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Upon vessels which shall be entered in the United States from any foreign port or place there shall be paid duties as follows: On vessels built within the United States but belonging wholly or in part to subjects of foreign powers, at the rate of thirty cents per ton; on other vessels not of the United States, at the rate of fifty cents per ton, and any vessel any officer of which shall not be a citizen of the United States shall pay a tax of fifty cents per ton.

A tonnage duty of 9 cents per ton, not to exceed in the aggregate 45 cents per ton in any one year, for fiscal years 1991 through 2002, and 2 cents per ton, not to exceed in the aggregate 10 cents per ton in any one year, for each fiscal year thereafter is imposed at each entry on all vessels which shall be entered in any port of the United States from any foreign port or place in North America, Central America, the West India Islands, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands, or the coast of South America bordering on the Caribbean Sea, or Newfoundland, and on all vessels (except vessels of the United States, recreational vessels, and barges, as those terms are defined in section 2101 of title 46) that depart a United States port or place and return to the same port or place without being entered in the United States from another port or place; and a duty of 27 cents per ton, not to exceed $1.35 per ton per annum, for fiscal years 1991 through 2002, and 6 cents per ton, not to exceed 30 cents per ton per annum, for each fiscal year thereafter is imposed at each entry on all vessels which shall be entered in any port of the United States from any other foreign port. However, neither duty shall be imposed on vessels in distress or not engaged in trade.

Upon every vessel not of the United States, which shall be entered in one district from another district, having on board goods, wares, or merchandise taken in one district to be delivered in another district, duties shall be paid at the rate of 50 cents per ton: Provided, That no such duty shall be required where a vessel owned by citizens of the United States, but not a vessel of the United States, after entering an American port, shall, before leaving the same, be registered as a vessel of the United States. On all foreign vessels which shall be entered in the United States from any foreign port or place, to and with which vessels of the United States are not ordinarily permitted to enter and trade, there shall be paid a duty at the rate of $2 per ton; and none of the duties on tonnage above mentioned shall be levied on the vessels of any foreign nation if the President of the United States shall be satisfied that the discriminating or countervailing duties of such foreign nations, so far as they operate to the disadvantage of the United States, have been abolished. Any rights or privileges acquired by any foreign nation under the laws and treaties of the United States relative to the duty of tonnage on vessels shall not be impaired; and any vessel any officer of which shall not be a citizen of the United States shall pay a tax of 50 cents per ton.