CLA-2-44:OT:RR:NC:N1:130
Mr. Ikuo Hosoya
Idemitsu Green Energy Vietnam Ltd.Co.
Hoai Tan Industrial Cluster
Hoai Nhon Town
VIETNAM
RE: The tariff classification of torrefied wood pellets from Vietnam
Dear Mr. Ikuo Hosoya:
In your letter, dated July 8, 2022, you requested a binding tariff classification ruling. The ruling was requested on torrefied wood pellets. Product information and photos were provided for our review.
The request concerns wood pellets that have been subjected to torrefaction. The pellets consist of agglomerated, powdered wood by-products, including sawdust, sawmill waste, wood manufacturing waste, and tree waste. The powdered wood is agglomerated under heat and pressure, without the addition of binders, during an extrusion process. The pelletized material is subjected to torrefaction, i.e., heated to typically 200-300 degrees Celsius in a limited oxygen environment. The pellets are cylindrical in shape and measure less than 10mm in diameter and 40mm or less in length. The pellets are used as a fuel source and may be burned alone or mixed with coal to reduce CO2 emissions.
Torrefaction is a thermochemical process of heating biomass at a relatively low temperature in the absence of oxygen in order to degrade the hemicellulose content of the wood. This process enhances the properties of the wood pellets; in this case, torrefaction improves the water resistance, grindability, and combustibility of the wood pellets. The torrefied pellets are different from charcoal in that charcoal is carbonized. While carbonization and torrefaction are both pyrolytic processes, carbonization is destructive distillation that takes place at a higher temperature than torrefaction – approximately 400-600 degrees Celsius – leaving porous carbon as the residue.
The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized System for heading 4403, Wood charcoal, provide that “Wood charcoal is obtained when wood is carbonised out of contact with air.” Because torrefaction is distinguishable from carbonization, and the torrefied pellets are not carbonized, the pellets cannot be classified as charcoal.
Subheading Note 1 to Chapter 44 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) defines “wood pellets”:
For the purposes of subheading 4401.31, the expression "wood pellets" means by-products such as cutter shavings, sawdust or chips, of the mechanical wood processing industry, furniture-making industry or other wood transformation activities, which have been agglomerated either directly by compression or by the addition of a binder in a proportion not exceeding 3 percent by weight. Such pellets are cylindrical, with a diameter not exceeding 25 mm and a length not exceeding 100 mm.
As the instant pellets are made from wood by-products, have been agglomerated directly by compression, are cylindrical, and do not exceed 25mm in diameter and 100mm in length, they meet this definition.
The applicable subheading for the torrefied wood pellets will be 4401.31.0000, HTSUS, which provides for Fuel wood, in logs, in billets, in twigs, in faggots or in similar forms; wood in chips or particles; sawdust and wood waste and scrap, whether or not agglomerated in logs, briquettes, pellets or similar forms: Sawdust and wood waste and scrap, agglomerated in logs, briquettes, pellets or similar forms: Wood pellets. 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 the World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current. 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,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division