CLA-2-97:S:N:N8:233 807207
Mr. William T. Bolton
6130 Camino Road #66
Riverside, CA 92509
RE: The tariff classification of sculptures from Indonesia.
Dear Mr. Bolton:
In your letter postmarked February 23, 1995, you requested a
tariff classification ruling for sculptures by you.
You are an American artist working in Indonesia. Your art
represents an electric mixture of styles and influences. You were
born and raised in Southern California and are a second generation
wood worker. Your sculptures and carvings reflect the nature and
conscious values of your early upbringings. Living and working in
Hawaii for five years served to further your interest in the
natural world, especially the ocean. Your one of a kind works
featured in galleries across the Pacific, cut from rare woods,
fossilized ivory and gemstones, illustrate your sensitivity to your
surrounding.
Painstaking renditions of animals such as whales, dolphins,
eagles and bears reveal remarkable detail and grace. Each
sculpture made by you is unique and was not reproduced in any
manner by automatic production methods. Based on the submitted
resume, you have exhibited in the United States and Africa and are
recognized as a professional artist of the free fine arts.
Original sculptures made by you, limited to the first 12 in an
edition, are classified in item 9703.00.0000, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated, HTSUSA, which provides
for: Original sculptures and statuary, in any material. The rate of
duty will be free. Sculptures made in excess of 12 are not within
the provision of heading 9703, HTSUSA, and are dutiable according
to their essential character.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section
177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry
documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the
documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be
brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the
transaction.
Sincerely,
Jean F. Maguire
Area Director
New York Seaport