CLA-2-84:RR:NC:1:104 E87331

Mr. George Bechtold
Bechtold Corporation
1185 S. Pine Street
Sherwood, Oregon 97140

RE: The tariff classification of non-automatic washing machines, assembled and unassembled, from Venezuela.

Dear Mr. Bechtold:

In your letter dated September 1, 1999 you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The Delfin is a non-automatic home clothes washing machine with a single agitation cycle but without a spin cycle. The unit may or may not have a timer device. It may be equipped with a drain pump or may use gravity drainage. The machine has a dry linen capacity of 5.5 kg.

You letters requests a ruling on the machine imported assembled or unassembled. Under General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 2. (a), Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that as entered, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled.

The applicable subheading for the Delfin non-automatic washing machine, assembled or unassembled, with or without the timer and/or drain pump, will be 8450.19.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for household- or laundry-type washing machines, each of a dry linen capacity not exceeding 10 kg: other. The duty rate will be 1.8 percent.

Articles classifiable under subheading 8450.19.0000, HTS, which are products of Venezuela may be entitled to duty free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) upon compliance with all applicable regulations. The GSP is subject to modification and periodic suspension, which may affect the status of your transaction at the time of entry for consumption or withdrawal from warehouse. To obtain current information on GSP, check the Customs Web site at www.customs.gov. At the Web site, click on "CEBB" then search for the term "GSP".

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

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 Robert Losche at 212-637-7038.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division