Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings April 9-25
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Apr. 9-25 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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H340257: Application for Further Review of Protest 530123109577; Country of Origin; Herbicide; Section 301 Measures
| Ruling: The country of origin for purposes of Section 301 remedies of the imported Sparrow herbicide product is Taiwan and is not subject to Section 301 measures. |
| Issue: What is the country of origin of the herbicide product for purposes of Section 301 trade remedies? |
| Item: The merchandise subject to the protest at issue is Sparrow, an herbicide product. On May 1, 2023, protestant entered the merchandise at the port of Houston Seaport, Texas, and on June 2, 2023, CBP liquidated the merchandise as Chinese-origin. The subject merchandise is composed of two active ingredients (Rimsulfuron and Nicosulfuron) as well as other inert ingredients used as formulation aids, such as dispersants, wetting agents, diluents, etc., to improve the form, and effectiveness of the final product. Rimsulfuron and Nicosulfuron are both active ingredients produced in China and imported into Taiwan for manufacturing. Rimsulfuron makes up 12.5% of the subject herbicide as Nicosulfuron makes up 25.2% of it. The inert ingredients described above make up the remaining 60%. |
| Reason: The production process of the herbicide takes place in Taiwan does not result in a chemical reaction with each other or any of the other components during the process of manufacture. However, in mixing operations of herbicides, pesticides, and other agricultural finished products, where no chemical reaction occurs, the active ingredient provides the essential character regardless of the origin of the other constitutes. Therefore, the subject ingredients are substantially transformed by the mixing and formulation operations occurring in Taiwan. |
| Ruling Date: Dec. 5, 2024 |
H327018: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 4601-22-131210; Tariff Classification of Acticire MB
| Ruling: 3824.99.41, “Prepared binders for foundry molds or cores; chemical products and preparations of the chemical or allied industries (including those consisting of mixtures of natural products), not elsewhere specified or 5 6 included: Other: Other: Fatty substances of animal or vegetable origin and mixtures thereof: Other.” The column one, general rate of duty is 4.6% ad valorem. |
| Issue: What is the proper tariff classification of Acticire MB under heading 3824, as CBP originally ruled, or heading 1521, or alternatively, under heading 3404, as the protestant claims? |
| Item: Acticire MB, which is a texturizing and moisturizing ingredient used in cosmetic formulations. Acticire MB is produced by chemically combining three types of vegetable waxes (jojoba wax, mimosa wax, and sunflower wax) with polyglycerin-3, a clear or yellowish viscous liquid, to produce a waxy end-product. Gattefosse Corporation lists the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) as jojoba esters, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed wax, acacia decurrens flower (mimosa) wax, and polyglycerin3. The jojoba esters comprise 50-75% of the final product, while the sunflower seed wax comprises 25-50%, acacia durrens flower (mimosa) wax comprises 1-5%, and polyglycerin 3 comprises 1-5%. |
| Reason: Here, the product is composed of vegetable waxes mixed together and mixed with polyglyercin-3, which itself is not classified in Chapter 15. The ENs for heading 1521, provide that products that are mixtures of vegetable waxes are precluded from classification under that heading. Thus, Acticire MB is precluded from classification under heading 1521. The ENs for heading 3404 provide that waxes “mixed with, dispersed in or dissolved in a liquid medium” are excluded from classification under this heading. Thus, to be classifiable under heading 3404, the polyglycerin-3 cannot be a “liquid medium” in which the mixture of jojoba wax, mimosa wax, and sunflower wax are “mixed with, dispersed in or dissolved in.” As discussed above, Acticire MB is produced by mixing jojoba wax, mimosa wax, and sunflower wax with polyglycerin-3, the only liquid identified in the ingredients. The polyglycerin-3 therefore is the liquid medium in the mixture of the vegetable waxes to produce Acticire MB. Because Acticire MB is a mixture of vegetable waxes “mixed with, dispersed in or dissolved in” polyglycerin-3, a liquid medium, the ENs for heading 3404, preclude its classification under that heading. Here, Acticire MB is composed of three types of vegetable waxes mixed with, dispersed in or dissolved in polyglyercin-3. As the product is excluded from classification under headings 1521 and 3404, and not described more specifically by any other provision of the HTSUS, it is consequently classified in heading 3824, as a chemical product of the allied industries consisting of a mixture of natural products. |
| Ruling Date: Feb. 14, 2025 |
H341677: Application for Further Review of Protest No 280924111068; Applicability of Section 301 trade remedies of breathalyzers from China
| Ruling: 9027.10.20, “Instruments and apparatus for physical or chemical analysis (for example, polarimeters, refractometers, spectrometers, gas or smoke analysis apparatus); instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking viscosity, porosity, expansion, surface tension or the like; instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking quantities of heat, sound or light (including exposure meters); microtomes; parts and accessories thereof: Gas or smoke analysis apparatus: Electrical.” The general, column one rate of duty is Free. |
| Issue: Whether the breathalyzers satisfy an exclusion provision pertaining to products described by statistical reporting number 9027.10.2000, and are eligible to claim the secondary tariff number of subheading 9903.88.67. The protestant does not dispute CBP’s classification of the breathalyzers under subheading 9027.10.20. Instead, they dispute CBP’s liquidation of the entries under subheading 9903.88.02, and the 25 percent duty assessment under the Section 301 Trade Remedy. Protestant claims that the subject breathalyzers should be liquidated under subheading 9903.88.67, citing the exclusion annotated under Chapter 99 U.S. Note 20(ttt)(ii)(34) for “Portable, wireless enabled, electrical gas monitors (described in statistical reporting number 9027.10.2000).” |
| Item: The subject merchandise consists of five breathalyzer models differing in size and functionality. Each of the devices operate very similarly and utilize either the BluFire Fuel Cell Sensor technology or MicroCheck Sensor Technology. The BluFire Fuel Cell Sensor technology relies on an electrochemical process that oxidizes the alcohol. The oxidization process then produces an electrical current that the device uses to measure the user’s blood alcohol content (BAC) and communicates via the display. The MicroCheck Sensor technology relies on semiconductor oxide sensors using a tin-oxide substance. When the user breathes into the device, a mesh film heated by the sensor changes its resistance. The change in sensor resistance is directly correlated with alcohol concentration, and that change is communicated to the user via the display. The design of all five models ensures that only the gases from the user’s breath are measured. After analyzing the sample, the devices deliver the user’s BAC results to the built-in display screen. The breathalyzers are never plugged into an outlet or other device via a cord or wire. The subject devices transmit the user’s results to its built-in screen without the support of any external wiring and are powered by batteries. |
| Reason: There is no dispute that the breathalyzers are classified in subheading 9027.10.20. In addition, there is no disagreement that the breathalyzers are portable and are electrical gas monitors. The issue is whether the breathalyzers are “wireless enabled.” In this case, the subject breathalyzers have their own screen that display the BAC results to the user after blowing into the device for 5 seconds. The subject breathalyzers do not transmit the BAC information to a smart phone, tablet or computer via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. As such, there is no data transmission occurring. Despite the protestant's claim that, because the breathalyzers lack external wiring as they are battery-powered, they are therefore "wireless," the word “wireless” modifies the word “enabled” in the exclusion text. The term “wireless enabled” means capable of transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals via a wireless network. While the breathalyzers are battery operated and do not require a cord, they process all the data themselves and do not communicate using a wireless network. Therefore, the breathalyzers do not meet the term “wireless enabled.” |
| Ruling Date: Feb. 14, 2025 |
H341768: Tariff Classification of Frozen Shrimp Dumplings
| HTS: 1605.21.05, 5%: “Crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, prepared or preserved: Shrimps and prawns: Not in airtight containers: Products containing fish meat; prepared meals.” |
| Issue: What is the tariff classification of the shrimp dumplings at issue? |
| Item: The shrimp dumplings at issue are featured in three varieties that each contain greater than 20 percent by weight of shrimp, other ingredients such as bamboo shoot and egg powder, as well as a variety of seasonings. The dough jacket that comprises the outer shell of each dumpling variety is derived from wheat starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, water, and refined soybean oil. The dumplings will be imported for retail sale and will be shipped frozen and ready to cook. |
| Reason: The shrimp dumplings' outer shells are made of wheat starch, potato starch, and tapioca starch. The manufacturing process and physical characteristics of starch are not the same as those of semolina or flour discussed above as it relates to pasta. While flour manufacturing consists of grinding the grains in a series of rollermills and sifting, starch manufacturing consists of crushing of starch-containing tubers or seeds, mixing of the resulting pulp with water and freeing of the resulting paste of impurities, and subsequent drying. Moreover, starch is only one of the components found in flour, which also contains protein, polysaccharides, and lipids. Therefore, because of the different manufacturing process of semolina or flour compared to starch, which is included in the subject product, the shrimp dumplings at issue are not classified as stuffed pasta in heading 1902. The shrimp dumplings at issue qualify as a distinct article of commerce produced from raw materials by a definite series of steps, or a substance specifically prepared for use as a food. As such, the subject shrimp dumplings are a food preparation. Additionally, because the shrimp dumplings contain greater than 20% by weight of shrimp, which are crustaceans, the dumplings are also a food preparation within the meaning of Note 2 to Chapter 16. As such, they are classified in heading 1605, which provides for “Crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, prepared or preserved.” |
| Ruling Date: April 10, 2025 |
H303131: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 5301-18-100548; Iwatani Corporation of America; 19 U.S.C. § 1313(j)(1); Direct Identification Unused Drawback
| Ruling: In this case, Iwatani is unable to prove that the imported good is the exported good. Iwatani attempts to prove direct identification of the bending roll machine by tracing its movements in the U.S. from importation to exportation. Iwatani does not claim that the machine was identified by a serial number or other singular identifier or accounting method. |
| Issue: Has the protestant provided sufficient documentation to support its claim that the imported good is the exported good, and the importer is entitled to duty drawback? |
| Item: A bending roll machine imported from Japan |
| Reason: Iwatani has provided documentary evidence that a bending roll machine of model number PRB-MJ25TNC-0615 was imported and entered into a warehouse in November 2016. Iwatani has also provided documentation that establishes a basis to believe that in March 2018 a bending roll machine of model number PRB-MJ25TNC-0615 was removed from a warehouse and exported to Japan. The missing connection for purposes of direct identification drawback is demonstrating that the machine imported was the same machine that was exported. Iwatani is only able to show that a potentially identical machine, as described by the model number was imported and then exported, but Iwatani has not demonstrated that the same machine that was exported was the machine that was imported. Drawback claimants must strictly adhere to the requirements set forth in the statutes and applicable regulations. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 17, 2024 |
H343563: Request for Reconsideration of NY N341133; Classification of Syringes from China
| Ruling: CBP affirms NY N341133, dated July 15, 2024. By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the subject syringes are classified under subheading 9018.31.00, “Instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences, including scintigraphic apparatus, other electro-medical apparatus and sight-testing instruments; parts and accessories thereof: Syringes, needles, catheters, cannulae and the like; parts and accessories thereof: Syringes, with or without needles; parts and accessories thereof.” The general column one rate of duty is free. |
| Issue: DMC Medical sought reconsideration of NY N341133 |
| Item: DMC Medical Polycarbonate Syringes and DMC Medical NuGen™ Eastman Tritan ™ Copolyester Syringes. Both types of syringes consist of a calibrated barrel, a color ABS plunger, a silicone stopper, and a male luer lock and are available in 1ml, 3ml, 6ml, 10ml, 20ml and 30ml sizes. The syringes will be imported in bulk in non-sterile form. They will undergo sterilization and further packaging into surgical kits in the United States before entering the market. The syringes are intended to be used without a needle for administering various drugs and contrast medium during medical procedures. |
| Reason: Because the subheading text of 9018.31 is unambiguously noncontingent on the incorporation of needles in the syringes, the fact that these syringes are intended for use without needles is immaterial. Given these facts, NY N341133 appropriately classified the subject syringes under subheading 9018.31. Despite the claim that the syringes are not “finished” syringes without sterilization postimportation, nowhere in the legal text does subheading 9018.31, require sterilization. That the syringes may eventually be incorporated into surgical kits post-importation is likewise unpersuasive. Merchandise must be classified according to its condition as imported. |
| Ruling Date: April 3, 2025 |