CLA-2-98:OT:RR:NC:1:117
Mr. C.J. Erickson
Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C.
1133 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
RE: The tariff classification of aluminum tubes from Germany and Korea
Dear Mr. Erickson:
In your letter dated December 9, 2008 you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client Luvata Grenada LLC.
The subject of your request is described as aluminum tubes processed in Germany from aluminum of U.S. origin, and returned to the U.S. for further processing. Photographs illustrative of the stages of production were submitted in the request. Documentation substantiating the U.S. origin, shipping to Germany and affidavits of processing abroad of the American aluminum as well as of further processing in the U.S., were also submitted with the ruling request. The circumstances as explained in your request are as follows: aluminum sheet or strip manufactured in the U.S. is exported to Germany for further processing by slitting, forming and welding into aluminum tubes known as header stock, and then, shipped back to the U.S. where it is further fabricated by processes including cutting to length and slot punching.
The applicable subheading for the aluminum tubes will be, as you correctly suggested, 9802.00.60, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for any article of metal (as defined in U.S. note 3(e) 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. The rate of duty will be 5.7 percent of the value of the processing outside the United States. The duty rate is derived from U.S. Note 3 of Subchapter II of Chapter 98 which sets the duty rate at the rate which would apply if the items were not within the purview of Chapter 98. The aluminum tubes if imported without benefit of Chapter 98 and if satisfying the definition of tubes and pipes in Note 1(e) of Chapter 76 HTSUS, would be classifiable as aluminum tubes and pipes of aluminum alloys, other than seamless in 7608.20.0090 HTSUS dutiable at 5.7 per cent of value.
You further indicated that you are requesting within this submission confirmation that the identical merchandise undergoing the identical processing and subject to identical set of circumstances and documentation except for the county of processing that you state as Korea, would also be classifiable in 9802.00.60 HTSUS. If all circumstances are the same as presented in this inquiry we would concur that such shipments from South Korea would be classifiable in 9802.00.60, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for any article of metal (as defined in U.S. note 3(e) 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. The rate of duty will be 5.7 percent of the value of the processing outside the United States as explained above.
These rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
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 Mary Ellen Laker at (646) 733-3020.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division