Customs Must Reconsider Duties on Secondhand Clothing Imports

U.S. Customs and Border Protection must reconsider duty rates on DIS Vintage LLC’s secondhand clothes imports, the U.S. Court of International Trade said, faulting the agency’s longstanding approach to classifying “worn clothing.”

DIS Vintage imported 443 bales of secondhand clothing. CBP determined that the bales were comprised of “comingled goods,” and therefore subject to the highest duty rate of any of the samples it examined, namely a 28.6% rate for women’s trousers and breeches.

DIS Vintage alleges they should be classified as “worn clothing,” which can enter the U.S. duty-free.

CBP’s interpretation of “worn,” which it has applied for at ...