CLA-2-38:OT:RR:NC:N3:139
Scott Dyke
SS Ventures Incorporated
SW 27-14-18 W, PO Box 1421
Minnedosa R0J 1E0
Canada
RE: The tariff classification, country of origin, and eligibility of the United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA) of various waxes used in the playing of ice hockey, from Canada
Dear Mr. Dyke:
In your letter dated March 9, 2026, and an earlier submission, you requested a binding ruling on the tariff
classification, country of origin, and eligibility of various waxes used in the playing of ice hockey under the
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
You state that the waxes under under review are applied to hockey sticks, and goalie pads. The products that
you are importing into the United States are as follows:
a. Sniper Sauce Premium Natural Hockey Wax — Black Cherry.
b. Sniper Sauce Premium Natural Hockey Wax — Blue Raspberry.
c. Sniper Sauce Premium Natural Hockey Wax — Classy Sasquatch.
d. Sniper Sauce Premium Natural Hockey Wax — Cotton Candy.
e. Sniper Sauce Premium Natural Hockey Wax — Island Coconut.
f. Sniper Sauce Premium Natural Hockey Wax — Juicy Fruit.
g. Sniper Sauce Premium Natural Hockey Wax — Monkey Farts.
h. Sniper Sauce Slider Sauce Goalie Pad Wax.
All of the items are various combinations of beeswax granules (country of origin Canada), hydrogenated
soybean wax flakes (country of origin United States), and either fragrance oil (country of origin Canada) or
food grade white mineral oil (country of origin United States).
You state that to make these ice hockey waxes, the beeswax granules and the soybean wax flakes are
measured out to certain proportions and then placed into a commercial wax melter until they are fully melted
into a liquid state. Once this is accomplished, the liquid wax is placed into a mixing pot where either the
fragrance oil or the mineral oil is added and stirred for two minutes. The mixture is then poured into silicone
molds and then left to cool and harden into a solid state. Once this is accomplished, the solidified wax is
placed into their labeled aluminum tins for sale to their final purchaser.
Classification:
In your earlier submission you suggested classification for the various ice hockey waxes in subheading
9506.99.2580, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Ice-hockey
and field-hockey articles and equipment, …: Other, including parts and accessories." We disagree. The
instant product, a hydrophobic wax, is not akin to hockey equipment, parts or accessories, but rather is more
specifically provided for elsewhere in the tariff.
The applicable subheading for the various ice hockey waxes will be subheading 3824.99.4190 HTSUS,
which provides for “Fatty substances of animal or vegetable origin and mixtures: Other”. The rate of duty
will be 4.6 percent ad valorem.
The duties cited above are current as of this ruling’s issuance. 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
at https://hts.usitc.gov/.
This ruling does not address the applicability of any additional duties, taxes, fees, exactions and/or other
charges, which may apply to the goods discussed herein. This includes, but is not limited to, tariffs and other
duties as provided for in Subchapter III to Chapter 99, HTSUS. Thus, for example, in addition to the
classification stated above, the merchandise covered by this ruling may also need to be reported with either
the Chapter 99 provision under which an additional tariff applies or one of the Chapter 99 provisions
covering exceptions to such tariffs.
For further information to assist with the importation process, please refer to the frequently updated Cargo
Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) messages at
https://www.cbp.gov/trade/automated/cargo-systems-messaging-service and the Trade Remedies page at
https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/trade-remedies.
USMCA:
The USMCA was signed by the Governments of the United States, Mexico, and Canada on November 30,
2018. The USMCA was approved by the U.S. Congress with the enactment on January 29, 2020, of the
USMCA Implementation Act, Pub. L. 116-113, 134 Stat. 11, 14 (19 U.S.C. § 4511(a)). General Note ("GN")
11 of the HTSUS implements the USMCA. GN 11(b) sets forth the criteria for determining whether a good is
an originating good for purposes of the USMCA. GN 11(b) states:
For the purposes of this note, a good imported into the customs territory of the United States from the
territory of a USMCA country, as defined in subdivision (l) of this note, is eligible for the preferential
tariff treatment provided for in the applicable subheading and quantitative limitations set forth in the
tariff schedule as a "good originating in the territory of a USMCA country" only if-
(i) the good is a good wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of one or more
USMCA countries;
(ii) the good is a good produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries,
exclusively from originating materials;
(iii) the good is a good produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries
using non-originating materials, if the good satisfies all applicable requirements set forth in
this note (including the provisions of subdivision (o));
Since all of the ingredients in the various ice hockey waxes are USMCA originating, the product are goods
produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries, exclusively from originating materials
under GN 11(b)(ii). Therefore, the various ice hockey waxes, would be eligible for preferential tariff
treatment under the USMCA. The goods will therefore be entitled to a free rate of duty under the USMCA
upon compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and agreements.
Country of origin:
Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that unless excepted, every
article of foreign origin imported into the United States 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 United States, the English name of the country of origin of the
article. Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. 1304 was “that the ultimate purchaser should be able to
know by an inspection of the marking on the imported goods the country of which the goods is the product.
The evident purpose is to mark the goods so that at the time of purchase the ultimate purchaser may, by
knowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy them, if such marking should
influence his will.” See United States v. Friedlaender & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297, 302 (1940).
Section 134.1(b), of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(b)), defines
“country of origin” as the country of manufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin
entering the United States. Further work or material added to an article in another country must effect a
substantial transformation in order to render such other country the “country of origin” within the meaning of
the marking laws and regulations.
Pursuant to section 102.0, interim regulations, related to the marking rules, tariff-rate quotas, and other
USMCA provisions, published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2021 (86 FR 35566), the rules set forth in
sections 102.1 through 102.18 and 102.20 determine the country of origin for marking purposes with respect
to goods imported from Canada and Mexico. Section 102.11 provides a required hierarchy for determining
the country of origin of a good for marking purposes, with the exception of textile and apparel goods which
are subject to the provisions of 19 CFR 102.21. See 19 CFR 102.11.
Applied in sequential order, the hierarchy provides that the country of origin of a good is the country in
which:
(a)(1) The good is wholly obtained or produced;
(a)(2) The good is produced exclusively from domestic materials; or
(a)(3) Each foreign material incorporated in that good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification
set out in Part 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all other applicable
requirements of these rules are satisfied.
“Material” means a good that is incorporated into another good as a result of production with respect to that
other good, and includes parts, ingredients, subassemblies, and components.” 19 CFR 102.1(l).
“Foreign material” is defined in Section 102.1(e) as “a material whose country of origin as determined under
these rules is not the same country as the country in which the good is produced.”
The various ice hockey waxes are neither “wholly obtained or produced” nor “produced exclusively from
domestic materials.” Therefore, paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) cannot be used to determine its country of
origin, and we need to apply paragraph (a)(3). With respect to the various ice hockey waxes, which are
classified in subheading 3824.99.41, HTSUS, the current edition of the CBP Regulations has omitted the rule
in 19 CFR 102.20 for 3824.99 due to a technical error. Until a technical correction is made, reference to the
2021 version of the CFR needs to be made where the rules for this subheading last appeared. Furthermore,
since the 19 CFR 102.20 rules have not all been updated to reflect more recent changes made to the
classification of certain articles, reference to the prior classification of this article needs to be made. In 2017,
the classification was changed from 3824.90.41 to 3824.99.41 HTSUS.
The 19 CFR. 102.20(f), CBP Regulation (19 CFR 102.20(f) (2021)) rules for subheading 3824.90, provides:
A change to naphthenic acids, their water-insoluble salts or their esters of subheading 3824.90 from
any other good of subheading 3824.90 or from any other subheading; or
A change to any other good of subheading 3824.90 from naphthenic acids, their water-insoluble salts
or their esters of subheading 3824.90 or from any other subheading, provided that no more than 60
percent by weight of the good classified in this subheading is attributable to one substance or
compound, except from other chemical products or preparations of the chemical or allied industries
(including those consisting of mixtures of natural products), not elsewhere specified or included, of
subheading 3824.71, or 3824.73 through 3824.79; or
A change to any other good of subheading 3824.71 through 3824.90 from any other subheading,
including another subheading within that group, provided that no more than 60 percent by weight of
the good classified in this subheading is attributable to one substance or compound.
In order to determine which of these rules will be used, we must note that the various ice hockey waxes are
mixtures of mostly vegetable origin waxes. As such, we use the third rule stated above.
Based on the facts presented, none of the originating or non-originating inputs of the various ice hockey
waxes would cross the 60 percent threshold listed in the provision. Accordingly, since the various ice hockey
waxes undergo the applicable tariff shift, the country of origin of the various ice hockey waxes for marking
purposes is Canada under 19 CFR 102.11(a)(3).
In your earlier submission, you provided a photo of what appeared to be aluminum tin containing the “Sniper
Sauce Premium Natural Hockey Wax - Cotton Candy” product. The wax puck appeared to have the words
“Rip It” stamped onto it on one side and the word “Sniper” stamped on the other. In order to meet the
requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 as listed above, the aluminum tin should contain the words “Made in
Canada” in a conspicuous place.
The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise description as
identified in the ruling request. This position is clearly set forth in Title 19, CBP Regulations (CFR), Section
177.9(b)(1). This section states that a ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information
furnished in the ruling letter, whether directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in
every material respect. In the event that the facts are modified in any way, or if the goods do not conform to
these facts at time of importation, you should bring this to the attention of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) and submit a request for a new ruling in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2. Additionally, we
note that the material facts described in the foregoing ruling may be subject to periodic verification by CBP.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the CBP Regulations (19 CFR. 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, please contact
National Import Specialist John Bobel at [email protected].
Sincerely,
(for)
James Forkan
Designated Official Performing the Duties of the Division Director
National Commodity Specialist Division