CLA-2-73:RR:NC:1:113 A88859

Mr. Peter Jay Baskin
Sharretts, Paley, Carter and Blauvelt
67 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004

RE: The tariff classification of fondue sets from Taiwan

Dear Mr. Baskin:

In your letter dated October 24, 1996, on behalf of Wholesale Supply Company, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The merchandise is a porcelain enamel fondue set (item no. 1119K). The set contains a fondue cooker and six fondue forks. The cooker consists of an enameled steel fondue pot with a wooden handle and an open lid, and a stand with a base and an alcohol burner. The merchandise will be packaged for retail sale at time of importation. In the opinion of this office, this fondue set is a set within the meaning of GRI 3(b), and the essential character of the set is imparted by the fondue cooker.

In your letter, you state that the cooker is made of enameled steel. We examined the sample you provided. While the cooker is certainly made of steel, we question whether the enamel coating is a paint or vitreous glasses. The stand and lid appear only to be painted. We did not send the sample to our laboratory, however, since this is not relevant to the classification of the item.

You also ask if this item is subject to deposit of anti-dumping duties at time of entry. U.S. Customs does not determine the scope of a dumping order. Please contact:

Office of Antidumping Investigations Import Administration International Trade Administration U.S. Department of Commerce 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20230 The applicable subheading for the fondue set will be 7321.12.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for stoves, ranges, grates, cookers ... and similar nonelectric domestic appliances, of iron or steel. The duty rate will be 2.5 percent ad valorem.

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 James Smyth at 212-466-2084.

Sincerely,

Roger J. Silvestri
Director
National Commodity
Specialist Division