Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings for Sept. 23-28
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated between Sept. 23 and Sept. 28 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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H339816: Tariff classification of a Mobile Industrial Vacuum/Pump System
| HTS: 8705.90.00, free, “Special purpose motor vehicles, other than those principally designed for the transport of persons or goods (for example, wreckers, mobile cranes, fire fighting vehicles, concrete mixers, road sweepers, spraying vehicles, mobile workshops, mobile radiological units): Other.” |
| Item: The mobile industrial vacuum/rotary acting suction pump system consists of two units, entered together, that are designed to operate together to collect and remove/transport fluids, powders, sludge slurry and other waste from a job site. It's an integrated cleaning system consisting of a vacuum tank with a rotary suction pump and trailer-mounted crane/control room that is designed to operate a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) to clean hazardous materials. The subject merchandise collects and removes fluids, powders, sludge slurry and other waste from locations such as oil tanks. |
| Reason: By using a vacuum pump, the subject merchandise is specifically designed for suctioning and transporting wet or dry hazardous and non-hazardous materials. These design characteristics contribute to the special construction of the subject merchandise, which enable it to perform the non-transport function of waste collection and clean-up. Because the Mobile Industrial Vacuum/Rotary Acting Suction Pump System is specially designed as an integrated cleaning system, it is classifiable as one complete vehicle of heading 8705. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 19, 2024 |
H337372: Request for Further Review of Protest No. 3002-22-104032; Tariff classification of various miniature backpacks, miniature novelty items, and miniature utility items from China
| Ruling: The backpacks and components are classified separately, rather than as a set of heading 9503. |
| Issue: Are the subject articles properly classified under heading 9503? |
| Item: Stylized carry cases with miniaturized items intended to be contained within. The majority of the carry cases take the form of miniature backpacks, and the contained accessories range from novelty items to miniature utility items and school supplies. |
| Reason: The articles at issue are various items packaged together as groups, but the groups cannot be considered as sets under the terms of General Interpretative Rule 3(b). The groupings do not meet the second criterion necessary for classification as a GRI 3(b) retail set. They are not packaged together to meet a particular need or to carry out a specific activity. |
| Ruling Date: July 26, 2024 |
H337102: Country of Origin; Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel; Substantial Transformation
| Ruling: CBP found that the subject grain-oriented electrical steel is substantially transformed in Country A, where the initial cold rolling, hot rolling, annealing, and coating processes occur. |
| Issue: What is the country of origin of the subject grain-oriented electrical steel? |
| Item: Grain-oriented electrical steel (“GOES” or “GOES strip”) intended for use in the production of electrical transformers. |
| Reason: The Country A process involves, among other steps, the initial refining and pouring of the steel, two separate annealing processes, cold rolling, hot rolling, the application of a magnesium oxide coating, and the formation of the GOES into coil form. The Country B process involves comparatively few steps, including one annealing process and laser scribing. Moreover, although a change in tariff classification is not determinative of a substantial transformation, here, the same classification of the GOES from Country A and the final product indicates the imported GOES coil is not a new and different product. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 3, 2024 |
H317395: Affirmation of NY N312428; tariff classification of a coin purse and school supplies from China
| Ruling: CBP found that the instant merchandise was correctly classified. Therefore, NY N312428 is hereby affirmed. |
| Issue: Affirmation of NY N312428; tariff classification of a coin purse and school supplies from China |
| Item: Moose Toys' coin purse and school supplies, consisting of a novelty coin purse, a ruler, a sharpener, a highlighter, an eraser, a tape dispenser, a pencil, a sticker sheet, a sticky notes memo pad and a notebook. |
| Reason: Any amusement provided by the novelty coin purse is outweighed by its utilitarian function of providing storage, protection, organization and portability for children’s personal effects, whether they be the miniature school supplies that are packaged and sold together in item numbers 25261 and 25262 or a variety of other small articles such as coins or trinkets. The instant novelty coin purse is prima facie classified in heading 4202. Therefore, it's not a toy and is precluded from classification in heading 9503. The miniature school supplies included in item numbers 25261 and 25262 and fit inside the novelty coin purse should be considered toys. However, upon examination, although these items are small, they are functional. Therefore, regardless of their miniature sizes, the remaining school supplies at issue in item numbers 25261 and 25262 (e.g., the ruler, sharpener, highlighter, tape dispenser, and notebook) are functional just as the importer states on its website. Like the disparate craft items found in HQ H154039 and HQ 962566, supra, the instant school supplies are not toys and therefore CBP sees no prohibition to classifying each of these items in its respective tariff heading. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 23, 2024 |
H338127: Country of Origin of a Silicon Carbide Schottky Diode
| Ruling: Where the comparatively minor back-end operations in China will not substantially transform the silicon carbide Schottky diode, the country of origin will be the U.S. |
| Issue: What is the country of origin of the Schottky diode? |
| Item: A silicon carbide Schottky diode, which is used in various applications, including solar panels, motor drives, uninterruptible power supplies and electric vehicles. |
| Reason: The dominant component that provides character and essence of the silicon carbide Schottky diode is the silicon carbide semiconductor die/chip contained in the wafer. The extensive and complex front-end operations described in the submission, including single crystal growth; fabrication; chemical-mechanical polishing; epitaxial growth; further wafer processing such as photolithography, photoresist, and etching and ion implantation; and chip probing, are what create the silicon carbide semiconductor die/chip. The wafer that undergoes these significant front-end operations contains the die incorporating the complete circuitry of the merchandise. On the other hand, the back-end operations described in the submission, including wafer sawing, cleaning and trimming amount to only minor processing of a product whose use and identity will already be established by the extensive front-end operations, a position that CBP has consistently applied in past rulings. These back-end operations do not change the character and use of the silicon carbide die, which were already established as a result of wafer fabrication and other front-end operations. Accordingly, the silicon carbide Schottky diode doesn't undergo a substantial transformation in China during back-end processing. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 17, 2024 |
H339179: Country of Origin of Exhaust and Intake Valves; Substantial Transformation; Section 301 Trade Remedy Duties
| Ruling: The origin of the valves is China, and are therefore subject to Section 301 duties. Pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 102.11(b), the country of origin of the valves for marking purposes is China and must be marked “Made in China” under 19 U.S.C. § 1304. |
| Issue: What is the country of origin of the exhaust valves and intake valves as described for purposes of section 301 trade remedies? What is the country of origin of the exhaust valves and intake valves as described for marking purposes? |
| Item: Intake valves and exhaust valves that are mechanical components assembled within internal combustion engines and are responsible for controlling the flow of fluid or gas during internal combustion. |
| Reason: The valves before and after importation to Mexico possess the essential character of the finished valves and therefore, are both classified as unfinished valves under subheading 8409.91 pursuant to GRI 2(a). As a result, the tariff shift isn't met. For purposes of identifying the material that imparts the essential character to a good under Section 102.11, the only materials that shall be taken into consideration are those domestic or foreign materials that are classified in a tariff provision from which a change in tariff classification is not allowed under Part 102.20 specific rule or other requirements applicable to the good. In this case, the valves are components classified in a tariff provision from which a change in tariff classification is not allowed. Accordingly, the country of origin for marking purposes is China and the valves need to be marked as “Made in China.” |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 25, 2024 |
H337456: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 330323100897; Ubiquiti Inc.; Country of Origin of High-Performance Wi-Fi Bridges; Section 301 Trade Remedy
| Ruling: CBP determined that the manufacturing process occurring in Country A constitutes a substantial transformation such that the country of origin of the products is Country A. In addition, CBP determined that Ubiquiti has provided sufficient evidence demonstrating that this process actually occurs in Country A. As a result, Section 301 remedies are not applicable to the subject devices. |
| Issue: Is the country of origin for the subject devices China or Country A for the application Section 301 duties? |
| Item: Various 5 GHz high-performance Wi-Fi bridges, including the PowerBeam and the NanoBeam, imported by electronics importer Ubiquiti. |
| Reason: Ubiquiti provided information substantiating that the contract manufacturer’s Country A facility imports raw materials and conducts manufacturing operations consistent with those necessary to produce the devices. Ubiquiti provided shipping and transactional documents for the period of April 2, 2021, to Oct. 13, 2022, such as invoices, purchase orders, and bills of lading, relating to the 10 raw materials or components most utilized in manufacturing the devices, including several used in printing the products’ printed circuit board assembly (PCBA). Ubiquiti also provided video and photographic evidence of the manufacturing operations occurring at the contract manufacturer’s Country A facility. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 3, 2024 |