CLA-2-24:OT:RR:NC:2:231
Mr. Munford Page Hall, II
Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg LLP
1200 Seventeenth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
RE: The tariff classification of unfinished cut cigar-filler tobacco from the Dominican Republic.
Dear Mr. Hall:
In your letters dated March 9 and May 26, 2011, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Company of Pennsylvania, Inc. Samples and various supporting documents were submitted for our review.
You have outlined a scenario in which dark air-cured fermented tobacco, in the form of both hand-stripped and small whole tobacco leaves, will be imported into the Dominican Republic from various countries. You have provided specific information indicating that all of the tobaccos will be sourced from growing areas and cultivars known to be traditionally utilized for cigar-making purposes. In the Dominican Republic, the tobaccos will be blended and cut by machine into smaller pieces (12-20 cuts per inch) that are suited for eventual use in cigar filler.
The resulting cut tobacco will then be imported in bulk (in 220-pound cartons) into the United States. You state that, in its condition as imported, the cut tobacco will be unsuitable for smoking because of its acrid taste, and will not be commercially usable. In the United States, a cigar manufacturer will make the imported tobacco suitable for use as cigar filler by adding flavoring, mulling (a process that equalizes the flavoring throughout the tobacco) for up to seven days, mixing the imported tobacco with “reclaim” (tobacco recovered from the cigar manufacturing process), and possibly blending the imported product with other cigar filler tobacco. The resulting blend will then be used as the filler component in the production of cigarillo-type cigars.
The applicable subheading for the unfinished cut cigar-filler tobacco, in its condition as imported from the Dominican Republic as described above, will be 2401.20.6040, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for unmanufactured tobacco …: tobacco, partly or wholly stemmed/stripped: threshed or similarly processed: from cigar leaf: other. The 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/.
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 Nathan Rosenstein at (646) 733-3030.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division