CLA-2-76:OT:RR:NC:N1:113
Mr. Nick LaViola
Bollore Logistics
160 Chubb Avenue
Lyndhurst, NJ 07071
RE: The tariff classification of honeycomb aluminum panels from France
Dear Mr. LaViola:
In your letter dated November 10, 2017, on behalf Société de Matériaux et Techniques Composites, you requested a tariff classification ruling on honeycomb aluminum panels. Photographs and detailed illustrations of the honeycomb aluminum panels were submitted with your ruling request.
The merchandise at issue is identified as honeycomb aluminum panels that will be used by Amtrak as floor panels in passenger railway cars or cab cars. The subject panels will be imported into the United States for further manufacturing operations and processing. You stated that the aluminum panels under consideration are principally composed of “two separate aluminum alloy panels which sandwich another aluminum alloy material with an aspect that resembles honeycomb-like material…The panel is not uniform in thickness or dimension as slots and holes have been added to the panel to facilitate further assembly within the United States Processing Center.”
At the time of importation into the United States, the panels have been cut and shaped to specifications drawn up specifically to allow them to be integrated into the underframe of a railway car. The imported panels have been perforated with three slots at each end and five circular holes lengthwise to allow for further assembly by the United States processing facility into the actual floor panel of the rail car. No further cutting or welding operations are performed in the United States. You indicated that all additional components added to the panels in the United States will be done solely through the processes of using adhesives, pre-adhesive heating films and other permanent adhesives techniques required to install acoustic insulation. The aluminum honeycomb material that makes up the core of these panels has been specifically designed to absorb shocks associated with passenger rail travel. Classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff System of the United States (HTSUS) is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) taken in order. GRI 1 provides that the classification is determined first in accordance with the terms of the headings and any relative section and chapter notes. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitutes the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings at the international level. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).
You suggested classification for the subject honeycomb aluminum panels under heading 8607, HTSUS, which provides for parts of railway or tramway locomotives or rolling stock. The ENs to heading 8607 state, “It should be noted, however, that angles, shapes, sections, sheets, plates and other parts of frames, and also tubes and pipes, etc., of base metal, remain classified in Section XV unless they have been worked to such an extent that they are clearly identifiable as parts of locomotives or rolling stock.” Based on the information and pictorial representations you submitted with your request, it appears that the panels under review are not clearly identifiable as parts of railway or tramway freight cars, until after further work is done in the United States. As a result, it is the opinion of this office that classification of the honeycomb aluminium panels under heading 8607 is precluded.
The applicable subheading for the imported honeycomb aluminum panels will be 7616.99.5190, HTSUS, which provides for other articles of aluminum, other…other. The general rate of duty will be 2.5 percent ad valorem.
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 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 Ann Taub at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division