CAFC Issues Mandate in Customs Suit on Steel Tube With Insulating Materials
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Dec. 16 issued its mandate in a customs suit on the classification of importer Shamrock Building Materials' steel tubing with insulating material (Shamrock Building Materials v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-1648).
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The court decided in October that Shamrock's imports are classifiable as steel tubes of Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 7306, rather than insulated conduit of HTS heading 8547, subjecting the steel tubing to 25% Section 232 tariffs (see 2410230024).
The appellate court said goods under heading 8547, which covers electrical conduit tubing of base metal lined with insulating material, must have a "commercially significant insulation of the conduit against current flow." The court said Shamrock's steel tubing, while having a thin interior coating of epoxy, melamine and silicon additives, doesn't have a commercially significant level of insulation. As a result, the importer was subject to Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs.