CLA-2-72:OT:RR:NC:N1:113
Mr. Peter A. Quinter Gray Robinson P.A. 401 East Las Olas Blvd., Suite 1000 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
RE: The tariff classification of welding wire from China
Dear Mr. Quinter:
In your letter dated September 4, 2019, on behalf of your client Robinson Technical, Inc., you requested a tariff classification ruling on imported wire. Representative samples of the Gas Metal Arc Welding wire and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding wire were provided for our review. The samples were sent to our Customs and Border Protection Laboratory for analysis.
The products under consideration are described as Flux Coated Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) wires meeting the American Welding Society ER70S-6/A5.18 Specification for Carbon Steel Electrodes and Rods for Gas Shielded Arc Welding. Based on the manufacturing process detailed in your submission, each of these welding materials is copper coated. GMAW wire will have a diameter ranging from 0.8 mm to 1.6 mm and serve as a consumable electrode in an electric arc welding process. GMAW wire will be imported in spools. GTAW wire will have a diameter ranging from 0.8 mm to 4 mm and imported as cut lengths of 0.9 m or 1 m. GTAW wire serves as a consumable filler in the GTAW welding process, but not as an electrode. The wires are finished branded products and are not used as input raw material for any other industry.
You stated in your letter that the “Changzhou Zhenzhang Welding Material Company (CZWMC) performs an additional operation that coats the wires with a proprietary flux mixture of various chemical compounds that improves the performance of their welding wires…The presence of the flux coating enables this product(s) to be considered as other than bare welding wire, either on spools or straight lengths.”
You proposed classification for GMAW and GTAW wire under heading 8311, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Wire, rods, tubes, plates, electrodes and similar products of base metal or of metal carbides, coated or cored with flux material, of a kind used for soldering, brazing, welding or deposition of metal or of metal carbides; wire and rods, of agglomerated base metal powder, used for metal spraying; base metal parts thereof. The Explanatory Notes to heading 83.11 state that “This heading covers wire, rods, tubes, plates, electrodes and similar products, of base metal or of metal carbides, of a kind used for soldering, brazing, welding or deposition of metal or of metal carbides, provided they are coated or cored with flux material…Wire, rods, tubes, plates, electrodes, etc., of base metal not coated or cored with flux material are excluded (Chapters 72 to 76 and 78 to 81). The materials used for coating or coring are the flux (e.g., zinc chloride, ammonium chloride, borax, quartz, resin or lanolin) which would otherwise have to be added separately during the soldering, brazing, welding or deposition process…”
To determine whether the subject GMAW coiled on spool and the GTAW cut to length contain flux material, the samples were sent to our Customs and Border Protection New York Laboratory for analysis. Our laboratory has completed its analysis and determined that the GMAW and GTAW samples are, in fact, copper coated alloy steel welding wires with no indication of flux. Noting that the subject GMAW and GTAW wires are not coated or cored with flux material, the GMAW and GTAW wires are excluded from classification under heading 8311, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) ER70S-6 Welding Wire will be 7229.90.5006, HTSUS, which provides for Wire of other alloy steel: Other: Other: Round Wire: With a diameter of less than or equal to 1.6 mm, containing by weight less than 0.20 percent of carbon and more than 0.3 percent of nickel or more than 0.08 percent of molybdenum, and suitable for electric arc welding: Plated or coated with copper. The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) ER70S-6 Welding Wire will be 7228.20.5000, HTSUS, which provides for Other bars and rods of other alloy steel; angles, shapes and sections, of other alloy steel; hollow drill bars and rods, of alloy or nonalloy steel: Bars and rods, of silico-manganese steel: Cold-formed. The rate of duty will be free.
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 the World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
On March 8, 2018, Presidential proclamations 9704 and 9705 imposed additional tariffs and quotas on a number of steel and aluminum mill products. Exemptions have been made on a temporary basis for some countries. Quantitative limitations or quotas may apply for certain exempted countries and can also be found in Chapter 99. Additional duties for steel of 25 percent and for aluminum of 10 percent are reflected in Chapter 99, subheading 9903.80.01 for steel and subheading 9903.85.01 for aluminum. Products classified under subheadings 7228.20.5000 and 7229.90.5006, HTSUS, may be subject to additional duties or quota. At the time of importation, you must report the Chapter 99 subheading applicable to your product classification in addition to the Chapter 72, 73 or 76 subheading listed above. The Proclamations are subject to periodic amendment of the exclusions, so you should exercise reasonable care in monitoring the status of goods covered by the Proclamations and the applicable Chapter 99 subheadings.
Pursuant to U.S. Note 20 to Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS, products of China classified under subheadings 7228.20.5000 and 7229.90.5006, HTSUS, unless specifically excluded, are subject to an additional 7.5 percent ad valorem rate of duty. At the time of importation, you must report the Chapter 99 subheading, i.e., 9903.88.15, in addition to subheadings 7228.20.5000 and 7229.90.5006, HTSUS, listed above. The HTSUS is subject to periodic amendment so you should exercise reasonable care in monitoring the status of goods covered by the Note cited above and the applicable Chapter 99 subheading. For background information regarding the trade remedy initiated pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, you may refer to the relevant parts of the USTR and CBP websites, which are available at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/tariff-actions and https://www.cbp.gov/trade/remedies/301-certain-products-china respectively.
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 Ann Taub at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division