SECTION 5151
(a) In this section—
(1) “buying rate” means the buying rate
in the market in New York, New York, for cable transfers payable in
the currency of a foreign county to be converted.
(2) when merchandise is exported on a day
that banks are generally closed in New York, the buying rate at noon
on the last prior business day is deemed to be the buying rate at
noon on the day the merchandise is exported.
(b) The value of coins of a foreign country expressed
in United States money is the value of the pure metal of the standard
coin of the foreign country. The Secretary of the Treasury shall estimate
the values of standard coins of the country quarterly and publish
the values on the first day of January, April, July, and October of
each year.
(c) Except as provided in this section,
conversion of currency of a foreign country into United States currency
for assessment and collection of duties on merchandise imported into
the United States shall be made at values published by the Secretary
under subsection (b) of this section for the quarter in which the
merchandise is exported.
(d) If the Secretary
has not published a value for the quarter in which the merchandise
is exported, or if the value published by the Secretary varies by
at least 5 percent from a value measured by the buying rate at noon
on the day the merchandise is exported, the conversion of the currency
of the foreign country shall be made at a value—
(1) equal to the buying rate at noon on
the day the merchandise is exported; or
(2) prescribed by regulation of the Secretary
for the currency that is equal to the first buying rate certified
for that currency by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York under subsection
(e) of this section in the quarter in which the merchandise is exported,
but only if the buying rate at noon on the day the merchandise is
exported varies less than 5 percent from the buying rate first certified.
(e) The Federal Reserve Bank of New York
shall decide the buying rate and certify the rate to the Secretary.
The Secretary shall publish the rate at times and to the extent the
Secretary considers necessary. In deciding the buying rate, the Bank
may—
(1) consider the last ascertainable
transactions and quotations (direct or through exchange of other currencies);
and
(2) if there is
no buying rate, calculate the rate from—
(A) actual transactions
and quotations in demand or time bills of exchange; or
(B) the last ascertainable
transactions and quotations outside the United States in or for exchange
payable in United States currency or foreign currency.
[31
USC 5151. Previously 31 USC 372 (Tariff Act of 1930 § 522 (46 Stat.
739)). Restated and recodified by act of Sept. 13, 1982 (96 Stat.
991).]
