Customs Bonded Warehouse for Maquiladora Machinery

When a plant in Mexico changes, the machines that come out still have to leave Mexico or be imported for good. A US customs bonded warehouse takes them straight out of the plant and into Texas, with US duties deferred, where buyers can see them and you can decide each machine's next use without touching the plant.

This guide is about those decisions. For the whole path from the plant floor to the final sale, see our page on maquiladora surplus.

Why maquiladora machinery goes into bond

Machinery in a maquiladora is usually imported under IMMEX as fixed assets, activo fijo, on a temporary basis. When a machine leaves service, that temporary import has to be closed. For equipment the company no longer needs in Mexico, the usual way is the retorno: the machine is returned abroad, and no Mexican duty or IVA is paid.

The retorno only needs the machine to leave Mexico. It does not need a buyer, a new home or a final decision. That is where a customs bonded warehouse helps. The machine crosses into the United States and goes into bond, where it has arrived but has not entered US commerce, so no US duty is owed. It can stay up to five years under 19 USC 1557.

Why buyers prefer a customs bonded warehouse

Good machinery from a plant in Mexico has buyers. What most of them do not want is the logistics of buying it in Mexico: paying duties and tariffs up front on equipment they have not inspected, or sending a team across the border to see it.

A customs bonded warehouse removes both. Buyers inspect the machine in Texas, a short trip instead of an international one. Duty is paid only on what enters the United States, and only when it does. A buyer abroad can take it straight from bond with no US duty at all.

For the company, the plant keeps running. The temporary imports close with a retorno, every machine is recorded, and the decisions about each one are made in AssetMan™, away from the floor.

We have three warehouses in Del Rio, on the border across from Ciudad Acuña, and two in Comfort, with over 200,000 square feet under roof and 50 acres of outdoor storage, including bonded US Customs warehouses. Removal and transport can be your own team or our crews and fleet, depending on what the job needs and how fast it has to move.

The choices for each machine after the border

Once a machine is in bond, it has five possible next steps.

Another of your plants abroad. A machine withdrawn from bond for export pays no US duty. If the company has a plant in Asia, Europe or South America that can use it, it ships there directly.

A plant of yours in the United States. The machine is entered for consumption when it leaves bond, and duty is paid on that machine alone, at that time. Machines made in the United States and returned without being improved abroad may qualify as American goods returned under HTSUS 9801.00.10, which can bring the duty to zero.

A buyer in the United States. The sale works the same way. The buyer, or the seller on the buyer's behalf, enters the machine when it leaves bond and pays duty on it then.

A buyer in another country. The machine is exported from bond, and no US duty applies.

Held. A machine can wait in bond while corporate, finance and the plant teams agree on its future, as long as it leaves within the five years.

Deciding machine by machine

Most companies sort their machines into three groups within a few weeks of the move.

The first group goes to other plants. These are machines a sister plant has already asked for, or that match work the company has coming. Internal first, giving your own plants the first look, usually returns more than a sale would.

The second group is sold. These are good machines the company no longer needs anywhere. For each one, the question is where it is worth the most. A machine with a strong US market may be worth entering and selling here, duty included. A machine with strong demand abroad, or one whose US duty would be high, may be worth more exported straight from bond.

The third group is metal. Worn fixtures, damaged equipment and machines past their working life are worth their weight. We buy that too, through our recycling services, rather than leaving it to be hauled away.

Duty is often what moves a machine from one group to another, and it depends on where the machine was made. Your US customs broker can tell you the duty on each one before you decide.

Accessories decide more of a machine's value than most people expect. A turning center that leaves with its chucks, tool holders, chip conveyor, manuals and spare parts is worth more, and sells sooner, than the same machine stripped. Keep each machine's accessories with it from the plant floor onward, tagged to the same asset number.

What to have ready before the machines move

A short list, kept well, makes every later step quicker. For each machine, the useful details are:

• the builder, model, serial number and year
• the company's asset tag and the site it came from
• the Mexican pedimento number it was imported under
• the country where it was made, which drives the US duty
• whether it was running when it came out of service

Your agente aduanal needs the pedimento numbers to file the retorno, and your customs broker needs the rest to file the entry into bond. Finance needs the asset tags to close each machine out of the register.

If building that list sounds like more than your team can take on while a new line comes up, we understand. That is why we offer AssetReady™: we agree on a definition up front, then qualify everything that meets it.

Everything in the plant belongs on the same list. One list for the whole job means one set of entries at the border. To see the kind of equipment buyers find in bond, browse our inventory.

Questions sellers ask

What happens to IMMEX machinery when a maquiladora retools or closes?

The temporary import has to be closed, by returning the machine abroad, the retorno, or by importing it definitively and paying Mexican duty and IVA. Moving it into a US customs bonded warehouse completes the retorno and leaves the next decision for later.

Do I pay US duty when machinery arrives at a bonded warehouse?

No. Duty is paid only when a machine is entered for consumption in the United States, and only on that machine. Machines exported from bond pay no US duty.

How long can machinery stay in a customs bonded warehouse?

Up to five years from the date it was imported into the United States.

Can machines go from bond to a plant in another country?

Yes. A machine withdrawn from a bonded warehouse for export goes straight to its destination, and US duties never apply to it.

Can a machine be sold while it is in bond?

Yes. The right to withdraw it can pass to a buyer, who then enters it into the United States or exports it, and pays any US duty at that time. Many machines are sold this way, inspected where they sit.

When you are ready

If you have one lot to sell, AssetRecovery™ makes one cash offer for all of it. If surplus keeps coming from plants in Mexico, the United States or both, AssetMan™ gives you one accountable partner for every site. Either way, it starts at assetman.kingsurplus.com with a call from a King Surplus rep, or at 830-995-5000.