---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 55107"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "55107"
heading: "Empty cargo containers and barges"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/55107"
units:
  - "Subtitle V — Merchant Marine"
  - "Part D — Promotional Programs"
  - "Chapter 551 — Coastwise Trade"
---

# §55107. Empty cargo containers and barges

- (a) **In General.—** Subject to subsections [(b)](#b) and [(c)](#c), and on terms and conditions the [Secretary](/usc/46/53101.md?p=8) of Homeland Security may prescribe by regulation, [section 55102 of this title](/usc/46/55102.md) does not apply to the transportation of—
  - (1) empty [cargo](/usc/46/53901.md?p=2) vans, empty lift vans, or empty shipping tanks;
  - (2) equipment for use with [cargo](/usc/46/53901.md?p=2) vans, lift vans, or shipping tanks;
  - (3) empty barges specifically designed for carriage aboard a [vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=9) and equipment (except propulsion equipment) for use with those barges;
  - (4) empty instruments for international traffic exempted from the customs laws under section 322(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930 ([19 U.S.C. 1322(a)](/usc/19/1322.md?p=a)); or
  - (5) stevedoring equipment and material.
- (b) **Conditions.—**
  - (1) **Paragraphs (1)–(4).—** [Paragraphs (1)](#b-1)–(4) of [subsection (a)](#a) apply only if the items named are owned or leased by the owner or operator of the [vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=9) and transported for its use in handling its [cargo](/usc/46/53901.md?p=2) in foreign trade.
  - (2) **Paragraph (5).—** [Paragraph (5)](#a-5) of subsection (a) applies only if the items named are—
    - (A) owned or leased by the owner or operator of the [vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=9) or by the stevedoring company having the contract for the loading or unloading of the [vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=9); and
    - (B) transported without charge for use in the handling of [cargo](/usc/46/53901.md?p=2) in foreign trade.
- (c) **Reciprocity Requirement for Foreign Vessels.—** This section applies to a [vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=9) of foreign registry only if the [Secretary](/usc/46/53101.md?p=8) of Homeland Security finds, based on information from the Secretary of State, that the government of the nation of registry extends reciprocal privileges to [vessels](/usc/46/53501.md?p=9) of the [United States](/usc/46/53101.md?p=10).

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1635.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 55107 | 46 App.:883 (6th proviso). | June 5, 1920, ch. 250, § 27 (6th proviso), 41 Stat. 999; July 2, 1935, ch. 355, 49 Stat. 442; Pub. L. 89–194, Sept. 21, 1965, 79 Stat. 823; Pub. L. 90–474, Aug. 11, 1968, 80 Stat. 700; Pub. L. 92–163, § 1, Nov. 23, 1971, 85 Stat. 486. |

In subsection (a), before paragraph (1), the words “by vessels of the United States not qualified to engage in the coastwise trade, or by vessels of foreign registry” are omitted as unnecessary. In paragraph (4), the words “by the Secretary of the Treasury” are omitted as unnecessary because the section referred to provides who administers it.