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HQ 965535





MAY 29, 2002

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 965535 JAS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 7115.90.05

Richard H. Abbey, Esq.
Miller & Chevalier
655 Fifteenth Street, N.W., Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20005

RE: NY D89806 Revoked; Minted Gold Bars

Dear Mr. Abbey:

In NY D89806, which the Director of Customs National Commodity Specialist Division, New York, issued to you on March 31, 1999, on behalf of A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc., merchandise described as minted gold bullion bars was held to be classifiable as other semimanufactured forms of gold, in subheading 7108.13.55, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

Pursuant to section 625(c), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1625(c)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2186 (1993), notice of the proposed revocation of NY D89806 was published on April 24, 2002, in the Customs Bulletin, Volume 36, Number 17. No comments were received in response to that notice.

FACTS:

The merchandise in NY D89806 is gold bars, generally rectangular in shape with rounded corners. They are marked on one side with the purity of the gold (99.99%), the weight of the bar ranging from 1 gram to 10 troy ounces, and a hallmark depicting the manufacturer (PAMP) and the country of manufacture (Suisse). The other side is marked with PAMP’s Fortuna trademark which is said to be recorded with the [U.S.] Patent and Trademark

Office. Gold bars of this type are not cast; rather, they are struck, that is, generally stamped from bars rolled to strip form.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

Gold (including gold plated with platinum) unwrought or in semimanufactured forms:

7108.13 Other semimanufactured forms:

Rectangular or near rectangular shapes, containing 99.5 percent or more by weight of gold and not otherwise marked or decorated than with weight, purity, or other identifying information

7115.90 Other:

7115.90.05 Articles of precious metal, in rectangular or near rectangular shapes, containing 99.5 percent or more by weight of a precious metal and not otherwise marked or decorated than with weight, purity or other identifying information

ISSUE:

Whether the minted gold bars are articles of heading 7108 or heading 7115.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Under General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 1, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), goods are to be classified according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6.

As to classification under heading 7108, HTSUS, as gold in semimanufactured forms, Additional U.S. Note 1(b), HTSUS, states the term “semimanufactured” refers to wrought metal products in the form of bars, rods, sections, plates, sheets, strips, wire, tubes, pipes and hollows bars, and to powder (other than primary metals in powder form). In the main, the articles in Note 1(b) are made from the various primary forms of metal regarded as “unwrought” and delineated in Additional U.S. Note 1(a), HTSUS.

However, as the term implies, these “semimanufactured” forms, while discrete articles of commerce in themselves, are intended for further manufacture into other articles. The gold bars at issue are generally stamped from bars rolled to strip form. They are not bars of the type identified in Note 1(b), but are further processed by die stamping on them the indicia of authenticity discussed previously. These bars are processed beyond semimanufactured forms into “articles” of gold. NY G88058, dated March 12, 2001, in part classified substantially similar rectangular-shaped gold bars in subheading 7114.19.00, HTSUS, as articles of goldsmiths’ and silversmiths’ wares. This ruling is incorrect concerning these bars and has been modified accordingly.

HOLDING:

Under the authority of GRI 1, the minted gold bullion bars, as described, are provided for in heading 7115. They are classifiable in subheading 7115.90.05, HTSUS.

EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:

NY D89806, dated March 31, 1999, is revoked. In accordance with 19 U.S.C. 1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Customs Bulletin.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division


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