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HQ 554912


June 15, 1988

CLA-2 CO:R:C:V 554912DBI

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9802.00.80, 807.00

Mr. Raymond F. Martin
Spalding Sports Worldwide
P.O. Box 901
Chicopee, MA 01021-0901

RE: Partial duty exemption for footballs from Korea

Dear Mr. Martin:

In your letter of February 8, 1988, you requested a ruling on behalf of Spalding Sports Worldwide, concerning the applicability of item 807.00, Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS; 19 U.S.C. 1202), to certain footballs to be assembled in Korea and imported by your client.

FACTS:

You state that leather, purchased in the U.S., will be cut into panels and backing will be sewn to the panels, all of which will be performed in the U.S. The leather panels will be sent to Korea where they will be sewn together on a lock-stich machine. Once sewn together, the assembled ball will be turned inside out by hand and returned to the U.S. for insertion of a bladder, lacing and striping.

ISSUE:

Whether the described footballs will be eligible for the partial exemption from duty provided for in item 807.00, TSUS (9802.00.80, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA)), when imported into the U.S.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Item 807.00, TSUS, applies to articles assembled abroad in whole or in part of fabricated components, the product of the U.S., with no operations performed thereon except the attachment of the components to form the imported merchandise, and operations incidental thereto. An article classified under item 807.00, TSUS, is subject to the duty upon the full appraised value of the imported article, less the cost or value of such products of the U.S. Sections 10.11-10.24, Customs Regulations

(19 CFR 10.11-10.24), set forth definitive and interpretive regulations pertaining to the construction of item 807.00, TSUS, and related provisions of law. Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)), provides that the assembly operations performed abroad may consist of any method used to join or fit together solid components, such as ... sewing ... and may be preceded, accompanied, or followed by operations incidental to the assembly as illustrated in paragraph (b) of this section.

We believe that turning the ball inside out in Korea is an insignificant process which does not rise to the level of an assembly operation or an operation incidental to assembly. Therefore, turning the ball inside out would not effect the football's eligibility for partial duty exemption under item 807.00, TSUS.

HOLDING:

We are of the opinion that the joining or fitting together of leather panels by a sewing operation constitutes a foreign assemby. On the basis of the information submitted, allowances in duty may be made under item 807.00, TSUS, for the cost or value of the exported leather panels that are joined together by sewing, upon compliance with the applicable Customs Regulations.

Sincerely,


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