9903.01.87 (Ended): IEEPA India Exemption Heading Explained

Key Points

• HTS 9903.01.87 was an exemption heading under the IEEPA India program, carrying a rate of zero additional duty for entries made between August 27, 2025, and February 6, 2026.
• The heading ended on February 7, 2026, and is no longer in force as of October 22, 2026.
• The heading applied to a broad range of goods of India, including iron and steel articles, aluminum articles, wood products, vehicles, vehicle parts, semiconductor articles, semi-finished copper, and intensive copper derivative products, as specified in U.S. note 2, subdivisions (z)(iii) through (z)(xiii).
• Because this heading imposed no duty itself, its termination created no refund obligation under 9903.01.87 specifically.
• Importers who instead paid IEEPA duty under a companion duty heading because this exemption was not claimed may be able to recover those deposits through CBP's CAPE process in ACE.

On this page

1. What 9903.01.87 was and when it ended
2. Legal authority and program background
3. Products and countries in scope
4. Rate and effective window
5. How the heading appeared on an entry
6. Interaction with companion duty headings
7. Refund posture after the heading ended
8. What importers should do
9. Key references

HTS 9903.01.87 was a Chapter 99 exemption heading under the IEEPA India program, authorized by Executive Order 14329. It applied a rate of zero additional duty to qualifying goods of India entered between August 27, 2025, and February 6, 2026. The heading was terminated as of February 7, 2026, and carried no duty of its own, so it functioned as a claim or exception heading rather than a duty-imposing one. The links in this article go to the primary documents: the proclamations, Federal Register notices, and official tariff schedule pages themselves. Read the source.

What 9903.01.87 was and when it ended

HTS 9903.01.87 was a temporary Chapter 99 classification code that allowed qualifying importers of Indian-origin goods to claim an exemption from additional IEEPA duties during a defined window. The heading appeared in the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule alongside companion headings that imposed duty, and its presence on an entry signaled that the shipment qualified for zero additional duty under the India-specific provisions of the IEEPA program.

The heading became effective on August 27, 2025, and remained operative through February 6, 2026. The compiler's note embedded in the official heading text states plainly: "provision terminated as of February 7, 2026." As of October 22, 2026, the heading is no longer in force and may not be claimed on any new or amended entry.

Legal authority and program background

The heading was created under Executive Order 14329. The IEEPA India program used Chapter 99 headings to impose additional duties on a wide range of Indian-origin goods, while carving out specific exemptions and exceptions through separate headings such as 9903.01.87. Confirm the current status of EO 14329 and any successor actions at the White House website and in the Federal Register.

For context on how other ended IEEPA exemption headings operated, see the related article on 9903.01.26 (Ended): IEEPA Global Reciprocal Baseline Canada Exemption.

Products and countries in scope

The heading applied exclusively to goods of India. The official heading text identified the following product categories, as provided in subdivisions (z)(iii) through (z)(xiii) of U.S. note 2 to this subchapter:

• Articles of iron or steel; derivative articles of iron or steel
• Articles of aluminum; derivative articles of aluminum
• Wood products
• Passenger vehicles, including sedans, sport utility vehicles, crossover utility vehicles, minivans, and cargo vans
• Light trucks
• Parts of passenger vehicles (sedans, SUVs, crossover utility vehicles, minivans, and cargo vans) and light trucks
• Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles
• Parts of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles
• Semiconductor articles
• Semi-finished copper
• Intensive copper derivative products

The precise product boundaries were governed by the referenced U.S. note 2 subdivisions. Confirm the exact text of those subdivisions in the official HTSUS at hts.usitc.gov.

Rate and effective window

9903.01.87 carried no additional duty. Its purpose was to exempt qualifying Indian-origin goods from additional IEEPA duties that would otherwise have applied under companion headings. The zero-rate window ran from August 27, 2025, through February 6, 2026, a period of approximately five months. No rate other than zero applied under this heading during that window.

Because the heading itself imposed no duty, there was no rate increase or decrease to track. Its only operative effect was the absence of additional duty for goods that could properly be classified under it during the window.

How the heading appeared on an entry

Like all Chapter 99 special program headings, 9903.01.87 rode alongside the base Chapter 1-97 classification on the entry summary (CBP Form 7501). The base classification identified the good and governed the general column 1 or column 2 rate; 9903.01.87 was the additional Chapter 99 line that claimed the IEEPA India exemption and zeroed the additional duty. Both lines had to appear on the entry for the claim to be effective.

Brokers preparing entries in ACE during the August 27, 2025 to February 6, 2026 window were required to include 9903.01.87 on the 7501 to preserve the exemption. If the heading was omitted and a companion duty heading was reported instead, additional duty was deposited even if the shipment would have qualified for the exemption. See the ACE Reports Data Dictionary for guidance on how Chapter 99 lines appear in ACE report data, and the 2026 tariff code overview for broader context on Chapter 99 coding in the current schedule.

Interaction with companion duty headings

The IEEPA India program used a structure in which one set of Chapter 99 headings imposed additional duties and a separate set, including 9903.01.87, provided the exemption claim. An importer claiming this heading on a qualifying entry was asserting that the goods fell within the scope of U.S. note 2, subdivisions (z)(iii) through (z)(xiii), and therefore owed no additional IEEPA duty during the window.

Entries that did not claim 9903.01.87, and instead were classified under a companion duty-imposing heading, would have deposited additional IEEPA duty even if the goods could have qualified for the exemption. That distinction is the basis for the refund posture described below. For a comparable ended heading under a different country program, see 9903.02.73 (Ended): IEEPA Japan Replacement Rate Heading.

Refund posture after the heading ended

Because 9903.01.87 imposed no duty itself, the heading's termination on February 7, 2026, created no deposit to refund under this heading. There is no refund pathway tied specifically to 9903.01.87.

However, if an entry during the August 27, 2025 to February 6, 2026 window deposited IEEPA duty under a companion duty heading because 9903.01.87 was not claimed, and the goods would have qualified for the exemption, the importer may be able to seek recovery of that deposit. That path runs through CBP's CAPE process in ACE. To pursue a CAPE correction, an importer needs the relevant entry numbers, the 7501 line details, and the liquidation status of each entry. The steps for filing through CAPE are described at CustomsGenius: IEEPA Tariff Refund Guide, and common rejection reasons are catalogued at the CAPE errors page. Confirm current CAPE acceptance windows and requirements directly with CBP before filing.

What importers should do

• Do not claim 9903.01.87 on any entry. The heading ended February 7, 2026, and is no longer a valid classification.
• Review entry summaries filed between August 27, 2025, and February 6, 2026, for Indian-origin goods in the covered product categories. If those entries deposited IEEPA duty under a companion duty heading rather than claiming this exemption, check whether a CAPE correction is available using the steps at the IEEPA tariff refund guide and the rejection reference at the CAPE errors page.
• Gather entry numbers, 7501 line details, and liquidation status before initiating any CAPE filing, as those are the inputs the process requires.
• Confirm the current state of EO 14329 and any active IEEPA India headings in the current HTSUS and with a licensed customs broker, as the tariff landscape may have changed after the October 22, 2026, as-of date of the facts underlying this article.

Key references

• U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (hts.usitc.gov): Official text of 9903.01.87 and U.S. note 2, subchapter provisions.
• White House (whitehouse.gov): Executive Order 14329 and any related India IEEPA actions.
• Federal Register (federalregister.gov): Implementing notices and amendments for the IEEPA India program.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (cbp.gov): CAPE process guidance, ACE entry summary instructions, and CSMS messages.
• CustomsGenius: IEEPA Tariff Refund Guide: Step-by-step instructions for recovering IEEPA duty deposits through CAPE.
• CustomsGenius: CAPE Errors Reference: Common rejection reasons for CAPE filings and how to address them.
• CustomsGenius: 2026 Tariff Code Overview: Broader context for Chapter 99 coding in the current schedule.