CLA-2-81:OT:RR:NC:N5:116
Mr. Paul S. Anderson
The Anderson Law Firm, LLC
111 Barclay Boulevard
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
RE: The tariff classification of germanium blanks from China
Dear Mr. Anderson:
In your letter dated August 23, 2023, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, Vital Optics Technology Co., Ltd. The products under consideration are described as high purity germanium blanks of Chinese origin that are sold to customers in the United States (U.S.). After importation into the U.S., the germanium blanks are converted into finished products such as lenses for infrared thermal imagery or related optical applications, forest fire prevention and industrial thermal detection apparatus.
In China, high purity germanium raw material (≥ 99.999%) and a dopant of 99.99999% antimony is mixed and placed into a crystal furnace where a crystal growth process is conducted. This mixture is 99.9999% germanium and 0.0001% antimony. The resulting article from the crystal growth is a germanium crystal bar. After the crystal growth, the germanium bar is annealed, which involves heating and slowly cooling, to relieve the internal stress. The bar is then sliced and roughly ground, similar to descaling. In their condition as imported, the germanium blanks include shapes such as flat discs, bars, square plates, hexagonal shapes, and spherical surface-shaped blanks. The square and hexagonal plates and the spherical surface-shaped discs are rough milled for approximate length, width, and thickness, but are not rolled, forged, drawn, or extruded. The round crystal bars are sawn using a single wire to create the square and hexagonal plates. The spherical surface shaped blanks are rough milled for purposes of settling the general curvature, thickness, and height, but are not rolled, forged, drawn, or extruded.
Additional U.S. Note 1 to Section XV states:
“For the purposes of this section, the term “unwrought” refers to metal, whether or not refined, in the form of ingots, blocks, lumps, bullets, cakes, slabs, pigs, cathodes, anodes, briquettes, cubes, sticks, grains, sponge, pellets, flattened pellets, rounds, rondelles, shot and similar manufactured primary forms, but does not cover rolled, forged, drawn or extruded products, tubular products, or cast or sintered forms which have been machined or processed otherwise than by simple trimming, scalping or descaling.” In concurrence with ruling HQ 955629, dated April 21, 1994, we find that the cutting operation to create the primary forms (flat discs, bars, square plates, hexagonal shapes, and spherical surface-shaped blanks) from the unwrought bars simply creates a more manageable version of the same unwrought bar. The primary forms have not been rolled, forged, drawn or extruded.
The applicable subheading for the germanium blanks will be 8112.92.6000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for beryllium, chromium, hafnium, cadmium, germanium, vanadium, gallium, indium and niobium (columbium), and articles of these metals, including waste and scrap: other: unwrought; waste and scrap; powders: other: germanium: unwrought. The rate of duty will be 2.6 percent ad valorem.
The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise description as identified in the ruling request. This position is clearly set forth in Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 177.9(b)(1). This section states that a ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in the ruling letter, whether directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. In the event that the facts are modified in any way, or if the goods do not conform to these facts at time of importation, you should bring this to the attention of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and submit a request for a new ruling in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2. You should also be aware that the material facts described in the foregoing ruling may be subject to periodic verification by CBP.
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 Angelia Amerson at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division