9903.01.31 (Ended): IEEPA Informational Materials Exemption

Key Points

• HTS 9903.01.31 ended on February 24, 2026, and is no longer in force as of the October 21, 2026 as-of date of these facts.
• While it applied (April 5, 2025 through February 23, 2026), the heading carried a rate of zero percent additional duty: it was an exemption from the Global Reciprocal Baseline tariff, not a duty-collecting heading.
• The heading covered informational materials including publications, films, posters, phonograph records, photographs, microfilms, microfiche, tapes, compact disks, CD ROMs, artworks, and news wire feeds, as stated in the official heading text under EO 14257.
• Because this heading imposed no duty of its own, its termination created nothing to refund under it directly.
• Importers who paid IEEPA duty under a companion duty heading because they did not claim this exemption may seek a refund of that deposit through CBP's CAPE process in ACE.

On this page

1. What this heading was and how it fit the Global Reciprocal Baseline program
2. Goods covered by 9903.01.31
3. Rate and effective window
4. How the heading appeared on an entry
5. Why the heading ended and what that meant
6. Refund path for companion duty payments
7. What importers should do
8. Key references

HTS 9903.01.31 was a Chapter 99 exemption heading under the IEEPA Global Reciprocal Baseline program, established by Executive Order 14257. It shielded qualifying informational materials from additional duty during the period April 5, 2025 through February 23, 2026. The heading ended on February 24, 2026 and is no longer in force. The links throughout this article go to the primary documents: the executive order, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, and CBP guidance pages themselves. Read the source.

What this heading was and how it fit the Global Reciprocal Baseline program

The Global Reciprocal Baseline program, authorized by EO 14257, imposed additional IEEPA duties on a broad range of imported goods. Within that framework, certain categories of goods were carved out through dedicated Chapter 99 exemption headings that carried a rate of zero percent additional duty. HTS 9903.01.31 was one such carve-out heading. Its function was to signal to CBP that the goods on a given entry line were exempt from the baseline additional duty, not to collect a separate tariff.

Because the heading was an exemption, its presence on an entry line eliminated the Global Reciprocal Baseline additional duty that would otherwise have applied. Importers and brokers familiar with similar split-filing structures in other Chapter 99 programs, such as those described in the article on 9903.78.02, a comparable non-duty split filing heading, will recognize this pattern.

Goods covered by 9903.01.31

The official heading text defined the covered goods as articles that are informational materials, including but not limited to:

• Publications
• Films
• Posters
• Phonograph records
• Photographs
• Microfilms and microfiche
• Tapes
• Compact disks and CD ROMs
• Artworks
• News wire feeds

The phrase "including but not limited to" in the heading text meant the enumerated list was illustrative rather than exhaustive. Whether a particular article qualified as an "informational material" beyond those examples was a classification question to be resolved against the full heading text and the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Confirm coverage for any borderline product with the current HTSUS or a licensed customs broker.

Rate and effective window

For the period April 5, 2025 through February 23, 2026, HTS 9903.01.31 carried a rate of zero percent in additional duty. The zero rate was not a preferential trade agreement rate applied on top of the column 1 general rate: it reflected the complete absence of any Global Reciprocal Baseline additional duty for qualifying informational materials. The column 1 general rate from the good's chapter 1 through 97 classification remained applicable in the ordinary way.

The heading was never a revenue-collecting provision. Its sole purpose was to document the exemption claim on the entry so that CBP's ACE system could process the line without assessing the baseline additional duty.

How the heading appeared on an entry

Chapter 99 exemption headings ride alongside the underlying chapter 1 through 97 classification line on the entry summary, CBP Form 7501. A broker filing an entry for covered informational materials during the April 5, 2025 through February 23, 2026 window would have reported the good's regular HTS classification on one line and added 9903.01.31 as the Chapter 99 heading on a companion line, with zero duty assessed under the Chapter 99 line. For a detailed walkthrough of ACE entry summary line fields, see the article on ES-002: ACE Reports Entry Summary Line Details.

Entries filed without claiming 9903.01.31, where the goods actually qualified, would have been assessed the Global Reciprocal Baseline additional duty under the applicable companion duty heading. That is the scenario the refund section below addresses.

Why the heading ended and what that meant

HTS 9903.01.31 ended on February 24, 2026. From that date forward, entries of informational materials that had previously qualified for this exemption were no longer entitled to claim it. Whether a replacement exemption, a new program heading, or a different duty treatment applied after February 24, 2026, is beyond what the facts block for this heading states. Confirm the current classification treatment for informational materials in the current HTSUS or with a customs broker.

The termination of an exemption heading does not by itself create a retroactive duty liability for entries correctly filed under the heading while it was in force. Entries filed and liquidated during the April 5, 2025 through February 23, 2026 window that properly claimed 9903.01.31 were compliant with the tariff schedule as it stood at the time of filing.

For context on how another ended IEEPA baseline exemption heading worked in a similar period, see the article on 9903.01.26, the Global Reciprocal Baseline Canada exemption heading.

Refund path for companion duty payments

Because HTS 9903.01.31 imposed no duty of its own, its termination created no deposit to refund under it. An importer who correctly claimed this heading owed no additional duty under it and has nothing to recover through it.

However, if an importer entered qualifying informational materials during the April 5, 2025 through February 23, 2026 window and did not claim 9903.01.31, the entry would have been assessed the Global Reciprocal Baseline additional duty under whichever companion duty heading applied. That mistakenly paid additional duty may be recoverable. The path is CBP's CAPE process in ACE. The steps for filing a CAPE request are on the IEEPA tariff refund guide, and common rejection reasons are on the CAPE errors page.

To pursue a CAPE correction, an importer will need, at minimum:

• The entry numbers for each affected entry
• The specific Form 7501 lines on which the additional duty was assessed
• The liquidation status of each entry, as unliquidated and liquidated entries may follow different steps

The facts block for this heading does not state a deadline for filing, a dollar threshold, or any other procedural requirement beyond what is on those two pages. Consult the refund guide and the CAPE errors page for current procedural details.

What importers should do

• Audit entries of informational materials filed between April 5, 2025 and February 23, 2026 to confirm whether 9903.01.31 was claimed: if it was not and the goods qualified, a CAPE correction in ACE may recover the Global Reciprocal Baseline additional duty that was deposited.
• Gather entry numbers, the relevant Form 7501 lines, and each entry's liquidation status before initiating a CAPE request, then follow the steps on the IEEPA tariff refund guide and review the CAPE errors page for rejection risks.
• For entries of informational materials filed after February 24, 2026, verify the current applicable Chapter 99 treatment in the live HTSUS, as this heading is no longer available.

Key references

• White House Presidential Actions (EO 14257 and related orders): source of the legal authority for the Global Reciprocal Baseline program and this heading.
• Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (USITC): official schedule including Chapter 99 headings; confirm current treatment here.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): CBP guidance on entry filing, ACE, and CAPE correction procedures.
• IEEPA Tariff Refund Guide (CustomsGenius): step-by-step instructions for the CAPE process in ACE for IEEPA duty deposits.
• CAPE Errors Page (CustomsGenius): common reasons CAPE requests are rejected and how to address them.
• ES-002: ACE Reports Entry Summary Line Details Explained (CustomsGenius): how Chapter 99 lines appear on the Form 7501 in ACE.
• 9903.01.26 (Ended): IEEPA Global Reciprocal Baseline Canada Exemption (CustomsGenius): a related ended exemption heading from the same program.
• 2026 Tariff Code Overview (CustomsGenius): broader context for Chapter 99 codes active and ended in 2026.