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The five destination answers
The federal definition covers the states, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Read the table only within that definition: “inside” does not mean tax-free, and “outside” does not supply a tariff or entry permission.
| Destination | Under the cited definition |
|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | Inside the U.S. customs territory |
| Guam | Outside |
| Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) | Outside |
| American Samoa | Outside |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Outside |
Before approving the equipment order
Fictional example: a Dutch brand copies its Puerto Rico equipment-cost sheet for Guam and changes only the address. The customs assumption no longer matches, and neither destination’s boundary status supplies the missing product treatment or charges.
Establish the product, manufacturer/origin, intended use, classification, exporting party, importer, receiver, port and any onward journey. Local taxes, product controls, quarantine and federal overlays depend on the actual route and goods. A later territory-to-mainland shipment has its own treatment.
Keep legal duties/taxes distinct from freight, broker and storage quotes. A contingency funds uncertainty; it does not establish an unknown legal charge. A freight price alone is not a complete landed-cost calculation.
Scope
- No tariff, tax amount, product-entry permission or onward-shipment treatment is determined here.
Next step
Obtain the product- and route-specific entry and charge answers before treating a shipping quote as landed cost.
Sources & review notes
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Definition: Customs territory of the United States
includes only the States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Current eCFR definition read. This geographical definition does not itself set a product duty, origin rule, quarantine condition, territorial levy or import process.
Detailed rule records (1)
19 CFR § 101.1 includes only the states, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico within the U.S. customs territory. Do not apply a mainland import route or rate to another territory solely because it is U.S. territory.
19 CFR § 101.1: customs territory definitionKeep this reading in your learning library.
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