CLA-2-44:OT:RR:NC:N1:130
Ms. Carolyn Leski
BCB International, Inc.
1010 Niagara Street
Buffalo, NY 14213
RE: The tariff classification of door jamb products from China
Dear Ms. Leski:
In your letter, dated March 8, 2022, you requested a binding classification ruling on behalf of your client, Dayton Marketing Consulting, Ltd. The ruling was requested on several door jamb products. Product information and images were submitted for our review.
There are six items under consideration. Item 1 is a flat door jamb constructed of finger-jointed, edge-glued pine wood. The wood is shaped with a continuous profile throughout its length. The face is flat, and the back has three half-circle grooves that run the length of the jamb. The face corners are radius-curved. The face is wider than the back and the edges slope diagonally inward between the face and back. The ends of the jambs are continuously shaped with a rabbet (or step) cut across the board width. The rabbet is for assembly with jamb top components. The boards are imported in various widths ranging from 4.5” to 6.875” and in lengths from 81” to 98.188”. You indicate that the jambs are primed, but do not identify the primer material.
Item 2 is a “colonial style” doorstop constructed wholly of medium density fiberboard (MDF). The stop measures approximately 7/16” (11.11mm) thick by 1 3/8” wide and 80.9” to 97” in length. The doorstop is continuously shaped throughout its length. The profile is a rectangle with an ogee curve along one side. You state that the doorstops are primed, but do not identify the primer material.
Item 3 is a door jamb constructed from oriented strand board (OSB) with an applied MDF doorstop. The OSB body of the jamb is shaped in the same manner as Item 1. The MDF stop measures approximately 1.115” wide and 0.35” (8.89mm) thick. It is rectangular in shape with radius-curved face corners. You indicate that the jambs are primed, but do not identify the primer material. In the photographs, the primer appears to be gesso.
Items 4 and 5 are the OSB and MDF jamb and stop components identified in Item 3, imported independently of one another.
Item 6 is a combination of Item 1, an edge-glued, finger-jointed pine jamb combined with Item 5, the rectangular MDF doorstop.
While Item 1 is wood that has been continuously shaped, it is wood that has been edge-glued, and is therefore precluded from classification in heading 4409, HTSUS. Because the flat jamb is not classified in heading 4409, HTSUS, but is a recognizable article used in the construction of a building, it is classifiable in heading 4418, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for Item 1, the edge-glued pine flat jamb, will be 4418.99.9195, HTSUS, which provides for Builders' joinery and carpentry of wood, including cellular wood panels and assembled flooring panels; shingles and shakes: Other: Other: Other: Other: Other. The rate of duty will be 3.2 percent ad valorem.
Item 2 is continuously shaped MDF that has been surface coated with an unidentified primer. Fiberboard is provided for in heading 4411, HTSUS. Note 4 to Chapter 44, HTSUS, provides that goods of heading 4411 may be continuously shaped in the same manner as goods of heading 4409. Additional US Note 1(c) also provides that goods of 4411 can be surface covered with a material such as a primer. Therefore, a continuously shaped, coated, MDF doorstop is classifiable in heading 4411, HTSUS. In your letter, you argue that the doorstop is classifiable in subheading 4418.99.9195, HTSUS, in accordance with New York Ruling N067511. We disagree. The doorstops in that ruling were constructed of edge-glued wood that would have been precluded from classification in another heading. The instant doorstops are constructed of MDF and are plainly provided for in heading 4411.
The applicable subheading for Item 2, the MDF doorstop, will be 4411.14.9090, HTSUS, which provides for Fiberboard of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not bonded with resins or other organic substances: Medium density fiberboard (MDF): Of a thickness exceeding 9mm: Other: Other: Other: Other. The rate of duty will be 3.9 percent ad valorem.
Item 3 is a jamb that combines an OSB flat jamb with an MDF doorstop. The resulting product is not classifiable as OSB or MDF alone because of their combination. The complete jamb is, however, a recognizable article used in the construction of a building, and is therefore classifiable in heading 4418, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for Item 3, the OSB jamb with an MDF stop, will be 4418.99.9195, HTSUS, which provides for Builders' joinery and carpentry of wood, including cellular wood panels and assembled flooring panels; shingles and shakes: Other: Other: Other: Other: Other. The rate of duty will be 3.2 percent ad valorem.
Item 4 is an OSB flat jamb that has been continuously shaped throughout its length and coated with gesso. As with fiberboard, Note 4 to Chapter 44, HTSUS, provides that goods of heading 4410 may be continuously shaped in the same manner as goods of heading 4409. The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized System for heading 4410 explain that “The products of this heading remain classified herein whether or not they have been… coated or covered (e.g., with textile fabric, plastics, paint, paper or metal)…” Therefore, OSB that has been continuously shaped and coated remains classifiable in heading 4410.
The applicable subheading for Item 4, the OSB flat jamb, will be 4410.12.0020, HTSUS, which provides for Particle board, oriented strand board (OSB) and similar board (for example, waferboard) of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not agglomerated with resins or other organic binding substances: Of wood: Oriented strand board (OSB): Other. The rate of duty will be free.
Item 5 is an MDF doorstop that is constructed of continuously shaped MDF that has been primed. As noted above, the MDF stop measures 8.89mm in thickness. As with item 2 above, this MDF doorstop is not classifiable in heading 4418 due to its wholly MDF construction.
The applicable subheading for Item 5, the MDF doorstop, will be 4411.13.9090, which provides for Fiberboard of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not bonded with resins or other organic substances: Medium density fiberboard (MDF): Of a thickness exceeding 5 mm but not exceeding 9 mm: Other: Other: Other: Other. The rate of duty will be 3.9 percent ad valorem.
Item 6 is a jamb that combines a finger-jointed, edge-glued pine flat jamb with an MDF doorstop. The jamb is not classifiable based on either the pine or MDF components separately. The complete jamb is a recognizable article used in the construction of a building, and is therefore classifiable in heading 4418, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for Item 6, the pine jamb with MDF stop, will be 4418.99.9195, HTSUS, which provides for Builders' joinery and carpentry of wood, including cellular wood panels and assembled flooring panels; shingles and shakes: Other: Other: Other: Other: Other. The rate of duty will be 3.2 percent ad valorem.
The merchandise in question may be subject to antidumping duties and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) for moldings and millwork from China (A570-117, C570-118). Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the Enforcement and Compliance office in the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). You can contact them at https://trade.gov/enforcement/ (click on “Contact Us”). For your information, you can view a list of current AD/CVD cases at the United States International Trade Commission website at https://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/documents/orders.xls, and you can search AD/CVD deposit and liquidation messages using CBP’s AD/CVD Search tool at https://aceservices.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.
Pursuant to U.S. Note 20 to Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS, products of China classified under subheadings 4418.99.9195, 4411.14.9090, 4410.12.0020, and 4411.13.9090, HTSUS, unless specifically excluded, are subject to an additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty. At the time of importation, you must report the Chapter 99 subheading, i.e., 9903.88.03, in addition to subheadings 4418.99.9195, 4411.14.9090, 4410.12.0020, and 4411.13.9090, 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, including information on exclusions and their effective dates, 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.
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.
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 Laurel Duvall at [email protected]. Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division