CLA-2-76:RR:NC:1:118 H88504
Mr. Mike Daly
Livingston International Trade Services Inc.
100 West Walnut Street
Champlain, NY 12919
RE: The tariff classification of alloyed aluminum profiles from China.
Dear Mr. Daly:
In your letter, which we received in this office on February 7, 2002, on behalf of your client Indalex, Inc., located in Bannockburn, IL, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
You have described your items as aluminum profiles. In your supplemental submission, you requested that the ruling address model numbers WS-40741, WS-40740, WS-40736, WS-40737 and WS-40734. They are all made from alloyed aluminum. They are being used in the office products industry for the production of white and chalk boards, easels, and other office products. The profiles are extruded and anodized. They are cut to lengths specified by the customer, resulting in various lengths at the time of import. Further processing will be performed upon the profiles by the U.S. customer including bending, notching, drilling and fastening.
The applicable subheading for the aluminum profiles will be 7604.29.1000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for aluminum bars, rods and profiles: of aluminum alloys: other: other profiles. The rate of duty will be 5% ad valorem.
You stated that the items will be manufactured in China from USA scrap aluminum that has been purchased by Indalex Inc. and shipped abroad. This waste and scrap that you will be utilizing is considered a dutiable assist. The value of the waste and scrap, along with the costs of transporting this material to the place of production, must be added to the price actually paid or payable for your imported profiles.
It is possible that your product may qualify for classification under subheading 9802.00.60, HTS. You must satisfy the director at the port of entry that you meet all of the requirements of 9802.00.60, HTS, which includes compliance with the documentation requirements of section 10.9, Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. §10.9).
Subheading 9802.00.6000, HTS, provides a partial duty exemption for:
[a]ny article of metal (as defined in U.S. note 3(d) of this subchapter) manufactured in the United States or subjected to a process of manufacture in the United States, if exported for further processing, and if the exported article is processed outside the United States, or the article which results from the processing outside the United States, is returned to the United States for further processing.
This tariff provision imposes a dual “further processing” requirement on eligible metal articles: one foreign, and when returned, one domestic. Articles of metal satisfying these statutory requirements may be classified under subheading 9802.00.60, HTS, with duty only upon the value of such processing performed outside the U.S., upon compliance with the documentation requirements of section 10.9, Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. §10.9).
The Customs Service has consistently held that subheading 9802.00.60, HTS, is inapplicable to scrap obtained directly from processing foreign-made metal in the U.S. The requirement that scrap be a metal article “manufactured or subjected to a process of manufacture” in the U.S. is satisfied only if the metal article from which the scrap was obtained was initially manufactured or subjected to a process of manufacture in the U.S. Customs does not consider processes such as the dismantling (by whatever means), shredding, crushing, ripping and grinding of obsolete articles and industrial scrap to be manufacturing processes, whether or not accompanied by sorting, grading or other similar activities to promote the salability or utility of the scrap. Manufacturing begins once raw materials are available and does not include reclamation activities undertaken with respect to obsolete and industrial scrap prior to the creation of raw materials for new manufacturing. Your submission was not clear as to the origin and processing of the obtained “USA scrap aluminum” you provide to China. Accordingly, we are unable to determine, at this time, if your product qualifies for classification within subheading 9802.00.60, HTS.
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 Kathy Campanelli at 646-733-3021.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division