CLA-2-69:OT:RR:NC:4:428
Ms. Kristy Thomas
Trans-Port International, Inc.
198 East Bay Street, Suite 200
Charleston, SC 29401
RE: The tariff classification of refractory ceramic bricks from China.
Dear Ms. Thomas:
In your letter dated January 18, 2011, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, Mayerton Refractories USA LLC.
The merchandise under consideration are bricks which you state are made of magnesia alumina carbon and will be used in steel mills. A sample brick was submitted with your ruling request and was forwarded to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Laboratory for analysis.
Laboratory analysis determined that the sample brick was made of refractory ceramic composed of 65% magnesium oxide and lesser amounts of compounds of aluminum, silicon, calcium, iron, iron, and titanium. The brick also contained carbon in the form of graphite, but did not contain any resin or pitch. From the information you provided, the bricks will be used as working linings for furnaces and ladles within the steel mills, and will normally be subjected to an average temperature between 2800 and 3000 degrees Fahrenheit.
In your ruling request you suggest classification of the magnesia alumina carbon brick in 6902.10.1000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) as refractory ceramic bricks made of magnesite. However, according to the laboratory analysis, the brick did not contain magnesite, which is magnesium carbonate (MgCO3). Therefore, classification in 6902.10.1000, HTSUS, is precluded.
The applicable subheading for the magnesia alumina carbon refractory ceramic brick will be 6902.10.5000, HTSUS, which provides for “Refractory bricks…: Containing by weight, singly or together, more than 50 percent of the elements magnesium, calcium or chromium, expressed as MgO, CaO or CR2O3: Other.” The general rate of duty will be Free.
Duty 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/.
You have asked whether this product is subject to antidumping duties or countervailing duties (AD/CVD). Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the Import Administration in the Department of Commerce and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection. You can contact them at http://www.trade.gov/ia/ (click on “Contact Us”). For your information, you can view a list of current AD/CVD cases at the United States International Trade Commission website at http://www.usitc.gov (click on “Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations”), and you can search AD/CVD deposit and liquidation messages using the AD/CVD Search tool at http://addcvd.cbp.gov/.
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 Nicole Sullivan at (646) 733-3028.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division