CLA-2-71:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Jack L. Coppock
Vice President / Import
PackAir Customs Brokers, Inc.
5510 W. 104th Street
Los Angeles, CA 92656
RE: The tariff classification of 24K gold flakes in a solution of butylene glycol from Japan.
Dear Mr. Coppock:
In your letter dated April 27, 2015, on behalf of Argan Co., you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The merchandise as depicted in a photo is a vial containing 1 gram of 24K gold flakes in a solution of 99 grams of butylene glycol (CAS 107-88-0). Additional information provided, indicates that one vial of gold flakes in its solution of butylene glycol is added to a cosmetic lotion in a pre-measured amount, and that the gold flakes in its solution of butylene glycol are used together to manufacture a skincare product.
Chapter 71 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), provides in pertinent part at Legal Note 1, Subject to note 1 (a) of section VI and except as provided below (additional exclusion to Chapter 71), all articles consisting wholly or partly of precious metal or metal clad with precious metal are to be classified in this chapter. Upon review of Legal Note 1 (a) of section VI, HTSUS, and Legal Note 3 to Chapter 71, HTSUS, we find no exclusion of the merchandise concerned from Chapter 71, HTSUS.
In Salem Minerals Inc. v. United States, Slip Op. 12-88 dated June 26, 2012, the United States Court of International Trade found that “gold leaf vials filled with clear liquid” lacked any constituent component that a goldsmith would make and that the goods could not be concluded to be more than the sum of its constituent parts – “taken as a whole, those gold leaf vials do not reach to the level of the work, or the ware, of a goldsmith within the purview of HTSUS heading 7114.” Consequently, the Court held that the gold leaf vials were properly classifiable under subheading 7115.90.30, HTSUS.
Consistent with Salem Minerals, we find that the merchandise concerned, the 1 gram of 24K gold flakes in a solution of 99 grams of butylene glycol is not an article of goldsmith wares (see Legal Note 10 to Chapter 71, HTSUS). Nor is the merchandise concerned simply unwrought gold or semi-manufactured gold of heading 7108, HTSUS. It is our opinion that the merchandise concerned is an article of precious metal gold in its purest of content, pre-measured and ready to be incorporated into a cosmetic product. Accordingly, the merchandise concerned is properly classifiable under subheading 7115.90.30, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the vial containing 1 gram of 24K gold flakes in a solution of 99 grams of butylene glycol will be 7115.90.3000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other articles of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal: Other: Other: Of gold, including metal clad with gold.” The rate of duty will be 3.9% 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 Neil H. Levy at E-mail address: [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division