CLA-2-76:RR:NC:1:118 J86601
Mr. Miro Skrlj, President
Levelling Corporation
481 Main Street, Suite 501a
New Rochelle, NY 10801
RE: The tariff classification of aluminum sheets and strip from Serbia and Montenegro.
Dear Mr. Skrlj:
In your letter dated May 29, 2003, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
You have described your items as aluminum sheets and strips of a thickness exceeding 0.2 mm, but not over 6.3 mm. It is not clad. You have stated that you will be obtaining unwrought aluminum alloy slabs or blocks weighing 3000 kg to 6000 kg. from Romania and Russia. Their chemical composition consists of 95% aluminum and other elements consisting of silicon, manganese, magnesium and copper. You will ship these slabs to Serbia and Montenegro where they will be processed into plate, sheet or strip by rolling and slitting. The width of the imported product will vary between 40 and 60 inches and it will be imported as flat sheets as well as in coils.
The country of origin is defined in Section 134.1, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.1). It states that the "country of origin" is "the country of manufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the U.S. Further work or material added to an article in another country must effect a substantial transformation in order to render such other country the "country of origin" within the meaning of this part.” The manufacturing process that you have described above, will transform the slabs and blocks into new and different articles having a distinctive name (plate, sheet or strip), character or use which is different from that originally processed (slab). Accordingly, the slabs that are shipped to Serbia and Montenegro to be manufactured into plates, sheets or strips, go through a substantial transformation and become a product of Serbia and Montenegro.
The applicable subheading for the aluminum sheets and strip will be 7606.12.3090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for aluminum plates, sheets and strips, of a thickness exceeding 0.2 mm: rectangular (including square): of aluminum alloys: not clad: with a thickness of 6.3 mm or less: other. The rate of duty will be 13.5% ad valorem.
Consideration was given to classifying the imported product under 7606.92.30, HTS, as you had suggested. The information that you have provided pertaining to your imported product indicated that it would be in a rectangular shape, accordingly, 7606.92.30, HTS, would not be applicable.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Kathy Campanelli at 646-733-3021.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division