HQ 0950606 - HRL 089315 affirmed. Wood; container flooring; plywood; panel; character - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 950606

April 15, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 950606 HP

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 4412.12.2060

Mr. Carl D. Cammarata
Law Offices of George R. Tuttle
Three Embarcadero Center, Suite 1160
San Francisco, CA 94111

RE: HRL 089315 affirmed. Wood; container flooring; plywood; panel; character

Dear Mr. Cammarata:

This is in reply to your letter of October 2, 1991. That letter concerned the tariff classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), of container flooring, produced in South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Please reference your client ITEL Containers International Corporation.

FACTS:

The merchandise at issue consists of "sets" of plywood panels made from keruing, a nonconiferous wood (scientific name: Dipterocarpus spp.). The panels are made from nineteen veneer plies, each less than 6 mm thick, laminated together with a marine type adhesive. A "set" consists of three pair of panels. One pair measures 1,916 mm by 1,127 mm; the second, 2,050 mm by 1,127 mm; and the third, 1,480 mm by 1,127 mm. Each panel has a cut 37 mm wide by 6 mm deep along each edge. In addition, 1/4 inch chamfers have been cut into the corners along the bottom edges and ends of the panels. The flooring panels are used for cargo containers and will be imported from South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China.

In HRL 089315 of September 17, 1991, we classified this merchandise under heading 4412, HTSUSA, as plywood. You disagree, stating that classification as wood flooring under heading 4409 is appropriate.

ISSUE:

Whether the container flooring panels are classifiable as wood or plywood under the HTSUSA?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Heading 4409, HTSUSA, provides for wood continuously shaped along any of its faces or edges. Heading 4412, HTSUSA, when read in conjunction with Note 4 to Chapter 44, HTSUSA, provides for, inter alia, plywood worked to form the shapes provided for in heading 4409, so long as such working does not give these products the character of articles of heading 4409. In HRL 089315, we concluded that wood is classified in heading 4409, and plywood is classified in heading 4412; therefore, plywood products, no matter how worked, could never assume the character of wood products. You now argue that there is no support for such a "rigid" dichotomy. You state that heading 4409 is intended to be an "invasive" heading: to wit, that plywood further worked to become the type of flooring provided for in heading 4409 (if wood) must nevertheless be taken out of heading 4412 and classified in heading 4409.

We disagree. Augmenting the rationale in HRL 089315, the subheading Explanatory Note to subheadings 4412.11, 4412.12, and 4412.19 states dispositively that

[p]lywood remains classified in these subheadings even if it has been surface- covered or further worked as described in the penultimate paragraph of the Explanatory Note to heading 44.12 [(the character language)].

HRL 089315 was decided correctly on the basis of the tariff headings and the relevant legal notes, and is hereby affirmed.

HOLDING:

As a result of the foregoing, the instant merchandise is classified under subheading 4412.12.2060, HTSUSA, as plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated wood, plywood consisting solely of sheets of wood, each ply not exceeding 6 mm in thickness, not surface covered, or surface covered with a clear transparent material which does not obscure the grain, texture or markings of the face ply, other, other, not surface covered. The applicable rate of duty is 8 percent ad valorem.

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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