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April 2024, question 21

Modernized Drawback · Drawback

Factory imports pistons from Italy. Factory subjects the pistons to heat treatment and coats them with a specialized alloy, in order to render them fit for use in motorcycle engines. Any pistons Factory does not sell to domestic engine manufacturers are exported for sale abroad. May Factory claim unused merchandise drawback on the exported pistons?

  1. Yes, because the pistons were reworked but not manufactured.
  2. No, because the pistons were manufactured when made fit for a particular use.
  3. Yes, because the pistons were adjusted but not manufactured.
  4. Yes, because the pistons were manufactured into an engine, which is a new and different article with a distinctive name.
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CBP's answer: B. B: No, because the pistons were manufactured when made fit for a particular use.

Manufacture or production includes making merchandise fit for a particular use even if it is not made into a new and different article. Heat treating and alloy coating the pistons to fit motorcycle engines is such a process, so they are no longer unused merchandise and Factory cannot claim unused merchandise drawback on them (B). Rework or adjustment that does not amount to manufacture would have been allowed.

or is made fit for a particular use even though it is not made into a new and different article 19 CFR 190.2
not amounting to manufacture or production under the provisions of the manufacturing drawback law 19 CFR 190.31(c)

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Question and key from CBP's April 2024 exam and answer key. The walk-through is ours; quotes are from the pinned editions in the reference viewer (HTSUS 2026 Basic, 19 CFR 2025 edition).