CLA-2 CO:R:C:S 556099 KCC
Ms. Gloria M. Columbe
A.N. Deringer, Inc.
30 West Service Road
Champlain, New York 12919-9703
RE: Belts created by cutting, laminating, force fitting, and
riveting.Further fabrication; assembly; 19 CFR 10.14(a); 19
CFR 10.16(a); 19 CFR 10.16(c)(2)
Dear Ms. Columbe:
This is in response to your letter dated June 13, 1991, on
behalf of H.T.C. Industries, requesting a ruling concerning the
applicability of subheading 9802.00.80, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), to belts to be imported
from Canada. A sample was submitted for examination.
FACTS:
U.S.-origin materials, such as two types of non-woven
material in 45 inch widths, fabric, buckles, and rivets are
shipped to Canada for manufacture into a belt. In Canada, the
operations will consist of the following:
1) two non-woven materials are cut to width and length;
2) fabric is cut to specific shape;
3) the two pieces of non-woven material are laid on top of
one another, and the cut fabric is shaped over the two
pieces of non-woven material to create a belt strap;
4) the two pieces of non-woven material and fabric are
laminated together;
5) fabric is cut to shape to form the buckle;
6) the fabric is placed over the front of the buckle and
then the buckle's back metal plate is force fitted
into the front of the buckle permanently securing the
fabric in place; and
7) the belt strap is riveted to the buckle.
Upon completion of the foreign operations, the belts will be
imported into the U.S.
ISSUE:
Whether the belts will qualify for the partial duty
exemption available under subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, when
imported into the U.S.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, provides a partial duty
exemption for:
[a]rticles assembled abroad in whole or in part of
fabricated components, the product of the United States,
which (a) were exported in condition ready for assembly
without further fabrication, (b) have not lost their
physical identity in such articles by change in form, shape,
or otherwise, and (c) have not been advanced in value or
improved in condition abroad except by being assembled and
except by operations incidental to the assembly process,
such as cleaning, lubricating, and painting.
All three requirements of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, must be
satisfied before a component may receive a duty allowance. An
article entered under this tariff provision is subject to duty
upon the full cost or value of the imported assembled article,
less the cost or value of the U.S. components assembled therein,
upon compliance with the documentary requirements of section
10.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.24).
Section 10.14(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.14(a)),
states in part that:
[t]he components must be in condition ready for assembly
without further fabrication at the time of their exportation
from the United States to qualify for the exemption.
Components will not lose their entitlement to the exemption
by being subjected to operations incidental to the assembly
either before, during, or after their assembly with other
components.
Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)),
provides that the assembly operation performed abroad may consist
of any method used to join or fit together solid components, such
as welding, soldering, riveting, force fitting, gluing,
laminating, sewing, or the use of fasteners.
We are of the opinion that the U.S.-origin non-woven
materials and fabric cut to shape in Canada will not be eligible
for the duty allowance available under subheading 9802.00.80,
HTSUS. Cutting the U.S.-origin non-woven materials and fabric is
not an acceptable assembly operation or operation incidental to
assembly, but is a further fabrication of the non-woven materials
and fabric. The cutting operation is not simply cutting a
component to length but is similar to cutting fabric into a
specific pattern shape. See, 19 CFR 10.14, example 4 (uncut
textile fabrics exported in bolts from which wearing apparel
components will be cut according to a pattern are not regarded as
fabricated components) and 19 CFR 10.16(c)(2).
However, the metal buckle and rivets will be eligible for
the duty allowance available under this tariff provision. The
operations to be performed in Canada which result in securely
joining components together by force fitting and riveting are
considered acceptable assembly operations pursuant to 19 CFR
10.16(a). In the force fitting operation, the cut fabric is
securely attached to the metal buckle by force fitting or
crimping the fabric in place over the front of the buckle with
the buckle's metal back.
HOLDING:
From the information and sample presented, it is our
opinion that imported belt may be entered under subheading
9802.00.80, HTSUS, with an allowance in duty for the U.S.-origin
buckle and rivets, upon compliance with the documentary
requirements of 19 CFR 10.24.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division