Special entry types: bonded warehouse, foreign-trade zone, TIB, and in-bond movement (Parts 144, 146, 18, and heading 9813)

Not every import is a plain consumption entry that pays duty and enters commerce. The exam reliably tests four alternatives, each with its own Part of the regulations, its own deadline, and its own duty logic. This guide covers bonded warehouse entries (19 CFR Part 144), foreign-trade zones (Part 146), temporary importation under bond (HTSUS heading 9813 and 19 CFR 10.31), and in-bond movement (Part 18). The unifying theme is timing and duty deferral, so the numbers matter. For where these Parts sit among the others, see the corpus map; the glossary defines entry summary and liquidation.

What is a bonded warehouse entry, and how long can goods stay?

A bonded warehouse entry (a “warehouse entry”) lets an importer store imported merchandise under CBP custody without paying duty until the goods are withdrawn. The rules are in 19 CFR Part 144, “Warehouse and Rewarehouse Entries and Withdrawals.” The headline number is the storage limit in 19 CFR 144.5: merchandise must not remain in a bonded warehouse beyond 5 years from the date of importation. The Center director may extend that period for good cause on a proper request, but 5 years is the rule to memorize.

While the goods sit in the warehouse, no duty is due. Duty (or the decision not to pay it) happens at withdrawal, governed by Part 144 Subpart D:

• Withdrawal for consumption enters the goods into U.S. commerce; duty is assessed at the rate and value in effect at the time of withdrawal, not at the time of the original importation. That timing rule is a classic exam point, because the applicable duty rate can change while the goods are warehoused.
• Withdrawal for exportation or for transportation to another bonded warehouse removes the goods without paying consumption duty.

The practical value of a bonded warehouse is cash-flow and flexibility: duty is deferred for up to 5 years, and if the goods are ultimately exported, never paid at all.

How does a foreign-trade zone differ from a bonded warehouse?

A foreign-trade zone (FTZ) is a secured area treated, for duty purposes, as outside U.S. customs territory even though it sits physically inside the United States. The rules are in 19 CFR Part 146. Goods are admitted to a zone (not “entered”) on an application, historically CBP Form 214, and no duty is due while they remain in the zone. Duty is assessed only when the goods leave the zone for U.S. consumption. There is no 5-year clock: goods may stay in a zone indefinitely.

The exam’s favorite FTZ topic is zone status, which the admitting party elects and which fixes how duty is later calculated (19 CFR 146.41 to 146.44):

Status	Section	Duty treatment
Privileged foreign	146.41	Classification and duty rate are fixed at the time status is elected, even if the goods are later manufactured into something else. The status cannot be abandoned.
Nonprivileged foreign	146.42	Classification and value are determined in the goods’ condition when they are entered for consumption from the zone, so processing in the zone can change the tariff outcome (“inverted tariff”).
Domestic	146.43	U.S.-origin or duty-paid goods brought in; may generally be returned to customs territory free.
Zone-restricted	146.44	Goods placed in a zone for export or destruction only; may not be returned to U.S. customs territory for consumption.

The privileged-versus-nonprivileged choice is the whole point of a manufacturing FTZ: nonprivileged status lets a manufacturer pay the lower finished-good duty rate rather than the higher component rate, while privileged status locks in the rate at admission. Knowing which status does which is a reliable question.

What is a temporary importation under bond (TIB)?

A temporary importation under bond (TIB) admits certain goods free of duty on the condition that they are exported (or destroyed) rather than sold or consumed. The classification hook is HTSUS Chapter 98, Subchapter XIII (heading 9813), and the procedure is in 19 CFR 10.31 to 10.40. The deadlines and the bond are the tested facts:

• Bond. A bond is filed on CBP Form 301 in an amount equal to double the estimated duties and fees (10.31). Certain categories, such as samples for orders, advertising films, and professional equipment, use a reduced bond of 110 percent of the estimated duties and fees.
• Period. The goods must be exported within 1 year from the date of importation. Under 19 CFR 10.37 the period may be extended for not more than two further 1-year periods, so the total time the goods may remain is 3 years.
• No sale, no consumption. TIB goods may not be imported for the purpose of sale or sale on approval. They are in the country to be used and then leave.
• Failure to export. If the goods are not exported (or destroyed) in time, the bond is breached and CBP assesses liquidated damages, generally twice the estimated duties. That is why the bond is set at double: the penalty for keeping the goods is paying two times the duty you avoided.

What is an in-bond entry?

An in-bond entry moves imported merchandise without appraisement and without paying duty from one U.S. port to another, or through the United States to a foreign destination. The rules are in 19 CFR Part 18, “Transportation in Bond and Merchandise in Transit.” The goods travel under a custodial bond, historically documented on CBP Form 7512, filed electronically as an in-bond application in ACE (18.1). There are three types to keep straight:

In-bond type	What it does
Immediate Transportation (IT)	Moves goods to another U.S. port, where they will be entered
Transportation and Exportation (T&E)	Moves goods across the U.S. to a port of exportation, to leave the country
Immediate Exportation (IE)	Exports goods directly from the port of arrival without inland movement

The timing rule under the current Part 18 is that in-bond merchandise must be delivered to CBP at the destination or exportation port within 30 days of the date CBP authorizes the movement (60 days for transportation by barge). In-bond is a transit mechanism, not an entry that pays duty: the duty question is deferred to wherever the goods are finally entered for consumption, if they ever are.

Practicing special entry types for the exam

Special-entry questions are mostly a matching exercise: match the goal (store, manufacture, temporarily use, move through) to the right mechanism and its number. Memorize the four anchors, the bonded-warehouse 5 years, the FTZ zone-status table, the TIB 1 year extendable to 3 with a double-duty bond, and the in-bond 30 days, then drill the lookups in the navigation trainer and place Parts 144, 146, and 18 in the corpus map. Race the citations in the citation race and test recall with the free practice test. For what happens after any of these goods are finally entered, see the guides on the entry process and protests and post-entry.

Sources: 19 CFR Part 144 (Warehouse and Rewarehouse Entries and Withdrawals), section 144.5; 19 CFR Part 146 (Foreign Trade Zones), sections 146.41 to 146.44; 19 CFR 10.31 to 10.40 (Temporary Importation under Bond) and HTSUS Chapter 98, Subchapter XIII (heading 9813); and 19 CFR Part 18 (Transportation in Bond), section 18.1, as published on the Legal Information Institute mirror of the CFR (law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/19) and the HTSUS (hts.usitc.gov), cross-checked against the eCFR (ecfr.gov/current/title-19). CBP Form 214 (FTZ admission), CBP Form 301 (bond), CBP Form 7512 (in-bond) are CBP's published forms (cbp.gov/newsroom/publications/forms). Reviewed 2026-07-24. Periods, bond amounts, and status rules change; confirm the current text before relying on it.