CLA-2-48:OT:RR:NC:2:230
Ms. Yenne Luu
Avery Products Corporation
50 Pointe Drive
Brea, CA 92821
RE: The tariff classification and status under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of paper business card sheets and postcard sheets for printing
Dear Ms. Luu:
In your letter, dated August 7, 2015, you requested a binding tariff classification ruling. The ruling was returned to you for additional information, which was resubmitted to this office on October 6, 2015.
You have requested a ruling regarding classification, country of origin, and NAFTA eligibility of paper business card sheets and postcard sheets for printing. Product and manufacturing information, as well as samples, have been provided for our review.
The request regards Paper Business Card for Inkjet Printer, Gloss Photo Quality, item number 727820837300025, and Paper Postcard for Inkjet Printer, Gloss Photo Quality, item number 727820838300030. Both products are sheets measuring 8 ½ inches (W) x 11 inches (L), coated on one side with silicon dioxide (an inorganic substance), microperforated, and designed to be printed on a personal ink jet printer. The business card sheets are printed on their margins with the Avery logo and are designed to separate into 8 business cards per sheet, while the postcard sheets are unprinted and separate into four 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” postcards.
In your letter, you state that the paper rollstock is fully manufactured by the chemical pulp process (i.e., kraft paper). You note that it is bleached, weighs 201.7 g/m², and has a width of 279mm. You explain that the rollstock is imported into the United States from Japan for further manufacturing. For both products, the rollstock material is cut into 8 ½” x 11” sheets, and microperforated for separation of cards after consumer purchase. The business card sheets are also printed with the Avery logo. You indicate that all of the processes are done on the same machine in a single pass. The final sheets are packaged with product literature for retail sale.
The rollstock for both products meets the terms of heading 4810, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Paper and paperboard, coated on one or both sides with kaolin (China clay) or other inorganic substances, with or without a binder, and with no other coating, whether or not surface-colored, surface-decorated or printed, in rolls or rectangular (including square) sheets, of any size. Because the roll paper is not manufactured by mechanical or chemi-mechanical processes and is coated on one side only, it is classifiable under 4810.13.2010, HTSUS, as you note. Because the manufacturing done in the United States only includes cutting, perforating, and printing of the roll paper, the finished product remains classifiable in heading 4810, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the Paper Business Card for Inkjet Printer, Gloss Photo Quality, and Paper Postcard for Inkjet Printer, Gloss Photo Quality is 4810.14.5000, HTSUS, which provides for Paper and paperboard, coated on one or both sides with kaolin (China clay) or other inorganic substances, with or without a binder, and with no other coating, whether or not surface-colored, surface-decorated or printed, in rolls or rectangular (including square) sheets, of any size: Paper and paperboard of a kind used for writing, printing or other graphic purposes, not containing fibers obtained by a mechanical or chemi-mechanical process or of which not more than 10 percent by weight of the total fiber content consists of such fibers: In sheets with one side not exceeding 435 mm and the other side not exceeding 297 mm in the unfolded state: Other:
Printed, embossed or perforated. The rate of duty will be free.
General Note 12(b), HTSUS, sets forth the criteria for determining whether a good is originating under the NAFTA. General Note 12(b), HTSUS, (19 U.S.C. § 1202) states, in pertinent part, that
For the purposes of this note, goods imported into the customs territory of the United States are eligible for the tariff treatment and quantitative limitations set forth in the tariff schedule as “goods originating in the territory of a NAFTA party” only if—
(ii) they have been transformed in the territory of Canada, Mexico and/or the United States so that--
(A) except as provided in subdivision (f) of this note, each of the non-originating materials used in the production of such
goods undergoes a change in tariff classification described in subdivisions (r), (s) and (t) of this note or the rules set forth
therein, or
(B) the goods otherwise satisfy the applicable requirements of subdivisions (r), (s) and (t) where no change in tariff classification
is required, and the goods satisfy all other requirements of this note;
Subdivision (t) states that, in order to be subject to NAFTA, manufacturing must result in a change to heading 4810 as follows:
(A) A change to paper or paperboard in strips or rolls of a width not exceeding 15cm of heading 4810 from strips or rolls of a width exceeding 15cm of heading 4810 or from any other heading, except from headings 4817 through 4823;
(B) A change to paper or paperboard in rectangular (including square) sheets with the larger dimension not exceeding 36 cm or the other dimension not exceeding 15 cm in the unfolded state of heading 4810 from strips or rolls of a width exceeding 15cm of heading 4810, paper or paperboard in rectangular (including square) sheets with the larger dimension exceeding 36 cm and the other dimension exceeding 15 cm in the unfolded state of heading 4810 or from any other heading, except from headings 4817 through 4823; or
(C) A change to any other good of heading 4810 from any other chapter.
The rollstock is a product of Japan, and the manufacturing is completed in the United States. That manufacturing, however, does not result in the changes set forth in any of the three above rules. Therefore, neither the business card sheets nor postcard sheets qualify for NAFTA preferential treatment.
With regard to country of origin and marking thereof, Section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.
Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Pursuant to 19 CFR Section 134.1(b), the country of origin is the country of manufacture, production or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the U.S. Further work or material added to a foreign article in the United States must effect a substantial transformation in order to render the final product a good of the U.S. However, for a good of a NAFTA country, the NAFTA Rules of Origin (set forth in 19 CFR Part 102) will determine the country of origin and marking. Because the sheets are partly manufactured in a NAFTA country (US), the NAFTA rules govern the current scenario.
Applying the terms of Section 102.20, the country of origin of the business card sheets and postcard sheets is Japan. Section 102.20 provides that, for goods of heading 4810, HTSUS, the manufacturing must result in a change of classification to heading 4810, HTSUS from any other heading. Because the rollstock is classifiable in heading 4810, HTSUS, and the final products are also classifiable in heading 4810, HTSUS, this rule has not been met. As such, the country of origin of the final products after manufacturing in the US is, therefore, Japan. They may be marked with Japan as the country of origin, in accordance with 19 CFR 134, Subpart E. Both the markings “Made in Japan” and “Product of Japan” are acceptable.
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 [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division