CLA-2-44:OT:RR:NC:2:230
Ms. Lindsay B. Meyer
Venable, LLP
575 Seventh Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
RE: The tariff classification of solid wood fingerboard blanks from India
Dear Ms. Meyer:
In your letter dated October 7, 2011, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, Paul Reed Smith Guitars, LP.
The ruling was requested on solid wood boards that you identify to be blanks used for guitar fingerboards. A sample of the board was submitted and will be returned to you, as requested.
The sample provided is a solid wood board measuring approximately 51cm in length and 9mm in thickness. The width of the board measures 67mm at one end and tapers to 60mm at the other. The board is precisely planed and tapered, but is not otherwise shaped or worked. You state the species of wood to be Indian rosewood, or Dalbergia latifolia.
The classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation ("GRIs"), taken in order. As you note, GRI 1 requires that classification be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes. You explain the process by which the boards are cut and planed, and assert that this precise manufacturing renders them classifiable as guitar parts in Chapter 92, HTSUS, in accordance with GRI 1. As support for this classification, you cite the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) to heading 9209, which include fingerboards among “parts and accessories of instruments.” You state that Statistical Note 1 to Chapter 44, HTSUS, specifically excludes classification of the board in heading 4407.
While the ENs to heading 9209, HTSUS, do include fingerboards, the sample provided is not a finished fingerboard ready for placement onto a guitar neck; it is a wooden fingerboard blank. It is wood that has been sawn lengthwise and planed. The terms of heading 4407, HTSUS, specifically include wood sawn lengthwise, whether or not planed (emphasis added). The precision with which the board is planed is not a factor which precludes classification in heading 4407, nor is shape. The ENs to heading 4407 state that “wood of this heading need not necessarily be of rectangular (including square) section nor of uniform section along the length.” Therefore, tapering and planing are operations which do not preclude classification in heading 4407; they do not alter the identity of the product as wood sawn lengthwise. Statistical Note 1 to Chapter 44 is not relevant to the classification of the board; it merely defines the use of the word “rough” in statistical subheadings such as 4407.10.0117 and 4407.10.0119, HTSUS.
A wood board that is sawn vertically and planed is described by the terms of heading 4407, HTSUS. Further manufacturing of the board into a recognizable guitar part subsequent to importation does not change the identity of the imported item. Wooden blanks for musical instruments, including fingerboard blanks, have consistently been classified in Chapter 44, HTSUS, as reflected, for example, in New York Ruling NY 881630.
The applicable subheading for the solid wood fingerboard blanks will be 4407.99.0193, HTSUS, which provides for Wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded, or end-jointed, of a thickness exceeding 6mm: Other: Other: Other nonconiferous. 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 Laurel Duvall at (646) 733-3035.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division