CLA-2-39:OT:RR:NC:N4:421
Mr. David Bosse
Cole International Inc.
3033-34 Avenue N.E.
P.O. Box 2718, Stn. “M”
Calgary, AB, Canada T2P 3C2
RE: The tariff classification of PVC window profiles from China
Dear Mr. Bosse:
In your letter dated January 7, 2011, on behalf of Westlake Chemical Corporation, Texas, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The samples submitted with your request are segments of window profiles that have been extruded from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic resin. The profiles have a uniform cross section throughout the length and they have not been further worked, e.g., with beveled edges, mitered corners or pre-drilled holes.
The applicable subheading for the PVC profiles will be 3916.20.0020, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for monofilament of which any cross-sectional dimension exceeds 1 mm, rods, sticks and profile shapes, whether or not surface-worked but not otherwise worked, of plastics: of polymers of vinyl chloride…window, door, decking or railing profiles. The general rate of duty will be 5.8 percent ad valorem.
There are occasions when Westlake or other United States suppliers sell PVC resin to the foreign manufacturer for use in producing the window profiles. You ask whether, in those circumstances, the PVC resin component is eligible for treatment in either subheading 9802.00.5060 or 9802.00.6000 of the HTSUS. Subheading 9802.00.5060, HTSUS, provides a partial duty exemption for articles returned to the United States after having been exported to be advanced in value or improved in condition by means of repairs or alterations. Articles entitled to this partial duty exemption are dutiable only upon the cost or value of the foreign repairs or alterations, provided the documentary requirements of section 10.8, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.8), are satisfied.
The application of this tariff provision is precluded in circumstances where the operations performed abroad destroy the identity of the articles or create new or commercially different articles. See A.F. Burstrom v. United States, 44 CCPA 27, C.A.D. 631 (1956), aff’d C.D. 1752, 36 Cust. Ct. 46 (1956); Guardian Industries Corporation v. United States, 3 CIT 9 (1982). Treatment under subheading 9802.00.5060, HTSUS, is also precluded where the exported articles are incomplete for their intended use and the foreign processing operation is a necessary step in the preparation or manufacture of the finished article. Alterations are made only to completed articles and do not include intermediate operations which are performed in the manufacture of finished articles. See Dolliff and Company, Inc. v. United States, 66 CCPA 77, C.A.D. 1225, 599 F.2d 1015 (1979).
Extrusion of the resin pellets into window profiles is a process that exceeds an alteration and creates a commercially different article. Moreover, the resin in pellet form is incomplete for its intended use and the extrusion is a necessary step in the manufacture of the imported merchandise. Accordingly, the profiles are not eligible for tariff treatment under the provisions of item 9802.00.5060, HTSUS.
You suggest as another alternative that the profiles may qualify for tariff treatment in subheading 9802.00.6000, HTSUS, which provides a partial duty exemption for any article of metal (as defined in U.S. note 3(e) of the 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 imported profiles are made solely of PVC plastics and do not include any metal. Thus, they do not qualify for treatment under subheading 9802.00.6000, HTSUS. The imported window profiles are subject to duty on the full value.
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/.
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 Joan Mazzola at (646) 733-3023.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division