9903.01.85 (Ended): IEEPA India In-Transit Exemption Explained

Key Points

• HTS 9903.01.85 was an exemption heading under the IEEPA India program, carrying no additional duty of its own for qualifying shipments of Indian-origin goods.
• To qualify, goods must have been loaded and in transit before 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 27, 2025, and entered for consumption before 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 17, 2025.
• The heading was in effect from August 27, 2025 through February 6, 2026, and was terminated as of February 7, 2026; it is no longer in force as of October 22, 2026.
• Because 9903.01.85 carried no duty of its own, its termination created nothing to refund under this heading specifically.
• Importers who deposited IEEPA duty under a companion duty heading because this exemption was not claimed may seek that deposit back through CBP's CAPE process in ACE.

On this page

1. What 9903.01.85 was and when it ended
2. Legal authority and program context
3. Goods and countries in scope
4. Rate and effective window
5. How the heading appeared on an entry
6. Interaction with other IEEPA India headings
7. Refund and correction posture after termination
8. What importers should do
9. Key references

9903.01.85 was a Chapter 99 exemption heading under the IEEPA India tariff program. It shielded a narrow category of Indian-origin goods from additional IEEPA duties, provided those goods were already loaded and in transit before a specific cut-off and entered for consumption within a defined window. The heading carried a rate of no additional duty and applied from August 27, 2025 through February 6, 2026. It was terminated as of February 7, 2026 and has not been in force since. The links in this article go to the primary documents: the executive order, the official tariff schedule, and CBP guidance pages themselves. Read the source.

What 9903.01.85 was and when it ended

HTS 9903.01.85 existed to protect importers from retroactive duty exposure on Indian-origin goods that were already on the water or in transit when the IEEPA India program took effect. The heading terminated as of February 7, 2026, and no entry filed on or after that date could use it. As of October 22, 2026, the heading is permanently closed.

The official heading text stated that it covered articles the product of India that (1) were loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading and in transit on the final mode of transit prior to entry into the United States, before 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 27, 2025; and (2) were entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption before 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 17, 2025. Both conditions had to be met simultaneously. The compiler's note in the tariff schedule itself confirmed: "provision terminated as of February 7, 2026."

Legal authority and program context

The heading was created under Executive Order 14329, the legal authority behind the IEEPA India tariff program. All rates, windows, and product scope flowed from that order. Confirm current HTSUS text at hts.usitc.gov and review CBP guidance at cbp.gov.

For context on how other ended IEEPA exemption headings worked alongside this one, see our articles on 9903.01.31 (Ended): IEEPA Informational Materials Exemption and 9903.01.26 (Ended): IEEPA Global Reciprocal Baseline Canada Exemption.

Goods and countries in scope

The heading applied exclusively to articles that were the product of India. No other country of origin qualified. Within that country scope, the heading was further limited by two strict transit conditions:

• The goods must have been loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading and in transit on the final mode of transit before 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 27, 2025.
• The goods must have been entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, before 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 17, 2025.

There was no product-class restriction beyond country of origin and transit timing. Any article of Indian origin that satisfied both timing prongs qualified for the exemption. Goods that missed either cut-off did not qualify, regardless of origin. Confirm the current scope of the underlying India program in the HTSUS or with a licensed customs broker.

Rate and effective window

9903.01.85 was an exemption heading: it carried no additional duty of its own. An importer who correctly claimed this heading on a qualifying entry owed zero additional IEEPA duty under the India program for that shipment. This was the defining feature of the heading. It was not a duty-rate heading; it was a relief provision.

The rate window ran from August 27, 2025 through February 6, 2026, a period of roughly five and a half months. After February 6, 2026, the heading was terminated and could no longer be claimed.

How the heading appeared on an entry

Like all Chapter 99 provisions, 9903.01.85 rode alongside the underlying Chapter 1-97 classification on the CBP Form 7501. The importer or broker would report the standard HTS number for the product in one line and add 9903.01.85 as an additional Chapter 99 line on the same entry summary. The Chapter 99 line signaled to CBP that the entry was claiming the in-transit exemption and that no IEEPA India additional duty applied to those goods.

Accurate line-level entry data is essential for reviewing these historical entries. The ACE Reports Data Dictionary and the ES-002: ACE Reports Entry Summary Line Details Explained article explain how to read and pull entry summary line data from ACE for review.

Interaction with other IEEPA India headings

9903.01.85 sat within the broader IEEPA India program, which contained companion headings that imposed additional duties. An importer whose goods qualified under 9903.01.85 claimed this exemption heading instead of a duty-imposing companion heading. Goods that did not meet both transit prongs were subject to whatever duty heading applied to Indian-origin articles under EO 14329 at the time of entry.

Because the exemption heading carried no duty itself, the interaction between 9903.01.85 and other applicable duties, such as Section 301 China duties or standard column 1 rates, was limited to those other provisions. 9903.01.85 relieved only the IEEPA India additional duty; all other applicable duties still applied. Confirm stacking with a broker or check the 2026 tariff code overview for current program structure.

Refund and correction posture after termination

Because 9903.01.85 carried no additional duty of its own, its termination on February 7, 2026 did not itself create a refund. There was no duty deposited under this heading that could be returned.

However, an importer who deposited IEEPA India duty under a companion duty heading because 9903.01.85 was not claimed at the time of entry may be in a different position. If the entry covered goods that actually qualified under the transit window but the exemption was not claimed, the duty deposit under the companion heading may be recoverable. That recovery runs through CBP's CAPE process in ACE.

The steps for filing through CAPE are documented in our IEEPA Tariff Refund Guide. Common rejection reasons are catalogued on the CAPE errors page. To pursue this path, an importer needs:

• The entry numbers for the affected shipments
• The CBP Form 7501 line detail showing which duty heading was claimed
• The liquidation status of each entry, because unliquidated and liquidated entries follow different correction paths

Do not rely on duty drawback as a substitute path for IEEPA deposit recovery on these entries; the CAPE process is the applicable mechanism. For background on drawback as a separate program, see Duty Drawback Program: Types, 99% Refund, and Filing Rules.

What importers should do

• Audit entry summaries for Indian-origin shipments entered between August 27, 2025 and September 17, 2025 to determine whether the goods met both transit prongs and whether 9903.01.85 was correctly claimed.
• If a qualifying entry deposited IEEPA duty under a companion heading instead of claiming this exemption, gather the entry numbers, 7501 line details, and liquidation status, then follow the CAPE process documented at /articles/ieepa-tariff-refund-guide.
• Review the CAPE errors page before filing to avoid common rejection reasons that delay or defeat a deposit recovery claim.
• Confirm the current HTSUS text for the India program at hts.usitc.gov, because active companion headings and rates may have changed since this exemption was terminated.

Key references

• Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), hts.usitc.gov - Official tariff schedule; confirm Chapter 99 heading text and current India program headings here.
• White House Executive Orders, whitehouse.gov - Source for EO 14329, the legal authority behind the IEEPA India program.
• Federal Register, federalregister.gov - Search for Federal Register notices implementing and amending the IEEPA India tariff program.
• CBP.gov - CBP guidance, CSMS messages, and ACE resources related to IEEPA entries and CAPE filings.
• IEEPA Tariff Refund Guide (CustomsGenius) - Step-by-step CAPE process for recovering IEEPA duty deposits in ACE.
• CAPE Errors Page (CustomsGenius) - Common CAPE rejection reasons and how to resolve them.
• 9903.01.31 (Ended): IEEPA Informational Materials Exemption - Related ended IEEPA exemption heading for context.
• ACE Reports Data Dictionary - Field-level definitions for ACE entry summary reports used in entry audits.