CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H258806 RGR
Port Director
Service Port—San Francisco
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
555 Battery Street, Room 417
San Francisco, CA 94111
Attn: Charles Ho, Senior Import Specialist
RE: Request for Internal Advice: Tariff classification of steel grates from China
Dear Port Director:
This is in reference to your request for Internal Advice, initiated by counsel for Concrete Accessories of Georgia, Inc. (“CAGI”) via letter, dated September 29, 2014. At issue is the proper classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) of steel grates for draining curb and surface inlets in parking lots, streets, sidewalks, and highways. The request for Internal Advice is sought based upon CAGI’s disagreement with a determination by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) of the proper tariff classification of certain steel grates. This letter responds to your request.
FACTS:
The subject steel grates are described by CAGI’s counsel as consisting of load-bearing steel bars and steel cross bars, joined by welding, and finished by galvanizing or painting. The steel grates are made to the specifications of various municipalities and have lengths and widths ranging from 12 to 36 inches. After importation, CAGI’s customers pour concrete around a preset frame and then place the grate in the frame after the concrete is cured in the precast factory. Subsequently, the finished product is placed in the street or sidewalk to allow for drainage of rain or storm water from paved surfaces.
CAGI classified the imported steel grates from China under subheading 7326.90.85, HTSUS, which provides for: “Other articles of iron or steel: Other: Other: Other: Other….” The Port of San Francisco determined that the steel grates should be classified under subheading 7308.90.70, HTSUS, which provides for: “Structures (excluding prefabricated buildings of heading 9406) and parts of structures (for example, bridges and bridge sections, lock gates, towers, lattice masts, roofs, roofing frameworks, doors, shutters, balustrades, pillars and columns) of iron or steel; plates, rods, angles, shapes, sections, tubes and the like, prepared for use in structures, of iron or steel: Other: Other: Steel grating….”
ISSUE:
Whether the instant steel grates are classified under heading 7308, HTSUS, as structures and parts of structures of iron or steel, or under heading 7326, HTSUS, as other articles of iron or steel.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRI”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be “determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.” In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may be applied in order.
The following HTSUS provisions are under consideration:
7308 Structures (excluding prefabricated buildings of heading 9406)
and parts of structures (for example, bridges and bridge sections, lock gates, towers, lattice masts, roofs, roofing frameworks, doors and windows and their frames and thresholds for doors, shutters, balustrades, pillars and columns) of iron or steel; plates, rods, angles, shapes, sections, tubes and the like, prepared for use in structures, of iron or steel.
7326 Other articles of iron or steel.
In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) of the Harmonized Commodity Description Coding System may be utilized. The ENs, although not dispositive or legally binding, provide a commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicate of the proper interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).
The EN to Heading 7308 provides that “structures are characterised by the fact that once they are put in position, they gradually remain in that position. They are usually made up from bars, rods, tubes, angles, shapes, sections, sheets, plates, wide flats including so-called universal plates, hoop, strip, forgings or castings, by riveting, bolting, welding, etc.” According to the EN, in addition to the structures and parts of structures mentioned in the heading, the heading also includes:
Pit head frames and superstructures; adjustable or telescopic props, tubular props, extensible coffering beams, tubular scaffolding and similar equipment; sluice gates, piers, jetties and marine moles; lighthouse superstructures; masts, gangways, rails, bulkheads, etc., for ships; balconies and verandahs; shutters, gates, sliding doors; assembled railings and fencing; level crossing gates and similar barriers; frameworks for greenhouses and forcing frames; large scale shelving for assembly and permanent installation in shops, workshops, storehouses, etc.; stalls and racks; certain protective barriers for motorways, made from sheet metal or from angles, shapes or sections.
We note that the steel grates under consideration are used for draining curb and surface inlets in parking lots, streets, sidewalks, and highways. They are not designed to be used in a structure, prepared for use in a structure, and are not part of a structure. Accordingly, the subject steel grates are precluded from classification in heading 7308, HTSUS. Further, because the subject steel grates are not prima facie classifiable under heading 7308, we do not consider whether they are classifiable under the eo nomine provision for “steel grating” in subheading 7308.90.70, HTSUS.
In finding that the steel grates are not classifiable under heading 7308, HTSUS, we next consider whether they are classifiable under heading 7326, HTSUS, which provides for other articles of iron or steel. Heading 7326 covers a wide range of iron or steel articles that are not specifically provided for elsewhere in any other article of the HTSUS. In New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N244050, dated August 6, 2013, CBP classified a cast iron floor sink with a grate used to channel water or fluid into the drainage system in heading 7326, HTSUS. In NY N242237, dated June 5, 2013, CBP classified a linear drain with a channel and grate in heading 7326, HTSUS. Like the subject steel grates, the articles in NY N244050 and NY N242337 are articles of iron or steel involving grates used in draining systems that are not designed to be used in a structure, prepared for use in a structure, and are not part of a structure, and thus, were classified under heading 7326, HTSUS. Accordingly, the subject steel grates are not classified under heading 7308, HTSUS, and will be classified under heading 7326, HTSUS.
The subject steel grates may be subject to antidumping duties or countervailing duties. Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the Import Administration in the Department of Commerce and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection. You can contact them at http://www.trade.gov/ia/ (click on “Contact Us”). For your information, you can view a list of current AD/CVD cases at the United States International Trade Commission website at http://www.usitc.gov (click on “Antidumping and countervailing duty investigations”), and you can search AD/CVD deposit and liquidation messages using the AD/CVD Search tool at http://www.cbp.gov (click on “Import” and “AD/CVD”).
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, the subject steel grates are classifiable under heading 7326, HTSUS, and specifically provided for in subheading 7326.90.85, HTSUS, which provides for: “Other articles of iron or steel: Other: Other: Other: Other….” The column one, general rate of duty for subheading 7326.90.85 is 2.9 percent ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
You are to mail this decision to counsel for the internal advice requester no later than sixty days from the date of this decision. At that time, the Office of International Trade, Regulations and Rulings, will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public, on the CBP Home Page at http://www.cbp.gov by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of publication.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division