from its home chamber, and when the stay is short and fixed. TIB wins when the purpose is testing, experimentation or repair (not evaluation by a prospective buyer, which is a sale on approval), which the U.S. carnet categories do not cover; when the equipment might need to stay longer than a year; and when the importer already holds a customs bond structure that can support the entry. Goods that will be sold, stored for later distribution or held while a buyer decides belong in a consumption entry, a customs bonded warehouse or a foreign-trade zone, not in either temporary regime.

Security Deposit, Validity and Counterfoils

A carnet is issued in the holder’s home country by an issuing association and guaranteed, in each country of use, by that country’s guaranteeing association, which answers to customs for duties if the goods are not re-exported (19 CFR 114.1). In the United States, USCIB manages and guarantees the ATA carnet system and issues through outside service providers. The guarantee is backed by security the holder provides to its issuer on terms the issuer sets; no CBP regulation fixes the amount, so it has to be confirmed with the issuer when the carnet is ordered. Because the guaranteeing association is the party CBP claims against, a default flows back to the holder through that arrangement rather than through a CBP bond.

Validity is fixed at issue. Under 19 CFR 114.23(a), CBP will not accept an ATA carnet with a validity of more than one year from its date of issue, and the period cannot be extended; 19 CFR 10.37 repeats that no extension of a carnet’s validity will be granted. Items cannot be added to the general list once the carnet has been issued (114.24), so every machine, spare part and accessory must be listed from the start, with serial numbers where the equipment has them.

Vouchers and counterfoils in practice

Each border crossing uses a pair of sheets. On arrival, CBP takes an importation voucher, which serves as the entry (19 CFR 10.31(a)(2)), and stamps the matching importation counterfoil that stays in the carnet. On departure, the holder files the reexportation voucher with CBP Form 3495 and presents the carnet for certification (19 CFR 10.38(a)); the stamped reexportation counterfoil is the holder’s proof that the goods left. For export, goods entered under a carnet are examined only at the port they leave from (10.38(d)), so the export port and timing have to be planned with the carrier, not left to whichever airport the freight happens to use. If a carnet is lost or stolen while the goods are in the U.S., the issuing association can request a replacement with the same expiry date (114.25).

What Goes Wrong at Re-Export and How Claims Arise

When CBP is satisfied that all goods on a carnet were re-exported or destroyed, it discharges the carnet unconditionally. After that, no claim can be brought against the guaranteeing association unless the discharge was obtained improperly or the conditions of temporary importation were breached (19 CFR 114.26). When goods are not exported or destroyed within the carnet period, the port director demands liquidated damages of 110% of the estimated duties on the missing articles from both the importer and the guaranteeing association (19 CFR 10.39(d)(2)). The association then has six months to furnish proof of export or destruction; if it pays and proof arrives within three months of payment, the payment is refunded. No claim can be made more than one year after the carnet expired.

• No reexportation counterfoil: the machine left on a different flight, through a different port or as part of a consolidated shipment, and nobody presented the carnet. The goods are gone but the record says otherwise.
• Sale at the show: a sample sold to a visitor breaks the condition that it was not imported for sale. The buyer’s unit needs a consumption entry with duty paid, and the carnet must show it as not re-exported.
• Partial returns: a demonstration line ships back without the spare parts, consumables or a damaged module, and the counterfoil notes a discrepancy that leads to a claim for the missing items.
• Expired carnet: the show tour ran past the validity date. The carnet cannot be extended, so goods still in the U.S. on expiry are in default.
• Description mismatch: the serial number or model on the machine does not match the general list, and the officer cannot confirm that what is leaving is what arrived.

Fraud, abuse and relief

Beyond liquidated damages, 19 CFR 114.33 allows CBP to pursue the carnet user for duties, charges or penalties in case of fraud, violation or abuse. Where goods were exported late or without the counterfoil, the importer can document the actual export and seek cancellation of the charge; 19 CFR 114.34(b) provides for cancelling and refunding liquidated damages that did not in fact accrue. The documents that settle these cases are produced at departure: the transport document, the export filing and photographs of serial plates.

Machinery and Trade-Show Examples: What Is at Stake if the Equipment Stays

Under a carnet or TIB, no duty is collected at entry, and HTS chapter 99 notes 20 and 52 confirm that the China Section 301 list duties and the Section 301 forced labor duties do not apply to goods properly entered under a chapter 98 provision (other than the 9802 processing provisions). The exposure appears when the plan changes and a machine is sold, kept as a demonstrator or simply not shipped back. At that point it needs a consumption entry, and the full 2026 stack applies. The table shows that stack for machinery lines common at U.S. industrial shows, for China and Germany as origins.

Reading the table

China additional duties are the 25% List 1 duty under heading 9903.88.01 plus the 12.5% Section 301 forced labor tariffs under 9903.05.31. For EU products with an MFN rate below 10%, heading 9903.05.39 sets a 10% all-in rate, so the additional amount is the difference to 10%. None of these 8-digit lines appears on the Section 232 metals lists in chapter 99 note 16. AD/CVD and exclusions are not included. Check a specific model and origin in the China to US tariff calculator or the EU to US tariff calculator before deciding to sell a demonstrator.

Three scenarios. A German press builder ships a numerically controlled hydraulic press to a U.S. show to take orders: it can travel as a commercial sample on its home carnet, and if a visitor buys the show unit, the importer files a consumption entry at 10% and the carnet records the press as not re-exported. A Chinese laser cutter brought in solely for testing that is not offered for sale fits 9813.00.30, which only TIB covers; if the unit is there so a U.S. customer can decide whether to buy it, that is a sale on approval, which subchapter XIII excludes, so it needs a consumption entry at 41% from the start. A visiting service crew from Europe bringing calibration instruments for a commissioning job fits professional equipment under a carnet or 9813.00.50, entered by the crew’s employer, not by the U.S. customer. Our industrial manufacturing logistics team handles these moves with licensed customs brokerage on the U.S. side.

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