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NY 870354




January 21, 1992

CLA-2-98:S:N:N1:117 870354

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9802.00.60

Mr. Moon Ho Chung
Dongkuk International, Inc.
Two Executive Drive
Fort Lee, N.J. 07024

RE: The applicability of subheading 9802.00.60 to certain basic steel mill products.

Dear Mr. Chung:

In your letter dated December 17, 1991 on behalf of Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., Ltd., you requested a tariff classification ruling.

Steel slabs of U.S. origin will be sent to Korea where they will be made into hot-rolled plates. The Korean processing of the steel slabs into plates consists of scarfing, heating, descaling, rolling (reducing), levelling, and shearing or cutting. Upon return to the U.S., the hot-rolled plates will be subjected to the following processing operations depending on the end use of the product. For liquid storage tanks, the plates will be cut or slit or both, bent, welded, coated and assembled into tanks. For barges and ships, the plates will be cut or slit or both, and welded and coated. For heavy machinery parts, the plates will be slit or cut into blanks and assembled into parts. For parts of structures, the plates will be slit or cut or both, ground to the required thickness and welded to the structural parts. Some of the plates will be slit or cut into blanks or galvanized and welded or assembled into elevator counterweights, lighting pole base plates and truck parts. For other miscellaneous uses, the plates will be slit or cut or ground to required lengths, widths and thicknesses.

Subheading 9802.00.60, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), provides that any article of metal...manufactured in the United States or subjected to a process of manufacture in the United States, if exported for further processing, and if the exported article as processed outside the United States, or the article which results from the processing outside the United States, is returned to the United States for further processing may be entered with duty upon the value of such processing outside the United States upon compliance with Customs Regulations.

In order to meet the requirements of "further processing", some operation must be applied to the metal that will change its shape or form or impart new and different characteristics, which become an integral part of the metal itself.

In this respect, the foreign process of hot-rolling slab into plate and the U.S. processes of cutting, slitting, bending, grinding and galvanizing all appear to satisfy the requirements of both the foreign and domestic segments under subheading 9802.00.60. Accordingly, the hot-rolled steel plates may be entered under subheading 9802.00.60 with duty on the cost or value of the processing abroad upon compliance with the applicable regulations.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

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,

Jean F. Maguire
Area Director

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