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April 25, 2000

CLA©2©95:RR:NC:2:224 F86016

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9507.90.7000; 9802.00.80

Johnnie Morris
P.O. Box 1302
Oak Hill FL 32759

RE: The tariff classification of fishing lures assembled in various countries.

Dear Mr. Morris:

Á???????ÁThis is in response to your undated letter, on behalf of Mission Fishin' Lure Co., concerning the eligibility for a duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.80, Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), for U.S. raw materials assembled offshore to create fishing lures.

The finished articles under consideration are artificial baits or jigs to be used for fresh and salt©water sport fishing. Various jig lires are assembled in a Caribbean country from raw materials purchased in the U.S. including painted jig head components, real and artificial hair, thread, flashabou, feathers and wire. The jigs are assembled into finished form from the above raw materials, packaged ready for retail sale with packaging materials from the U.S. and shipped back to the U.S. It is unknown what percentage of the F.O.B. value of the finished imported jig lures relates to the U.S. procured materials.

The applicable subheading for artificial bait will be 9507.90.7000, HTSUSA, which provides for "Fishing rods, fish hooks and other line fishing tackle...: Other: Other, including parts and accessories: Artificial baits and flies." The rate of duty will be 9 percent Ã?Ãad valoremÄ?Ä.

For your information, subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUSA, provides a partial duty exemption for:

[A]rticles assembled abroad in whole or in part of fabricated components, the product of the United States, which (a) were exported in condition ready for assembly without further fabrication, (b) have not lost their physical identity in such articles by change in form, shape or otherwise, and (c) have not been advanced in value or improved in condition abroad except by being assembled and except by operations incidental to the assembly process such as cleaning, lubricating and painting.

All three requirements of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUSA, must be satisfied before a component may receive a duty allowance. An article entered under this tariff provision is subject to duty upon the full value of the imported assembled article, less the cost or value of the U.S. components assembled therein, upon compliance with the documentary requirements of section 10.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.24).

Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)), provides that the assembly operation performed abroad may consist of any method used to join or fit together solid components, such as welding, soldering, riveting, force fitting, gluing, laminating, sewing, or the use of fasteners.

Section 10.14(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.14(a)), states in part that:

[T]he components must be in condition ready for assembly without further fabrication at the time of their exportation from the United States to qualify for the exemption. Components will not lose their entitlement to the exemption by being subjected to operations incidental to the assembly either before, during, or after their assembly with other components.

Operations incidental to the assembly process are not considered further fabrication operations, as they are of a minor nature and cannot always be provided for in advance of the assembly operations. However, any significant process, operation or treatment whose primary purpose is the fabrication, completion, physical or chemical improvement of a component precludes the application of the exemption under HTSUSA subheading 9802.00.80 to that component. Ã?ÃSeeÄ?Ä, 19 CFR 10.16(c).

Your letter does not make clear which specific components and materials used in the manufacturing or assembly process are U.S. made or grown, or the physical condition of the U.S. components at the time they are exported for eventual "assembly" in a Caribbean country. Nor does it provide detailed documentary information relating to the nature of the processing and assembly operations performed in the Caribbean cuntry on the U.S. materials and components. This documentary information should be submitted to the appropriate Customs officers at your planned U.S. port of entry for their review.

Section 222 of the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 (Public Law 101©382) amended U.S. Note 2, subchapter ll, Chapter 98, HTSUSA, To provide for the duty©free treatment of articles (other than textile and aparel articles, and petroleum and petroleum products) which are assembled or processed in a Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) beneficiary country (BC) wholly of fabricated components or ingredients of U.S. origin.

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

??? A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Tom McKenna at (212) 637©7015.

Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division???

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