CLA-2 CO:R:C:V 555364 GRV
Ms. Bettie Jo Shearer
Supervisor, Entry Department
Wholesale Supply Company, Inc.
1600 Vaden Boulevard
Brentwood, Tennessee 37027
RE: Applicability of duty exemption under HTSUS subheading
9801.00.10 to fiberglass tent poles of U.S.-origin packaged
abroad with standard truck tents of foreign manufacture and
returned to the U.S.
Dear Ms. Shearer:
This is in response to your letter of March 17, 1989, to our
New York Seaport office, requesting a ruling on the applicability
of subheading 9801.00.10, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS), to assembled fiberglass tent poles of
U.S.-origin packaged in Korea with standard truck tents that are
made in Korea. Samples of the tents to be imported were
submitted for examination. Your letter was forwarded to this
office for a direct reply. We regret the delay in responding to
your request.
FACTS:
Already assembled, fiberglass tent poles of U.S. origin
will be exported to Korea to be packaged with standard truck
tents of Korean manufacture. The tent poles will be merely
placed in a nylon carrying bag along with the folded tent, and
the bag will then be packed in a box. After the packaging
operation, the tents will be imported into the U.S.
By letter dated September 15, 1989 (084745), we wrote you
concerning the eligibility of U.S.-made tent poles that were
merely packaged in Hong Kong with tents manufactured in China,
and stated that the U.S.-made tent poles would not qualify for
duty-free treatment under HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10.
On December 11, 1989, the U.S. Court of International Trade
decided Superscope, Inc. v. United States, Slip Op. 89-167, 13
CIT ____, 727 F.Supp. 629 (1989), which held that certain glass
panels of U.S. origin that were exported, repacked abroad with
certain foreign components, and returned to the U.S. as part of
unassembled audio cabinets, were entitled to duty-free entry
under TSUS item 800.00, since the U.S. panel portion of the
imported article was "not 'advanced in value or improved in
condition ... while abroad,' but [was] merely repacked."
ISSUE:
Whether the already assembled, fiberglass tent poles, which
are merely packaged abroad with truck tents of foreign origin,
will be eligible for duty-free treatment under HTSUS subheading
9801.00.10 when returned to the U.S.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10 provides for the duty-free
entry of products of the U.S. that are returned after having been
exported, without having been advanced in value or improved in
condition by any process of manufacture or other means while
abroad, provided there has been compliance with the documentary
requirements of section 10.1, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.1).
We believe that the decision in Superscope is controlling in
regard to the facts of the instant case. An examination of the
samples submitted evidence that the tent poles of U.S.-origin are
merely packaged with tents of foreign-origin, and returned to the
U.S. Therefore, since these U.S. tent poles are not advanced in
value or improved in condition while abroad, we find that they
are entitled to duty-free entry under HTSUS subheading
9801.00.10.
Given the decision in the Superscope case, and pursuant to
section 177.9(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 177.9(a)), that
portion of Headquarters Ruling Letter 084745 (September 15, 1989)
relating to the applicability of HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10 to
the U.S.-made tent poles, is modified to conform with this
ruling.
HOLDING:
On the basis of the information provided and after viewing
the samples submitted, as the already assembled, fiberglass tent
poles of U.S.-origin will not be advanced in value or improved in
condition abroad as a result of the packaging operation, they
will be eligible for the duty exemption available under HTSUS
subheading 9801.00.10 when returned to the U.S., provided the
documentary requirements of 19 CFR 10.1 are satisfied.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division