CLA-2 CO:R:C:V 555364 GRV

Ms. Bettie Jo Shearer
Supervisor, Entry Department
Wholesale Supply Company, Inc.
1600 Vaden Boulevard
Brentwood, Tennessee 37027

RE: Applicability of duty exemption under HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10 to fiberglass tent poles of U.S.-origin packaged abroad with standard truck tents of foreign manufacture and returned to the U.S.

Dear Ms. Shearer:

This is in response to your letter of March 17, 1989, to our New York Seaport office, requesting a ruling on the applicability of subheading 9801.00.10, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), to assembled fiberglass tent poles of U.S.-origin packaged in Korea with standard truck tents that are made in Korea. Samples of the tents to be imported were submitted for examination. Your letter was forwarded to this office for a direct reply. We regret the delay in responding to your request.

FACTS:

Already assembled, fiberglass tent poles of U.S. origin will be exported to Korea to be packaged with standard truck tents of Korean manufacture. The tent poles will be merely placed in a nylon carrying bag along with the folded tent, and the bag will then be packed in a box. After the packaging operation, the tents will be imported into the U.S.

By letter dated September 15, 1989 (084745), we wrote you concerning the eligibility of U.S.-made tent poles that were merely packaged in Hong Kong with tents manufactured in China, and stated that the U.S.-made tent poles would not qualify for duty-free treatment under HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10.

On December 11, 1989, the U.S. Court of International Trade decided Superscope, Inc. v. United States, Slip Op. 89-167, 13 CIT ____, 727 F.Supp. 629 (1989), which held that certain glass panels of U.S. origin that were exported, repacked abroad with certain foreign components, and returned to the U.S. as part of unassembled audio cabinets, were entitled to duty-free entry under TSUS item 800.00, since the U.S. panel portion of the imported article was "not 'advanced in value or improved in condition ... while abroad,' but [was] merely repacked."

ISSUE:

Whether the already assembled, fiberglass tent poles, which are merely packaged abroad with truck tents of foreign origin, will be eligible for duty-free treatment under HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10 when returned to the U.S.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10 provides for the duty-free entry of products of the U.S. that are returned after having been exported, without having been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process of manufacture or other means while abroad, provided there has been compliance with the documentary requirements of section 10.1, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.1).

We believe that the decision in Superscope is controlling in regard to the facts of the instant case. An examination of the samples submitted evidence that the tent poles of U.S.-origin are merely packaged with tents of foreign-origin, and returned to the U.S. Therefore, since these U.S. tent poles are not advanced in value or improved in condition while abroad, we find that they are entitled to duty-free entry under HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10.

Given the decision in the Superscope case, and pursuant to section 177.9(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 177.9(a)), that portion of Headquarters Ruling Letter 084745 (September 15, 1989) relating to the applicability of HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10 to the U.S.-made tent poles, is modified to conform with this ruling.

HOLDING:

On the basis of the information provided and after viewing the samples submitted, as the already assembled, fiberglass tent poles of U.S.-origin will not be advanced in value or improved in condition abroad as a result of the packaging operation, they will be eligible for the duty exemption available under HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10 when returned to the U.S., provided the documentary requirements of 19 CFR 10.1 are satisfied.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division