OT:RR:CTF:ER
HQ H310541 AJ
Category: Temporary Importation Bonds
Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc.
1215 E. Fort Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Attn: Ms. Elizabeth Gant, Corporate Regulatory Compliance Analyst
RE: Binding Ruling Request; Unique Industries, Inc.; Temporary Importation Under Bond; 9813.00.05; 9813.00.45; Steel Seamed, Non-Refillable Tanks
Dear Ms. Gant,
This is in response to your Request for a Binding Ruling dated March 17, 2020. In your request, on behalf of your client Unique Industries, Inc., you request a binding ruling regarding whether the steel seamed, non-refillable tanks are eligible for duty free entry under either subheading 9813.00.05 or 9813.00.45 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (March 2021) (“HTSUS”), as a temporary importation under bond (“TIB”). Our decision follows.
FACTS:
Unique Industries, Inc. intends to import empty unused steel seamed, non-refillable tanks from China to the United States. Once in the United States, these tanks will be filled with helium for the purpose of filling balloons for parties and events. The tanks are non-refillable. Once the tanks are filled, they will be exported to the United Kingdom, Canada, or other countries. The tanks will be exported in boxes that may contain other items, such as balloons and ribbon.
ISSUE:
Can empty unused steel seamed, non-refillable tanks that are filled with helium and exported qualify for TIB treatment under HTSUS 9813.00.05 or HTSUS 9813.00.45?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
General Note 1, HTSUS, dictates that all merchandise imported into the United States is subject to duty unless specifically exempted therefrom. Pursuant to U.S. Notes 1(a) and (c) of Subchapter XIII of Chapter 98, HTSUS, which contains subheading 9813.00.05, articles to be repaired, altered or processed, including processes which result in articles manufactured or produced in the United States, may enter into the United States temporarily free of duty under a TIB for exportation within one year from the date of importation. This one-year period may be extended for one or more additional periods, which when added to the initial period may not exceed three years. Id.; 19 CFR § 10.37.
In Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 224661 (January 11, 1994), which pertained to subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS, we stated that “the processing can be a relatively minor procedure or extensive enough to be considered a manufacture or production.” CBP has examined whether a filling process constituted a “processing” to qualify for TIB treatment. In HQ 227976 (July 16, 1998), a claimant imported aluminum foil in rolls that were to be rolled out, cut to size, folded into a packet, filled with a dry soup mix, and sealed for export. In that case, it was noted that “[i]t has been consistently held that there is no way that empty bags or containers may be imported into the United States merely for the purpose of being filled with merchandise for exportation, without the assessment of duty on such containers.” Specifically, the ruling made a distinction between the cutting and folding actions and the filling actions, when determining whether the actions taken could qualify as an alteration or processing of the imported aluminum foil under subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS. We held that the filling process that inserted soup mix into the cut and folded aluminum packet alone would not be enough to qualify as a processing for TIB treatment. However, since the aluminum foil itself was first cut and folded into packets to later contain the soup mix, the cutting and folding actions qualified as a processing under 9813.00.05, HTSUS. Therefore, the aluminum foil rolls qualified for TIB treatment under 9813.00.05, HTSUS, because the cutting and folding processes to create the soup packets, and not the filling of the packets, qualified as a processing under that subheading.
In the instant case, the empty steel-seamed tanks are imported and filled with helium for filling balloons. The action of filling the tanks with helium is similar to the mere filling of aluminum packets with soup mix in HQ 227976. There, CBP held that the action of filling an imported container was not enough on its own to qualify as an alteration or processing, and additional actions were needed to potentially rise to the level of an alteration or processing. Therefore, the action of filling the steel-seamed tanks with helium alone does not rise to the level of an alteration or processing under subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS because mere filling of containers is not an alteration or processing.
After Unique Industries fills the steel-seamed tanks with helium, the tanks may be packaged together with items like balloons and ribbons and exported. Since filling the steel-seamed tanks alone does not qualify as an alteration or processing, we examine if the packaging action qualifies as an alteration or processing within the meaning of subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS. CBP has held that repackaging imports with other items before being exported did not qualify as a repair, alteration, or processing within the meaning of subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS. In HQ 226589 (March 1, 1996), we concluded that clock springs repackaged in a kit with miscellaneous parts did not qualify as a repair, alteration, or processing within the meaning of subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS. See also HQ 223728 (March 18, 1992) blouses that are brought into the U.S. to be inspected, repaired if necessary and then repackaged cannot be entered free of duty, temporarily under bond, under subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS.
In the instant case, the packaging of the steel-seamed tanks is analogous to the repackaging of clock springs with a kit of miscellaneous parts in HQ 226589 and the repackaging of blouses in HQ 223728, where imported items were repackaged for export. CBP has consistently held that repackaging an imported item in a new container, with or without other items, does not qualify as a processing under 9813.00.05, HTSUS. The packaging of the steel-seamed tanks with balloons and ribbons therefore is not a repair, alteration, or processing as is required for TIB treatment. Therefore, the packaging of the filled steel-seamed tanks with balloons and ribbon does not qualify for TIB treatment under 9813.00.05, HTSUS.
Neither the action of filling of the steel-seamed tanks with helium, nor the action of packaging of the filled steel-seamed tanks with other items, qualify as a repair, alteration, or processing under subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS. No other action is performed on the steel-seamed tanks that rises to the level of a repair, alteration, or processing for TIB treatment under this subheading. In addition, because neither action qualifies on their own as a repair, alteration, or processing, both actions taken together also do not rise to the level of a repair, alteration, or processing under this subheading. Additionally, your reliance on HQ Ruling H289067 (August 30, 2019) for support that the filling of the steel-seamed tanks with helium qualifies as a process is inapposite. At issue in that ruling were operations such as grinding and combining materials to transform silicon metal into hyperpure polysilicon. In that case, we did find those operations to constitute a process that would satisfy the requirements for a process under subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS. As stated above, the mere filling of helium into the imported tanks does not similarly constitute a process under subheading 9813.00.05, HTSUS. Therefore, the imported steel-seamed tanks do not qualify for TIB treatment under 9813.00.05, HTSUS.
Unique Industries has also asked if the tanks may be entered under 9813.00.45, HTSUS. Subheading 9813.00.45, HTSUS, provides for duty-free entry, under bond, for “containers for compressed gases, filled or empty, and containers or other articles in use for covering or holding merchandise (including personal or household effects) during transportation and suitable for reuse for that purpose.” By its plain language, subheading 9813.00.45, HTSUS, requires that the containers be suitable for reuse. For example, in HQ 224187 (February 23, 1993), Siemens Power Corporation imported cylinders of uranium hexafluoride gas to be processed into uranium oxide pellets. Once the gas was emptied from the cylinder, the cylinder would be cleaned, prepared for re-use for future transportation of compressed gases, and exported to the foreign owner. We noted in that case that the cylinders would be prepared for reuse for future transportation and that temporary importation under subheading 9813.00.45, HTSUS, would be permitted upon compliance with all other required provisions.
In the instant case, Unique Industries, Inc.’s imported steel-seamed tanks are containers that will be filled with a helium gas. However, the steel-seamed tanks are non-refillable, and thus cannot be re-used or re-filled. Unlike the re-fillable cylinders of uranium hexafluoride gas in HQ 224187, Unique Industries’ steel-seamed tanks can only be filled once and cannot be filled with helium again later. The filled steel-seamed tanks are not re-fillable and therefore fail to meet the requirement that the container be “suitable for reuse” pursuant to subheading 9813.00.45, HTSUS. As a result, the imported steel-seamed tanks would not qualify for TIB treatment under subheading HTSUS 9813.00.45 because they are non-refillable.
HOLDING
Based on the foregoing information, Unique Industries, Inc.’s importation of steel-seamed tanks is not entitled to entry under TIB procedures pursuant to subheading 9813.00.05 or 9813.00.45, HTSUS.
Sincerely,
for Gail G. Kan, Chief
Entry Process and Duty Refund Branch