OT:RR:CTF:VS H255172 GaK
Area Port Director
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
112 West Stutsman Street
Pembina, ND 58271
RE: Internal Advice Request; 9817.00.9080, HTSUS
Dear Port Director:
This is in response to your memorandum dated May 27, 2014, in which you request internal advice on the applicability of the mill analysis or mill test certificate requirement set forth in 19 C.F.R. § 54.6 to importations of “articles of metal” classifiable under subheading 9817.00.90 and heading 7204 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”).
FACTS:
Your office seeks advice on whether “articles of metal” classified in subheading 9817.00.9080, HTSUS, require the documentation as required under 19 C.F.R. § 54.6 within the specified three year time frame if they are subsequently reclassified in chapter 7204, HTSUS.
ISSUE:
Whether the mill analysis or mill test certificate requirement set forth in 19 C.F.R. § 54.6 applies to importations of articles of metal classifiable under subheading 9817.00.90 and heading 7204 of the HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Subheading 9817.00.90, HTSUS, provides a duty exemption for the following:
Unwrought metal including remelt scrap ingot (except copper, lead, zinc and tungsten) in the form of pigs, ingots or billets (a) which are defective or damaged, or have been produced from melted down metal waste and scrap for convenience in handling and transportation without sweetening, alloying, fluxing or deliberate purifying, and (b) which cannot be commercially used without re-manufacture; relaying or rerolling rails; and articles of metal (except articles of lead, of zinc or of tungsten, and not including metal-bearing materials provided for in section VI, chapter 26 or subheading 8548.10 and not including unwrought metal provided for in chapters 72-81) to be used in remanufacture by melting or to be processed by shredding, shearing, compacting or similar processing which renders them fit only for the recovery of the metal content.
Procedures for compliance with this subheading are specifically provided for in the Customs Regulations. See Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) 960800, dated November 17, 1998; and HQ H206081, dated October 11, 2012. Specifically under 19 C.F.R. § 54.6, merchandise meeting the above identified provision of subheading 9817.00.90, HTSUS, shall be admitted duty-free subject to the following conditions, as applicable:
In connection with the entry there shall be filed a statement of the importer that the intended use of the merchandise is one of the uses provided for in the subheading;
A bond, as required in 19 C.F.R. § 54.6(b) and 113.62 is filed;
Liquidation of the entry shall be suspended pending proof of use or other disposition of the merchandise within three years from the date of entry;
Within three years from the date of entry, the importer shall submit to the director of the port of entry a statement from the superintendent or manager of the plant at which the articles were used in remanufacture by melting, or were processed by shredding, shearing, compacting, or similar processing showing the information listed in 19 C.F.R. § 54.6(c)(1) through (4).
If satisfactory proof of use of the articles in remanufacture as required is furnished within three years from the date of entry, the entry shall be liquidated without duty on the covered articles; if not, the entry shall be liquidated without any exemption from duty under subheading 9817.00.90, HTSUS.
In addition, 19 C.F.R. § 141.89 of the CBP Regulations provides, in pertinent part:
(a) Invoices for the following classes of merchandise, classifiable under the [HTSUS], shall set forth the additional information specified:
* * *
Iron or steel classifiable in Chapter 72 or headings 7301 to 7307, HTSUS (T.D. 53092, 55977) – Statement of the percentages by weight of carbon and any metallic elements contained in the articles, in the form of a mill analysis or mill test certificate.
Accordingly, articles of metal classifiable in Chapter 72, HTSUS, or in headings 7301 to 7307, HTSUS, are required to provide a statement of the internal chemistry of the metal that is being imported. Treasury Decision (T.D.) 53092, dated August 29, 1952, provides that a statement of the percentages by weight of any metallic element used as an alloy in the specified articles is required to assist collectors of customs in properly classifying the iron and steel articles. A mill certificate (or mill analysis or mill test report) is a certified, quality-control document issued by a steel mill and/or an inspection authority, which specifies a material’s chemical makeup and physical characteristics (i.e., the results of tensile and hardness tests), and verifies that it meets the requirements of any listed standards. As provided above, importers of iron or steel classifiable in chapter 72, HTSUS, or in headings 7301 to 7307, HTSUS, are required to provide a statement of the internal chemistry of the metal that is being imported.
You state that the Pembina Area Port receives a large number of “articles of metal” imports classified in subheading 9817.00.90, HTSUS that may be reclassified under heading 7204 within the three year period after entry. You further state that since the original entry submissions do not include the mill analysis or mill test certificates, CBP is unable to verify the secondary classification as “articles of metal” under chapter 72, HTSUS upon liquidation.
U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 98, HTSUS provides:
The provisions of this chapter are not subject to the rule of relative specificity in general rule of interpretation 3(a). Any article which is described in any provision in this chapter is classifiable in said provision if the conditions and requirements thereof and of any applicable regulations are met.
As provided above, we find that the documentation requirements in 19 C.F.R. § 141.89 apply to the importations of “articles of metal” entered under subheading 9817.00.90, HTSUS. The specific analysis requirement for chapter 72, HTSUS and headings 7301 to 7307, HTSUS is to assist with the proper classification of the articles. Indeed per Statistical Note 1, Subchapter XVII of Chapter 98, HTSUS, statistical reporting of merchandise under subheading 9817.00.90 must report the 8-digit number found in this subchapter in addition to the 10-digit number appearing in chapter 1-97 which would be applicable but for the provisions of the subchapter. Therefore, when the “articles of metal” classifiable in chapter 72 or headings 7301 to 7307, HTSUS are entered under subheading 9817.00.90, its secondary classification must also be reported. Pursuant to the 9817.00.90, HTSUS duty-exemption provision, the “articles of metal” are to be used in remanufacture by melting, shredding, shearing, compacting or similar processing which would render them fit only for the recovery of the metal content. Therefore, if these operations are not satisfied, the articles are reclassified and after three years this information may no longer be available. Accordingly, it is our opinion that the requirements of 19 C.F.R. § 141.89 must be fulfilled for “articles of metal” classifiable in chapter 72 or headings 7301 to 7307 entered under subheading 9817.00.90, HTSUS at the time of original entry.
HOLDING:
The entry requirements set forth in 19 C.F.R. § 141.89 apply to the “articles of metal” classifiable in chapter 72 or headings 7301 to 7307, HTSUS when entered under subheading 9817.00.90, HTSUS.
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time the goods are entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy of this ruling, it should be brought to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction.
Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and incorporated in the ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. The application of a ruling letter by a Customs Service field office to the transaction to which it is purported to relate is subject to the verification of the facts incorporated in the ruling letter, a comparison of the transaction described therein to the actual transaction, and the satisfaction of any conditions on which the ruling was based.”
Sincerely,
Monika R. Brenner, Chief
Valuation & Special Programs Branch