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HQ 951276


July 16, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:F 951276 EAB

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 2917.19.5050

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
P.O. Box 37260
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53237-0260

RE: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 3701-91- 100045, dated October 10, 1990, concerning cycl- isopropylidene methylmalonate; 2,2,5-trimethyl-1,3-dioxane- 4,6-dione; CAS 3709-18-0; polyhydric alcohols; Meldrum's Acid; polybasic acids; polycarboxylic acids; cyclic esters; Legal Note 7, Chapter 29; malonic acid; ethyl malonate; 2917

Dear Sir:

This is a decision on a protest filed July 30, 1991, against your decision in the classification of merchandise liquidated on May 10, 1991.

FACTS:

The protestant entered all goods in subheading 2932.29.5050, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), a provision for heterocyclic compounds with oxygen hetero-atoms(s) only; lactones; lactones other coumarin, methylcoumarins and ethylcoumarins; other lactones other than aromatic; other; other, such compounds being dutiable at the column 1 general rate of 3.7 percent ad valorem.

Customs reclassified the merchandise under subheading 2917.19.5050, HTSUSA, a provision for polycarboxylic acids, their anhydrides, peroxides and peroxyacids; acyclic polycarboxylic acids, their anhydrides, peroxides, peroxyacids and their derivatives; other; other; other; other, such compounds being dutiable at the column 1 general rate of 4.0 percent ad valorem.

Protestant seeks reclassification of the goods to subheading 2932.29.5050.

The compound is of a cyclic structure and is also known as methyl Meldrum's Acid, which itself is found in the chemical literature as malonic acid cyclic isopropylidene ester, see, e.g., 5696, The Merck Index, Eleventh Edition.

O
H3C C6---O1 CH3
C5 C2 METHYL MELDRUM'S ACID
/ \ / \ 2,2,5-TRIMETHYL-1,3-DIOXANE-4,6-DIONE H C4---O3 CH3
O

ISSUE:

What is the proper classification under the HTSUSA of cycl- isopropylidene methylmalonate, or 2,2,5-trimethyl-1,3-dioxane- 4,6-dione, having CAS Registry Number 3709-18-0?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Merchandise imported into the U.S. is classified under the HTSUSA. Tariff classification is governed by the principles set forth in the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) and, in the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation. The GRIs and the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation are part of the HTSUSA and are to be considered statutory provisions of law for all purposes.

GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRI's taken in order.

Heading 2917 describes, inter alia, polycarboxylic acids, their anhydrides, peroxides and peroxyacids. Thereunder, acyclic polycarboxylic acids and their esters and derivatives are to be classified. Subheading 2917.19, HTSUSA.

Heading 2932 describes heterocyclic compounds with oxygen hetero-atom(s) only. In particular, lactones other than coumarin, methylcoumarins and ethylcoumarins are classifiable under subheading 2932.29, HTSUSA.

Note 7, Chapter 29 provides that "[neither] anhydrides of polybasic carboxylic acids * * * [nor] cyclic esters of polyhydric alcohols * * * with polybasic acids * * *" fall to be classified under heading 2932. Such compounds are to be classified in heading 2917, see Explanatory Note 29.32.

Malonic acid, having the structure HOOCCH2COOH, or (COOH)2CH2, is identified in the chemical literature as methanedicarboxylic acid, i.e., as a polycarboxylic acid.

An anhydride is a chemical compound derived from an organic acid by elimination of a molecule of water. Generally, anhydrides are called "anhydrides," e.g, the anhydride of maleic acid is called maleic anhydride.

An ester is an organic compound derived from an acid by the exchange of the replaceable hydrogen of the acid for an organic radical. Generally, esters are denominated with the suffix "-ate," e.g., the ester of malonic acid is ethyl malonate.

A lactone is the inner ester of a carboxylic and is derived from the acid by the exchange of the replaceable hydrogen of the acid for an organic radical. In other words, a lactone is a cyclic ester.

Cyclization of a dicarboxylic acid by replacing both hydroxyl (-OH) groups with identical radicals yields a double ester ring known as a lactide. In fact, in The Merck Index, Eighth Edition we find "lactide," 3,6-dimethyl-2,5-p- dioxanedione, also written as 2,5-dioxo-3,6-dimethyl-1,4-dioxane and 3,6-diketo-2,5-dimethyl-1,4-dioxane (at p. 605). Noticeably, another name for Meldrum's Acid is 2,2-dimethyl-4,6-diketo-1,3- dioxane.

The isopropylidene moiety of the subject compound is an organic radical, recognizable as a derivative of 2,2-propane- diol.

Whether methyl Meldrum's Acid is a derivative of a polycarboxylic acid, namely malonic acid, or a derivative of a polybasic alcohol, namely 2,2-propane-diol with a polybasic acid, Note 7, Chapter 29 prohibits its classification under heading 2932.

The subheadings of heading 2917 separately describe three categories of compounds together with their respective derivatives: acyclic polycarboxylic acids and their derivatives; cyclic polycarboxylic acids and their derivatives; and, aromatic polycarboxylic acids and their derivatives.

Explanatory Note 29.17 (A)(7) indicates that malonic acid, the most important esters of which include diethyl malonate, falls to be classified under heading 2917, a provision for acyclic polycarboxylic acids and their esters, salts and derivatives. In this case, for tariff purposes, a cyclic compound is acyclic due to its derivation.

HOLDING:

You are instructed to deny the protest.

Cycl-isopropylidene methylmalonate, or 2,2,5-trimethyl-1,3- dioxane-4,6-dione, having CAS Registry Number 3709-18-0 and also known as methyl Meldrum's Acid, is classifiable under subheading 2917.19.5050, a provision describing polycarboxylic acids; acyclic polycarboxylic acids, their anhydrides and their derivatives; other; other; other; other. Articles classified under that subheading for the year 1991 were subject to a column 1 general rate of duty of 4.0 percent ad valorem.

A copy of this decision should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and provided to the protestant as part of the notice of action on the protest.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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