§197. Duties, how payable

Except as provided in section 198 of this title all duties upon imports shall be collected in ready money, and shall be paid in coin, coin certificates, and such other certificates or Treasury notes as may by law be declared receivable in payment thereof.

(R.S. §3009; Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, 19 Stat. 247 , 249.)

Codification

R.S. §3009 derived from acts Mar. 2, 1833, ch. 55, §3, 4 Stat. 630 ; Aug. 6, 1846, ch. 84, §1, 9 Stat. 53 ; Feb. 25, 1862, ch. 33, §5, 12 Stat. 346 .

R.S. §3473, formerly cited as a credit to this section, was repealed by Pub. L. 95–598, title III, §322(d), title IV, §402(a), Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2679 , 2682, effective Oct. 1, 1979.

Prior to its incorporation into the Code, R.S. §3009, as amended by act Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, 19 Stat. 247 , read: "All duties upon imports shall be collected in ready money, and shall be paid in coin or coin certificates or in United States notes, payable on demand, authorized to be issued prior to the twenty-fifth day of February, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and by law receivable in payment of public dues."

Its provisions were changed to conform to section 198 of this title authorizing the receipt of certified checks in payment of duties; section 405 of Title 31, Money and Finance (act Feb. 28, 1878, ch. 20, §3, 20 Stat. 26 ) making certain certificates and treasury notes receivable for customs; section 451 of Title 31, (act Dec. 24, 1919, ch. 15, §1, 41 Stat. 370 ) making gold certificates a legal tender in payment of all debts and dues, public and private; and a provision of act Mar. 14, 1900, ch. 41, §6, 31 Stat. 47 , as amended (omitted from the Code as superseded by section 451 of Title 31) that gold certificates should be receivable for customs.

Cross References

Coins and currencies of United States as legal tender for all public debts, charges, taxes, duties, and dues, see section 5103 of Title 31, Money and Finance.

Gold coin discontinued and existing gold coins withdrawn from circulation, see section 5118 of Title 31.

Provisions for payment of obligations in gold as against public policy, see section 5118 of Title 31.