CLA-2-72:RR:NC:1:117 E82976
7226.99.00; 7228.30.80; 7228.30.60; 7228.50.50; 7228.50.10
Ms. Carol Hagyard
A.N. Deringer, Inc.
1010 Niagara Street
Buffalo, NY 14213
RE: The tariff classification and status under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), of alloy steel and alloy tool steel plate from Canada; Article 509
Dear Ms. Hagyard:
In your letter dated May 3, 1999 on behalf of Sturdell Industries Inc., you requested a ruling on the status of alloy steel plate from Canada under the NAFTA.
Hot-rolled flat-rolled alloy steel (AISI 4140 and AISI P20 having a carbon content of less than 0.3 percent) and alloy tool steel (AISI A2, AISI D2 and AISI P20 having a carbon content not less than 0.3 percent) plates ranging from 0.5 inch to 16 inches in thickness, from 40 inches to 80 inches in width and from 120 inches to 160 inches in length are produced in various European countries and imported into Canada. These hot-rolled alloy steel and alloy tool steel plates are classified under heading 7225, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). In Canada, the hot-rolled plates, which will be used in the production of mold bases and parts of dies for metal stamping machines, undergo various types/combinations of processing operations, after which they are imported into the United States.
The plates undergo the following processing operations in Canada: (1) Steel plate is saw cut to size (according to specification of mold) from large plate. The widths of the saw cut plate range from 2 inches to 50 inches and the lengths range from 10 inches to 70 inches; (2) Steel plate is saw cut to above dimensions and the top and bottom surfaces are ground to finished size (according to customers’ specifications); and, (3) Steel plate is saw cut to above dimensions, the top and bottom surfaces are ground to finished size, and the sides are milled to finished size (according to customers’ specs).
The steel plates that have been processed in Canada and imported into the United States are classified as follows. The hot-rolled cut-to-size AISI 4140 alloy steel plates and AISI P20 alloy steel plates (having a carbon content of less than 0.3 percent) which meet the dimensional requirements for flat-rolled products in Chapter 72 Note 1. (k) and which are of a width of 600 mm or more are classified under HTS subheading 7225.40.30. The hot-rolled cut-to-size AISI A2, D2 and P20 (having a carbon content not less than 0.3 percent) alloy tool steel plates which meet the dimensional requirements for flat-rolled products in Chapter 72 Note 1. (k) and which are of a width of 600 mm or more are classified under HTS subheading 7225.40.10. The hot-rolled
cut-to-size AISI 4140 alloy steel plates and AISI P20 alloy steel plates which meet the dimensional requirements for flat-rolled products and which are of a width of less than 600 mm are classified under HTS subheading 7226.91.50. The hot-rolled cut-to-size AISI A2, D2 and P20 alloy tool steel plates which meet the dimensional requirements for flat-rolled products and which are of a width of less than 600 mm but not less than 300 mm are classified under HTS subheading 7226.91.15; those alloy tool steel hot-rolled flat-rolled plates which are of a width of less than 300 mm are classified under HTS subheading 7226.91.25.
The cut-to-size AISI 4140 alloy steel plates and AISI P20 alloy steel plates and the AISI A2, D2 and P20 alloy tool steel plates which meet the dimensional requirements for flat-rolled products and which have been surface ground and surface ground and side milled and which are of a width of 600 mm or more are classified under HTS subheading 7225.99.00. The cut-to-size AISI 4140 alloy steel plates and AISI P20 alloy steel plates and the AISI A2, D2 and P20 alloy tool steel plates which meet the dimensional requirements for flat-rolled products and which have been surface ground and surface ground and side milled and which are of a width of less than 600 mm are classified under HTS subheading 7226.99.00.
Those plates which don’t meet the dimensional requirements for flat-rolled products in Chapter 72 Note 1. (k) meet the definition for other bars and rods in Chapter 72 Note 1. (m). The hot-rolled cut-to-size AISI 4140 alloy steel plates and AISI P20 alloy steel plates which meet the definition for other bars and rods are classified under HTS subheading 7228.30.80. The hot-rolled cut-to-size AISI A2, D2 and P20 alloy tool steel plates which meet the definition for other bars and rods are classified under HTS subheading 7228.30.60.
The cut-to-size AISI 4140 alloy steel plates and AISI P20 alloy steel plates which meet the definition for other bars and rods and which have been surface ground and surface ground and side milled are classified under HTS subheading 7228.50.50. The cut-to-size AISI A2, D2 and P20 alloy tool steel plates which meet the definition for other bars and rods and which have been surface ground and surface ground and side milled are classified under HTS subheading 7228.50.10.
The merchandise does not qualify for preferential treatment under the NAFTA because the non-originating hot-rolled flat-rolled alloy steel and alloy tool steel plate which is processed in Canada did not undergo the change in tariff classification required by General Note 12 (t)/72.11: “A change to headings 7224 through 7228 from any heading outside that group.”
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 181 of the Customs Regulations
(19 C.F.R. 181).
This ruling letter is binding only as to the party to whom it is issued and may be relied on only by that party.
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Paula Ilardi at 212-637-7016.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division