The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Aug. 11 The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:

In the April 1 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 54, No. 12), CBP published notices that propose to modify rulings and similar treatment for steel doctor blades in coils and a 1937 Alfa Romeo.

CBP published notices in the Customs Bulletin revoking or modifying numerous rulings in 2019. These ruling revocations and modifications also apply to “any treatment previously accorded by CBP to substantially identical transactions.” When revoking or modifying a ruling, CBP is required by 19 USC 1625(c) to publish notice of the proposed action, and allow a period—generally one month—for comment before finalizing the action. An importer’s failure to advise CBP of “substantially identical transactions” or of a ruling not identified by CBP in these notices “may raise issues of reasonable care on the part of the importer or its agents for importations of merchandise subsequent to the effective date of this notice.” Rulings CBP revoked or modified in 2019 are as follows:

The following is a selection of articles that appeared in International Trade Today in 2019 covering ruling letters. CBP frequently publishes rulings months after they are issued, so these articles are included based on the dates the articles were published, rather than the date the ruling letter was issued.

In the Sept. 26 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 52, No. 39), CBP published notices that propose to revoke rulings and similar treatment for diamond wire and fillable plastic containers.

In the July 11 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 52, No. 28), CBP published notices that propose to modify rulings and similar treatment for soiled and undercounter dish tables and decorative glassware with lids.

In the Dec. 23 issue of the CBP Customs Bulletin (Vol. 49, No. 51) (here), CBP published notices that propose to revoke or modify rulings and similar treatment for beverage bottles and pillowcases.

Descaling steel using a rough grit in one pass does not constitute “further working” of steel that removes it from classification as a semi-finished steel product, said CBP in ruling HQ H250634 (here). The ruling was issued in response to a request for internal advice from CBP at the Port of Mobile, Alabama on how it should classify stainless steel slabs and dust byproducts from Outokumpu Stainless USA’s manufacturing operation at a foreign-trade-zone facility in Calvert, Alabama.

The CBP Port of Detroit was correct when it liquidated entries of machinery parts under four separate tariff provisions rather than under the importer's preferred single classification, agency headquarters said in a March 31 ruling. CBP headquarters said it took up the further review of protest "because the decision against which the protest was filed is alleged to be inconsistent with a ruling of the Commissioner of CBP or his designee, or with a decision made at any port with respect to the same or substantially similar merchandise." The ruling, HQ H213695, is in response to a protest filed by Witzenmann, a metal parts company.

Convenience isn't enough of a reason for CBP to allow for a single entry for two halves of a machine arriving on separate carriers, the agency said in a March 22 ruling (HQ H234076). Sidel Canada asked CBP to rule whether the two pieces of a Combi machine, a beverage bottling machine, are eligible to be entered in a single entry. Sidel Canada would like to ship the two halves from different parts of Europe, rather than deal with the logistical and regulatory burdens of assembling the parts within Europe before shipping.