CLA-2-44:OT:RR:NC:N5:130
Mr. Mannie Birk
CN Customs Brokerage Services (USA) Inc.
3373 Griswold Road
Port Huron, MI 48060
RE: The tariff classification of reclaimed hardwood railroad ties from Canada
Dear Mr. Birk:
In your letter, dated October 22, 2024, you requested a binding tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, Canadian National Railway Company. The request addressed reclaimed hardwood railroad ties. Product information was submitted for our review. In your letter, you also seek a valuation ruling on the railroad ties. The valuation ruling request will be considered by our Regulations and Rulings directorate at Customs and Border Protection Headquarters and will be issued under separate cover.
The product under consideration is reclaimed hardwood railroad ties. The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) routinely removes and replaces old, worn railroad ties from their tracks. The ties will have been used for 10 to 40 years and will no longer be usable as railroad ties. These ties consist of creosote-coated wood of many species, including beech, yellow birch, cherry, hickory, gum woods, maple, oak sassafras, sycamore, and walnut. The species cannot be identified at time of importation. CN seeks to dispose of these ties by using them as fuel. CN intends to bring the ties to the US, where they will be immediately ground into a fine mulch to be incinerated for electricity generation. The ties will not be suitable for any other use or be actually used in any other way.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) for heading 4401 identify wood waste as wood that is not usable as timber and which is (amongst other uses) used as fuel. The use as waste is a principal use. Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(a) states that a tariff classification controlled by use (other than actual use) is to be determined in accordance with the use in the United States at, or immediately prior to, the date of importation, of goods of that class or kind to which the imported goods belong, and the controlling use is the principal use. You indicate that the railroad ties are not usable as timber and will be imported to be immediately mulched for use in electricity generation. You state that the ties will not be used in another other manner than for electricity generation. For this reason, the railroad ties' principal use is as wood waste. Please note that, if the ties are used otherwise than as wood waste, such as for landscaping, they would not qualify as wood waste.
The applicable subheading for the reclaimed railroad ties used for electricity generation will be 4401.49.0090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Fuel wood, in logs, in billets, in twigs, in faggots or in similar forms; wood in chips or particles; sawdust and wood waste and scrap, whether or not agglomerated in logs, briquettes, pellets or similar forms: Sawdust and wood waste and scrap, not agglomerated: Other: Other. 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.
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 and Border Protection 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