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HQ 956835





September 19, 1995

CLA-2 R:C:F 956835 RC

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 2846.90.5000

Regional Commissioner of Customs c/o Protest and Control Section
Six World Trade Center, Room 761
New York, New York 10048

RE: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 1001-94-103880, filed June 2, 1994, concerning the classification of yttrium oxide, lanthanum oxide, and neodymium oxide.

Dear Sir:

This is a decision on a protest filed against your decision in the classification of goods entered in 1993 and liquidated March 18, 1994.

FACTS:

The compounds at issue, products of China, are yttrium oxide, lanthanum oxide, and neodymium oxide. According to the assay submitted, in each case, the main rare earth oxide was a minimum of 90 percent of the mixture. The rare earth oxides contain other rare earth oxide and non-rare earth oxide residues in small amounts as a result of the manufacturing process. These non-rare earth oxides include inter alia: copper oxide, iron oxide, silicon dioxide, and lead oxide residues.

You classified these compounds in subheadings 2846.90.5000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). This represented a change from the protestant's claim that the chemicals be classified under subheading 2846.90.2010, HTSUSA or subheading 2846.90.2050.

ISSUE:

Whether rare earth oxide compounds containing residual amounts of non-rare earth oxides constitute "mixtures" of rare earth oxides under the HTSUSA.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) taken in their appropriate order provide a framework for classification of merchandise under the HTSUS. Most imported goods are classified by application of GRI 1, that is, according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. The Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate classification under the HTSUS by offering guidance in understanding the scope of the headings and GRIs.

Subheading 2846.90.2010, HTSUSA, provides for "Compounds, inorganic or organic, of rare-earth metals, of yttrium or of scandium, or of mixtures of these metals: Other: Mixtures of rare-earth oxides or of rare-earth chlorides, Rare-earth oxides except cerium oxide," free of duty under the HTSUSA (1993). Mixtures of rare-earth oxides fall into this subheading. These compounds contain non-rare-earth oxides.

Subheading 2846.90.2050, HTSUSA, provides for "Compounds, inorganic or organic, of rare-earth metals, of yttrium or of scandium, or of mixtures of these metals: Other: Mixtures of rare-earth oxides or of rare-earth chlorides, Other," free of duty under the HTSUSA (1993). Subheading 2846.90.20, HTSUSA, contains the disjunctive "or" between "mixtures of rare-earth oxides" and "chlorides." This bifurcation of subheadings 2846.90.2010, HTSUSA, and 2846.90.2050, HTSUSA, indicates the first subheading is reserved for mixtures of rare-earth oxides and the second subheading is reserved for mixtures of rare-earth chlorides. The compounds at issue here do not contain rare-earth chlorides, nor are they considered to be mixtures of rare-earth oxides.

Subheading 2846.90.5000, HTSUSA, provides for "Compounds, inorganic or organic, of rare-earth metals, of yttrium or of scandium, or of mixtures of these metals: Other: Other," dutiable at 3.7 percent ad valorem (1993). We find the compounds fall into this subheading. These are considered to be single compounds and for tariff purposes do not constitute a mixture. The residues of rare-earth and non-rare-earth oxides are the impurities resulting from the manufacturing process.

HOLDING:

These compounds fall into subheading 2846.90.5000, HTSUSA, the provision for "Compounds, inorganic or organic, of rare-earth metals, of yttrium or of scandium, or of mixtures of these metals: Other: Other," dutiable at 3.7 percent ad valorem (1993).

You are instructed to deny the protest in full. A copy of this decision should be attached to the Customs Form 19, Notice of Action on the protest, to be returned to the protestant.

In accordance with Section 3 A (11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision should be mailed by your office to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry
in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, Freedom of Information Act and other public access channels.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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