April 2024, question 74

For which ONE of the following transactions would the commission amount paid by the buyer NOT be added to the price paid or payable when determining transaction value?

1. A foreign manufacturer attended a trade fair with 100 vendors (sellers). The trade fair operator offered to provide the manufacturer with a translator who would also guide English speaking buyers who may be interested in the manufacturer’s products to the manufacturer’s booth. The manufacturer signed an agreement with the trade fair operator stating that each invoice from the manufacturer on transactions for which the translator found a buyer and provided translation services would include a 5% commission to be paid to the translator for those services.
2. Canadian Machine Manufacturer (CMM) had an agreement with We Sell Inc. (We Sell), a U.S. corporation, whereby We Sell would locate purchasers in the United States to buy CMM productions. We Sell would contract for CMM's products with CMM and receive a 15% discount from the manufacturer's suggested price. We Sell would invoice the purchaser for the manufacturer's suggested price, keeping the 15% as We Sell's commission; however, CMM had to approve the sale to the purchaser first.
3. Seller X in China offered U.S. buyers the opportunity to have purchased goods inspected prior to lading for shipment to the U.S. by a third party. Buyers could choose any one of three inspection companies offered by Seller X. The buyer could negotiate the price with the inspection company and pay the inspection company directly. The inspection company was required to rebate one-third of its fee to Seller X.
4. Needless Markup, a Delaware company, wants to begin importing fleece sweatshirts from the Dominican Republic (DR). Needless Markup hires Caribbean Trading, and established purchasing company, to travel to the DR and make several purchases on behalf of Needless Markup. The invoice from Caribbean Trading includes the sweatshirts and a commission for Caribbean Trade of 7% of the purchase price of the goods.

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).