CLA-2-81:OT:RR:NC::117
Mr. Walter Belous
WTB Resources Corporation
38 Cord Place
East Norwich, NY 11732
RE: The country of origin of tungsten powder and tungsten carbide powder for purposes of the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement
Dear Mr. Belous:
In your letter dated March 28, 2013 you requested a country of origin ruling for duty purposes.
The products you intend to import are described as tungsten powder and tungsten carbide powder. The flowchart of production shows both the materials originating in China as ore. There are twelve steps of production of the ore, including mining, scaling and crushing, hand picking and optical or gravity sorting, grinding and milling, jig processing, classifier, dryer, and table flotation processing, drying, magnetic separation, production of ammonium paratungstate, and calcining the ammonium paratungstate in order to produce the tungsten oxide powder. The tungsten oxide powder produced in China is then exported to Korea. In Korea the tungsten oxide powder is described as being processed by hydrogen reduction into first 100% tungsten powder which will either be sold on its own or further processed by carburization with carbon into tungsten carbide powder. The tungsten carbide powder is described as 94% tungsten and 6% carbon.
You specifically requested a ruling on the eligibility of the imported tungsten powder and tungsten carbide powder for the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement.
The United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement specifies in General Note 33(b), Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, that for the purposes of this note, subject to the provisions of subdivisions(c), (d), (n) and (o) thereof, a good imported into the customs territory of the United States is eligible for treatment as an originating good of a UKFTA country under the terms of this note if—
(i) The good is wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of Korea or of the United States, or both;
(ii) The good is produced entirely in the territory of Korea or of the United States, or both, and –
Each of the nonoriginating materials used in the production of the good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification specified in subdivision (o) of this note; or
The good otherwise satisfies any applicable regional value-content or other requirements set forth in such subdivision (o); and satisfies all other applicable requirements of this note and of applicable regulations; or
(iii) The good is produced entirely in the territory of Korea or of the United States, or both, exclusively from materials described in subdivisions (i) or (ii), above.
It is the opinion of this office that the subject tungsten powder imported from Korea satisfies the product specific rules of tariff shift specified in subdivision (o) as enumerated in General Note 33 (b) (ii) (A) above for Chapter 81. The rule applicable to the tungsten powder is: a change to subheadings 8101.10 through 8101.95 from any other subheading.
The imported tungsten powder is classifiable in subheading 8101.10 HTSUS as tungsten (wolfram) and articles thereof, including waste and scrap: powders. When imported to Korea as tungsten oxide powder it is classifiable in subheading 2825.90 HTSUS. Therefore the tungsten powder being imported from Korea meets the tariff shift rule for 8101.10 HTSUS which is a change from any other subheading.
It is also the opinion of this office that the tungsten carbide powder from Korea is eligible for duty free treatment as provided for in the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Based on information submitted in your previous ruling request, N238531, we agree that the country of origin of the tungsten carbide powder is Korea. The carburization process in particular, which occurs in Korea, substantially transforms the reduced Chinese tungsten oxide into a new and distinct article of commerce. Carburization produces the new compound, tungsten carbide, by heating the reduced Chinese tungsten oxide (tungsten metal powder) and pure carbon powder at 900-2,200 degrees Celsius in pusher or batch furnaces. We believe the tungsten carbide powder at issue fulfills the requirements of General Note 33 (b) (ii) (A) and is therefore eligible for duty free treatment as provided for in the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement.
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 Mary Ellen Laker for the tungsten powder at (646) 733-3020 and National Import Specialist Nuccio Fera for the tungsten carbide powder at (646) 733-3034.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Russo
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division