CLA-2-44:RR:NC:2:230 G88218
Mr. John M. Colomaio
Trans-Border Customs Services, Inc.
625 Delaware Ave., Suite 210
Buffalo, NY 14202
RE: The tariff classification of timber and flooring recovered from demolition sites in Canada
Dear Mr. Colomaio:
In your letter dated February 28, 2001, on behalf of your client, the Rustic Wood Company of Ontario, Canada, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
Included with your request were several letters from the Rustic Wood Company describing the products that they export to the United States. Samples of the products were submitted to the U.S. Customs Import Specialist in Buffalo, NY. Photographs of the samples were forwarded for our review.
The products to be classified are described as timber and flooring reclaimed from various demolition sites. The products in question consist of: (1) a 6” x 10” white pine timber, (2) a 12” x 12” Douglas fir timber, and (3) a 3-1/2” thick southern yellow pine flooring plank. As shown in the photographs, the timbers are square or rectangular pieces of wood, and the flooring plank is grooved along both edges down the length.
The timber and flooring were salvaged from construction debris resulting from the demolition of a 150 year old knitting mill in Ontario and from the removal of a crane mat used to repair a Toronto subway station. According to the Rustic Wood Company, the wood debris from these sites was delivered to their yard instead of to a landfill. The Rustic Wood Company removed all large debris attached to the wood such as metal brackets, bolts, large nails, electrical fixtures, conduits, plaster and the like. The company then segregated the wood according to size and bundled and banded the wood for shipping.
The customers in the United States that receive the wood products include a timber broker, a timber frame company and a flooring company. These customers remove any remaining nails, paint, finish, holes, cracks and defects in the imported wood and then resize the wood as needed. For example, the 3-1/2” thick flooring planks are cut into three approximately 1” thick boards and remilled into ¾” thick flooring. The products are used in home construction.
Based on the above information, you and your client believe that the imported products are considered construction debris and are classifiable as wood waste in subheading 4401.30.4090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, (HTSUS).
Classification of goods under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that classification is determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative Section or Chapter notes.
Heading 4401, HTSUS, 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.
Additional U.S. Note 1 (a) of chapter 44, HTSUS, states:
The term “wood waste” means residual material other than firewood resulting from the processing of wood, including scraps, shavings, sawdust, veneer clippings, chipper rejects and similar small residues, as well as larger or coarser solid types of residual wood such as slabs, edgings, cull pieces and veneer log cores.
The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Tariff Commodity Description and Coding System (ENs) provide a commentary on the scope of each heading at the international level. The ENs to heading 44.01 state in pertinent part:
(D) Wood waste and scrap, not useable as timber. These materials are used in particular for pulping (manufacture of paper) and in the manufacture of particle board and fibreboard and as fuel. Such waste and scrap includes, saw mill or planing mill rejects; manufacturing waste; broken planks; old crates unusable as such; bark and shavings (whether or not agglomerated in logs, briquettes, pellets or similar forms); other waste and scrap of joinery and carpentry; spent dyewood and tanning wood or bark.
The products in question are referred to as “reclaimed timber” and “reclaimed flooring.” The fact that the products are not obtained immediately directly from a forest does not change their identity as timber products. The products are recognizable as timber and flooring.
In addition, the fact that the products have some holes, defects or other unwanted features remaining on them at the time of importation also does not change their identity as timber products. Wood naturally varies in grade and quality and adjustments need to made in some cases. Further, in spite of the defects of the imported products, they are preferred by Rustic Wood Company’s customers because they have a certain character due to their tight growth rings and aged color, as stated in your client’s letter.
The imported products are not wood waste. As noted in the ENs 44.01 description quoted above, wood waste is not useable as timber. The various waste products enumerated in the ENs show products useable for various other purposes than as timber. The imported products are clearly useable as timber.
Wood that is commingled with other construction debris and that is suitable only for being placed in a landfill is wood waste. However, when the wood is segregated from the rest of the construction debris, cleared of attached bolts and other matter, and bundled by size and use, such as the imported products are, it is no longer wood waste. In the condition as imported, the products are timber and flooring.
An alternative classification suggested by you is as antiques in subheading 9706.00.0060, HTSUS. However, products obtained by the demolition of a structure are new products. Only the complete structure may be found to be over 100 years old, and only the complete structure may be subject to consideration under heading 9706. The imported wood products are not classifiable in subheading 9706.00.0060, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the 6” x 10” white pine timber recovered from a demolished knitting mill will be 4407.10.0043, HTSUS, which provides for wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed, of a thickness exceeding 6 mm, coniferous, other, eastern white pine. The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the 12” x 12” Douglas fir timber recovered from a demolished construction mat will be 4407.10.0057, HTSUS, which provides for wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed, of a thickness exceeding 6 mm, coniferous, other, Douglas-fir. The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the 3-1/2” thick southern yellow pine flooring plank recovered from a demolished knitting mill will be 4409.10.2000, HTSUS, which provides for wood continuously shaped along any of its edges or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed, coniferous, wood flooring. The rate of duty will be free.
Articles classifiable under subheadings 4407.10.0043, 4407.10.0057 and 4409.10.2000, HTSUS, which were products of Canada were subject to entry requirements based on the U.S./Canadian Softwood Lumber Agreement of 1996 (SLA). All invoices of such articles had to be annotated with the Canadian province of manufacture. If manufactured in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia or Alberta, a permit was required. However, the SLA expired on March 31, 2001; thus, the above requirements are no longer applicable. Nevertheless, softwood lumber products that were released into the United States on or before March 31, 2001 remain subject to the requirements of the SLA.
For purposes of the SLA of 1996 and the described circumstances, the province where the products were recovered as timber would constitute the province of manufacture.
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 19 CFR 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, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect.
This ruling is being issued under the assumption that the subject goods, in their condition as imported into the United States, conform to the facts and the description as set forth both in the ruling request and in this ruling. In the event that the facts or merchandise are modified in any way, you should bring this to the attention of Customs and you should resubmit 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 the Customs Service.
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 Paul Garretto at 212-637-7009.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division