9903.96.03: Civil Aircraft Components from Taiwan Exemption

Key Points

• 9903.96.03 is the Civil Aircraft Exemption heading for civil aircraft components that are products of Taiwan, provided for in subdivision (c) of U.S. note 35 to the subchapter.
• It carries 0 percent additional duty itself: it is a claim heading an importer reports, not a tariff that adds cost.
• The facts list an effective date of 2025-10-14, and the product rows shown run from 2026-05-01 onward with no announced end date, as of October 2026.
• It covers components only, not whole aircraft, and the heading text excludes military aircraft and unmanned aircraft.
• The listed scope has 119 product rules in total, and the first 40 shown are all Taiwan (TW) rows across chapters 73, 74, 83, 84, and 85.

On this page

1. What 9903.96.03 is and what it does
2. Affected products and HTS coverage
3. Rate, dates, and applicability
4. How the heading appears on an entry
5. What importers should do
6. Key references

The links in this article go to the primary documents: the proclamations, Federal Register notices, and official tariff schedule pages themselves. Read the source. Everything below is current as of October 2026.

9903.96.03 is a Chapter 99 exemption heading for civil aircraft components that are products of Taiwan. Importers and brokers who bring in qualifying parts claim it alongside the regular chapter 1-97 line. It carries 0 percent additional duty, so its value is in documenting that the goods fall within the exemption, not in adding a charge.

What 9903.96.03 is and what it does

The official heading text reads: "Civil aircraft (all aircraft other than military aircraft and unmanned aircraft) components that are products of Taiwan, provided for in subdivision (c) of U.S. note 35 to this subchapter." The program is the Civil Aircraft Exemption. You can read the heading in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule at hts.usitc.gov.

An exemption, not a duty

This heading adds no duty. It sits inside a larger program as an exemption or claim heading. Think of it as the line you use to tell CBP that a Taiwan-origin part qualifies as a civil aircraft component under note 35, subdivision (c).

What it does not cover

• Whole aircraft. The heading is for components, per its text.
• Military aircraft. The definition of civil aircraft excludes them.
• Unmanned aircraft. The definition excludes these as well.
• Goods not made in Taiwan. The heading is limited to products of Taiwan.

Legal basis

The facts tie the heading to the aerospace provisions of the US-Taiwan Agreement. The deal family date appears as 2025-10-14, taken from a related timber heading, 9903.76.24. The printed heading carries no internal date, and no filed corroboration is available yet. Treat the legal basis as something to verify against the current HTSUS and CBP guidance before you rely on it for a high-value entry.

Affected products and HTS coverage

The heading has 119 product rules in total. The first 40 are visible to us, and every one of them lists Taiwan (TW) as the country, effective 2026-05-01 onward with no announced end date. The full list of 119 is not reproduced here, so confirm any subheading not shown below in the current HTSUS.

Subheadings in the first 40 rules

The visible rows are 8-digit HTS subheadings in these chapters:

• Chapter 73: for example 73044900, 73045910, 73064050, 73066970, 73121060, and 73241000.
• Chapter 74: 74130090.
• Chapter 83: 83022000 and 83026030.
• Chapter 84: for example 84138100, 84149030, 84158201, 84181000, 84198150, 84283300, 84798965, 84833040, and 84836040.
• Chapter 85: 85015360, 85023100, and 85299073.

Appearing on this list does not by itself make a given part a civil aircraft component. The heading text and note 35, subdivision (c) set the qualification test. A fastener, bearing, or tube that is not for civil aircraft does not qualify just because its subheading is listed.

Rate, dates, and applicability

• Rate: 0 percent additional duty, for the heading's effective date of 2025-10-14 onward.
• Product rows shown: Taiwan, 2026-05-01 onward, no announced end date.
• Country: products of Taiwan only.

The facts do not name which additional-duty actions this heading exempts, and they name no other dates. We will not guess at them. Read subdivision (c) of U.S. note 35 and the related Chapter 99 headings in the current HTSUS to see which duties the exemption addresses on your entries. Your broker can confirm the same against CBP guidance on the CBP trade pages.

The gap between the 2025-10-14 effective date and the 2026-05-01 start on the visible product rows matters. If you have entries between those dates, confirm with your broker how the heading applied to each subheading at the time of entry.

How the heading appears on an entry

A Chapter 99 heading does not replace the regular classification. The usual pattern is two lines for the same goods:

1. The chapter 1-97 line, such as one of the subheadings above, with the normal rate of duty.
2. The Chapter 99 line, here 9903.96.03, reporting the claim of the exemption.

Because 9903.96.03 carries 0 percent additional duty, claiming it should not add duty of its own. What matters is whether the claim is correct and supportable. The goods must be Taiwan-origin, must be civil aircraft components, and must fit note 35, subdivision (c). Keep the documents that show each of those facts.

The facts do not say how this heading interacts with other tariff provisions, so check the current HTSUS for whether other Chapter 99 lines, including any applying to Taiwan-origin goods, also need to be reported on the same entry line. For the wider picture of 2026 codes, see our 2026 tariff code overview.

If you already filed without the claim

If you entered qualifying goods without reporting this heading, there may be a way to correct the entry. Our guide to the Post Summary Correction windows covers timing, and four ways to recover overpaid duty covers the other routes. The facts here name no refund process specific to this heading, so confirm eligibility with your broker.

What importers should do

• Check each Taiwan-origin part against the heading text and note 35, subdivision (c) in the current HTSUS before claiming 9903.96.03, and exclude whole aircraft, military aircraft, and unmanned aircraft.
• Match your HTS subheadings to the product rules, and ask your broker for the full set of 119, since only 40 are shown above.
• Build a file for each claim showing Taiwan origin, the civil aircraft end use, and the part's function, so you can answer a CBP request.
• Review past entries since 2025-10-14 for missed claims, and confirm the legal basis, since no filed corroboration is available yet.

Key references

• Harmonized Tariff Schedule (USITC): the official print of heading 9903.96.03 and U.S. note 35 to the subchapter.
• CBP trade pages: agency guidance and CSMS messages on Chapter 99 reporting.
• Federal Register: search here for notices related to the US-Taiwan Agreement aerospace provisions.