Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings for May 25
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated May 25 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
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H317175: Request for Binding Ruling on Classification of Trailfort Kitchen
| HTS: 7321.11.10, 5.7%, "Stoves, ranges, grates, cookers (including those with subsidiary boilers for central heating), barbecues, braziers, gas rings, plate warmers and similar nonelectric domestic appliances, and parts thereof, of iron or steel: [c]ooking appliances and plate warmers: [f]or gas fuel or for both gas and other fuels: [p]ortable”. |
| Item: A fully integrated camping kitchen that is comprised of the following main items: battery, faucet, gas stove, refrigerator, sink, and water pump. All components are permanently attached in an aluminum shell to form a complete unit of the portable kitchen that provides the user with all of the essential features that are necessary to prepare, cook, and wash food while camping. It is designed to be transportable and installable in a vehicle, such as an SUV or pickup truck. The trailfort kitchen will be imported from China and sold as a single, complete unit. |
| Reason: The trailfort kitchen is a composite good, so classification is determined by the application of GRI 3(b). The gas stove as the primary component and imparts the essential character of the entire merchandise. |
| Ruling Date: May 18, 2021 |
H313416: USMCA Eligibility of MMDI and PMDI Chemicals
| FTA: Qualifies for USMCA. |
| Item: MMDI and PMDI chemicals that are used in the production of polyurethane. “Crude” methylene diphenyl isocyanate (“MDI”) will be imported into Canada from various countries to undergo processing to produce MMDI and PMDI products for export to the United States. The MDI isomers do not have any functionality and cannot be used commercially. |
| Reason: The chemicals undergo the required USMCA tariff shift. |
| Ruling Date: May 11, 2021 |
H306350: Subheading 9801.00.25, and 9801.00.10, HTSUS; Exported to Canada and Returned to United States
| Ruling: The previously imported technology products from Canada that are subsequently re-imported into the United States will not qualify for duty-free treatment under subheadings 9801.00.25 or 9801.00.10 unless there is an ability for Exertis to match the exportation date from the U.S., in the case of those products with unique identification numbers, to the date that those products are re-imported. |
| Item: Technology products imported into the U.S., then shipped to Canada but returned to the U.S. if they are found not to conform to the order because the product is defective or fails to operate as specified. |
| Reason: The returned products are not all identified by serial/unique numbers or marks, and that Exertis may not necessarily know when the returned goods are exported by its customers to Canada, only that the products should be reimported into the U.S. within 3 years of original importation based on its initial production cycle. |
| Ruling Date: April 23, 2021 |
H302524: Application for Further Review of Protest number 1703-2016-100470; Multilayered Wood Flooring from the People’s Republic of China; Antidumping and Countervailing Duties; Complete Flooring Supply Corporation
| Ruling: CBP correctly liquidated the entries. |
| Issue: Whether CBP correctly assessed AD/CV duties on an importer's multilatered wood flooring from China. |
| Reason: In their Memorandum supporting their protest, the protestant alleges that “the calculation of duties and interest owed on some of the subject entries" was incorrect However, this allegation is inherently ambiguous, as the protestant does not state that “all” of the subject entries were incorrect, only that an unknown “some” were incorrect. In their Memorandum and subsequent communications with their Counsel, protestant failed to identify the entries which allegedly had duties and interest that were incorrectly calculated or specify how CBP had erred in its calculations. |
| Ruling Date: March 26, 2021 |
H314980: Articles for the handicapped; Subheading 9817.00.96; Women’s Shorts; Girl’s and Men’s Sweatshirts; Girl’s Cardigan
| HTS: Men's and women's sweatshirts: Eligible for 9817.00.96, free, "Articles specially designed or adapted for the use or benefit of the blind or other physically or mentally handicapped persons ... other.” Girls' shorts and women's cardigan: Ineligible. |
| Item: Four garments -- men's and women's sweatshirts, girls' shorts and a women's cardigan, that have mock safety stitching to the outside and downwards with reverse ISO 4062N 1/4 gg (knitting gauge) that is used to benefit individuals with skin disease like atopic dermatitis. All of the four garments have the word “adaptive” printed on the inside of the garment fabric. Two of the garments, men’s and girl’s sweatshirts, both possess opening features under the kangaroo pouch that distinguish these garments from mainstream sweatshirts useful to the general public. The girl’s sweatshirt has two vertical porthole openings under the kangaroo pocket for access to medical port lines. Similarly, the men’s sweatshirt features a horizontal slit at the center front panel beneath the kangaroo pouch pocket, which also serves as an access opening for medical ports as well. |
| Reason: The opening features on the men's and girls' sweatshirts render both garments to be specially designed for the benefit or use of handicapped persons. The general public would not likely want to wear this garment since it has openings in the pocket area that would actually allow anything stored in the pocket to fall through the openings. On the other hand, on the girls' shorts and women’s cardigan, there are not any significant adaptations on these garments for a handicapped person. Although the seams and construction may be less irritating to the skin, mainstream public would likely benefit from this feature as well. |
| Ruling Date: March 8, 2021 |
H303662: Internal Advice; Transaction Value; Related Party Transaction
| Ruling: The importer is not improperly deducting expenses related to freight and insurance. |
| Issue: Whether the importer is deducting expenses related to international freight and insurance from the cost of the goods and deducting the same costs again at the time of entry, therefore improperly reducing the value of the goods and duty owed to CBP. |
| Reason: Even though the related seller is deducting profit and costs, including the historical costs of freight and insurance to arrive at a transfer price, actual charges for freight and insurance are included on the invoice to the importer and paid by the importer Therefore, charges for freight and insurance may be deducted from the invoice price and a lower resulting value may be declared at entry. If, however, there were an instance where the invoice did not include charges for freight and insurance, and the invoice only reflected an intercompany transfer price arrived at through the methods described above, the importer could not deduct costs related to price and insurance from the transaction value. |
| Ruling Date: Jan. 29, 2021 |