NY 856152

SEP 26 1990


CLA-2-98:S:N:N1:117

Mr. Gary Sarbo
Francosteel Corporation
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014

RE: The applicability of subheading 9802.00.60 to certain basic steel mill products.

Dear Mr. Sarbo:

In your letter dated September 7, 1990 you requested a tariff classification ruling.

Steel slab of U.S. origin will be exported to France to be rolled into hot rolled dry coils. These coils will then be returned to the U.S. for further processing into cold rolled and tin mill products.

Subheading 9802.00.60, HTS, provides that any article of metal (as defined in U.S. note 3(d) of this subchapter) manufactured in the United States or subjected to a process of manufacture in the United States, if exported for further processing, and if the exported article as processed outside the United States, or the article which results from the processing outside the United States, is returned to the United States for further processing may be entered with duty upon the value of such processing outside the United States upon compliance with Customs Regulations. To meet the requirements of "further processing" some operation must be applied to the metal that will change its shape or form or impart new and different characteristics, which become an integral part of the metal itself. In this respect, the hot rolling operation performed on the slabs in France and the cold rolling of these hot rolled coils in the U.S. appear to satisfy both foreign and domestic segments under subheading 9802.00.60. Accordingly, the hot rolled dry coils may be entered under subheading 9802.00.60 with duty on the cost or value of the processing abroad upon compliance with the applicable regulations. The applicable rates of duty are as follows:

PRODUCT# HTS DUTY RATE QO4PBB 7208.24.50 (nonalloy) 4.9% 7225.30.70 (alloy .0008+ B) 9.5% QLO4PBB 7208.24.50 4.9%

QO4XEC 7208.24.50 (nonalloy) 4.9% 7225.30.70 (alloy .0008+ B) 9.5%

QLO4PBB 7208.24.50 4.9%

SMO4XBB 7208.24.50 4.9%

QO4PBB 7208.23.50 (nonalloy) 4.9% 7225.30.70 (alloy .0008+ B) 9.5% This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.

Sincerely,

Jean F. Maguire
Area Director
New York Seaport