CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 965548 AML
TARIFF Nos.: 7006.00.40
Port Director
U.S. Customs Service
Trade Operations, C&V
610 South Canal Street
Chicago, IL 60607
RE: Internal Advice 02/006; glass substrates
Dear Port Director:
The following is our decision regarding your memorandum (APP-6-TO:CT301 ML), to the Customs Information Exchange, dated March 4, 2002, forwarding Internal Advice 02/006, which seeks classification of glass substrates pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
FACTS:
Based upon the information provided, the glass substrates at issue (IBM P/N 34L8245, GLASS, SUBSTRATES, RAW) are made from either float glass or pressed glass that have been either cut from a sheet of fused synthetic glass or pressed and sintered to a rough shape. The substrates are then further processed to final outer and inner diameter dimensions. The articles are generally imported in “ready to polish” or “ready to sputter” condition. The articles, composed of alumina-silicate amorphous glass, are further worked into finished products following importation.
The Customs Laboratory analyzed samples of the glass substrates. Customs Laboratory Report No. SF20011148, dated November 8, 2001, contains the following observations and conclusions:
This sample consists of three containers, each of which holds clear
discs of different size: 65mm, 84mm and 95 mm. All of the discs have
a hole in their center. One disc from each container was tested. Laboratory analysis indicates they were all made from glasses that contain less than 95 percent silica, by weight.
Methods used: USCL 25-28 and ASTM E 1621.
ISSUE:
Whether the glass substrates are classifiable under subheading 9902.70.06, HTSUS, a temporary duty provision that grants such treatment to substrates of synthetic quartz or synthetic fused silica imported in bulk or in forms or packages for retail sale (provided for in subheading 7006.00.40)?
LAW and ANALYSIS:
Classification of imported merchandise is accomplished pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Classification under the HTSUS is guided by the General Rules of Interpretation of the Harmonized System (GRIs). GRI 1, HTSUS, states in part that “for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes[.]”
The 2001 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
7006 Glass of heading 7003, 7004 or 7005, bent, edge-worked, engraved,
drilled, enameled or otherwise worked, but not framed or fitted with other materials:
Other:
7006.00.40 Other.
* * *
9902.70.06 Substrates of synthetic quartz or synthetic fused silica imported in bulk
or in forms or packages for retail sale (provided for in subheading
7006.00.40)
There is no question that the articles are prima facie classifiable in Chapter 70, HTSUS, which provides for articles of glass (we note that in Los Angeles Tile Jobbers, Inc. v. United States, 63 Cust. Ct. 248, C.D. 3904 (1969), the Court stated that "all articles of glass are generally defined as ‘glassware’." (63 Cust. Ct. at 250; citing Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1968); see also Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, at 573 (1988), defining "glassware" as "articles made of glass").
Glass substrates that consist of fused silica or quartz are provided for within Chapter 70 and under heading 7006, HTSUS. Heading 7006 in 2001 contained a footnote indicating that duty upon articles classifiable thereunder
was subject to temporary modification. Articles classifiable under heading 7006 were classifiable under subheading 9902.70.06 and were entered duty-free (by its terms the duty-free treatment will continue until 2003).
Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 70 provides that “for the purposes of this chapter, the term "fused quartz or other fused silica" means glass “containing more than 95 percent silica by weight.” General Note 2 to Chapter 99, which describes temporary duty modifications pursuant to trade legislation, provides that “unless the context requires otherwise,” the general notes and rules of interpretation, the section notes, and the notes in chapters 1 through 98 apply to the provisions of the chapter.
It is suggested in the request for internal advice that the glass substrates cannot be classified under heading 7006, HTSUS, because subheading 9902.70.06, HTSUS, provides for “substrates of synthetic quartz or synthetic fused silica”; language that differs from the “fused quartz and fused silica” language contained in Chapter 70, HTSUS.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory
Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally binding on the contracting parties, and therefore not dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System and are thus useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise under the System. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89 80, published in the Federal Register August 23, 1989 (54 FR 35127, 35128).
The General ENs to Chapter 70 provide, in pertinent part, as follows:
* * *
3.- The products referred to in heading No. 70.06 remain classified in that heading whether or not they have the character of articles.
* * *
5.-Throughout the Nomenclature, the expression “glass” includes fused quartz and other fused silica.
* * *
GENERAL
This Chapter covers glass in all forms and articles of glass (other than goods excluded by Note 1 to this Chapter or covered more specifically by other headings of the Nomenclature).
Glass (except fused quartz and other fused silica referred to below) is a
fused homogeneous mixture, in varying proportions, of an alkali silicate (of sodium or potassium) with one or more silicates of calcium and lead,
and accessorily of barium, aluminium, manganese, magnesium, etc.
* * *
Note 5 to this Chapter provides that the expression “glass” includes fused quartz and other fused silica [emphasis added].
We find the contentions that the presence of the adjective “synthetic” within subheading 9902.70.06, HTSUS, requires a different analysis or contemplates articles other than those comprised of “fused quartz or fused silica” (as provided within Chapter 70, HTSUS) to be without merit. All fused quartz and fused silica are artificial or synthetic glass. That is, by their molecular composition such substances differ (in method of manufacture and composition) from purer forms of homogenous or amorphous glass (see the ENs above). Thus, we conclude that the inclusion of the modifying adjective “synthetic” within subheading 9902.70.06, HTSUS, does not impose different or additional criteria for glass substrates to be classifiable thereunder. The parenthetical language “(provided for in subheading 7006.00.40)” contained in subheading 9902.70.06 clearly evinces a legislative intent to classify glass substrates composed of fused quartz or fused silica under the temporary subheading. Further, we find that the modifier “other” prior to “fused silica” in General EN 5 (see above) contemplates all forms of fused silica, including the synthetic fused silica substrates at issue.
Additionally, we find that Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 70, which requires a 95 percent silica composition in order to be classified under heading 7006, HTSUS, is applicable to the glass substrates at issue. As stated above, U.S. Note 2 to Chapter 99 provides that “unless the context requires otherwise,” the general notes, rules of interpretation, section notes and chapter notes in chapters 1 through 98 apply in Chapter 99. The Customs Laboratory determined that the glass substrates at issue contain less than 95 percent fused silica by weight. Thus, we conclude that the glass substrates cannot be classified under subheading 9902.70.06, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The glass substrates are classified under subheading 7006.00.40, HTSUS, which provides for glass of heading 7003, 7004 or 7005, bent, edgeworked, engraved, drilled, enameled or otherwise worked, but not framed or fitted with other material.
You are directed to mail this decision to the internal advice applicant, no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. On that date the Office of Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to Customs personnel and to the public on the Customs Home Page on the World Wide Web at
www.customs.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other public methods of distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Acting Director
Commercial Rulings Division