DRA-2-02-CO:R:C:E 221414 C
Alan P. Rodgers
Senior Vice President
J. M. Rodgers Company, Inc.
245 Woodport Rd.
Sparta, New Jersey, 07871-2644
RE: 19 U.S.C. 1313; 19 CFR 101.1(k); drawback paid upon
exportation; exportation defined
Dear Mr. Rodgers:
This responds to your letter of May 3, 1989, pertaining to
drawback eligibility for cable laid between Hawaii and Guam and
Japan. The cable extends from Hawaii to Guam, via a junction box
located in international waters near Guam. From the junction
box, a segment of cable extends to Japan.
Customs has recognized that cable is exported for drawback
purposes when laid between the United States and a foreign
country. See CSD 81-167. This ruling, not unprecedented
(207838, June 22, 1977; 207847, June 24, 1977), embodies a kind
of exception to Customs long established definition of
exportation: a severance of goods from the mass of things
belonging to this country with the intention of uniting them to
the mass of things belonging to some foreign country. (Emphasis
added.) 19 CFR 101.1(l). See also Swan and Finch Co. v. United
States, 19 U.S. 143 (1903) and The National Sugar Refining Co. v.
United States, 26 Cust. Ct. 97, C.D. 1307 (1951). Obviously,
cable laid between the United States and a foreign country, at
least that segment which lies beneath international waters, has
not been joined to the "mass of things belonging to some foreign
country."
The ruling provides that for drawback purposes only, and
considering the unique commodity involved - international cable
which must necessarily lie in international waters between the
countries involved, an exportation will be recognized.
Customs also has ruled that exportations to Guam are not
considered exportations to a foreign country; therefore, such
shipments are not eligible for drawback. See CSD 79-77. See
also Mitsubishi International Corp. v. United States, 55 Cust.
Ct. 319, C.D. 2597 (1965).
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Based on the foregoing, the cable you inquired about is
exported, but the portion of the cable exported to Guam is not
entitled to drawback. Therefore, only that portion of the cable
which can be established indisputably as being exported to Japan
is entitled to drawback treatment. On the facts you submitted,
that portion is the cable laid between the junction box and
Japan.
If you have any further questions, please contact this
office.
Sincerely,
Jerry Laderberg, Acting Director
Commercial Rulings Division