CLA-2-70:OT:RR:NC:2:226
Ms. Martha Kirby
CEC, Inc.
P.O. Box 93182
1450 Headon Road
Burlington, Ontario L7M 4A3
Canada
RE: The tariff classification of rock wool from the Netherlands and Poland
Dear Ms. Kirby:
In your letter dated July 11, 2012, you requested a tariff classification ruling regarding products described as “GroTop Expert” and “Vital.”
You submitted samples of these items with your ruling request. These samples were sent to our Customs and Border Protection Laboratory for analysis. Our laboratory has now completed its analysis.
Each of these items is in rectangular form and consists of yellow fibrous material. In your letter you stated that each of these articles consists of rock wool. Analysis of the samples by our laboratory confirms that they consist of rock wool.
In your letter you indicated that the products will be imported in dimensions of six inches by thirty-six inches and eight inches by thirty-six inches. Our laboratory has advised us that the thickness of the submitted samples is 2.75 inches.
You suggested that these products should be classified in subheading 6806.90.00, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under the provision for other articles of heat-insulating, sound-insulating or sound-absorbing mineral materials. You indicated your opinion that GroTop Expert and Vital should not be classified in subheading 6806.10.00, HTSUS, as slag wool, rock wool and similar mineral wools (including intermixtures thereof), in bulk, sheets or rolls.
However, the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines a “sheet” as a “portion of something that is thin in comparison to its length and breadth.” These products (which are 2.75 inches thick) may be regarded as thin relative to their dimensions. GroTop Expert and Vital consist of rock wool and may be regarded as sheets of rock wool. Subheading 6806.10.00, HTSUS, which covers rock wool in the form of sheets, provides for this merchandise in a more specific manner than subheading 6806.90.00, HTSUS, which covers the broader category of other articles of heat-insulating, sound-insulating or sound-absorbing mineral materials.
The applicable subheading for the rock wool sheets – GroTop Expert and Vital – will be 6806.10.00, HTSUS, which provides for slag wool, rock wool and similar mineral wools (including intermixtures thereof), in bulk, sheets or rolls. The rate of duty will be 3.9 percent ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most
recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at
http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
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 Jacob Bunin at (646) 733-3027.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Russo
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division