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NY H86869

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January 16, 2002

CLA-2-:RR:NC:SP:233 H86869

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

Mr. C.J. Erickson
Hodgson Russ
Carnegie Hall Tower
152 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019

RE: Eligibility of jewelry from the Dominican Republic for duty-free treatment under U.S. Note 2(b), Subchapter II, Chapter 98, HTS.

Dear Mr. Erickson:

In your letter dated December 18, 2001, on behalf of Michael Anthony Jewelers, Inc., you requested a ruling regarding the eligibility for duty-free treatment of jewelry to be produced in the Dominican Republic.

Michael Anthony Jewelers will send U.S. origin components to its Dominican Republic factory for assembly. The assembly steps include:
importation of components;
sanding, grinding, deburring, cutting-off excess gold;
cleaning;
assembly of components by chip or paste soldering;
tumbling and washout to remove solder flux;
quality control;
packing in poly bags.

The finished articles of jewelry including rope chain, earrings, bangles and pendants will be assembled in whole of fabricated components that are a product of the United States and processed in whole of ingredients (other than water) that are a product of the United States. All of the listed steps are incidental to the assembly process. In addition, neither the fabricated components, materials or ingredients, nor the article itself, will enter the commerce of any foreign country other than the Dominican Republic.

Section 222 of the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-382) amended U.S. Note 2, Subchapter II, Chapter 98, HTS, to provide for duty-free treatment of articles (other than textile and apparel 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 (except water) of U.S. origin.

Note 2(b) provides as follows:

No article (except a textile article, apparel article, or petroleum, or any product derived from petroleum, provided for in heading 2709 or 2710) may be treated as a foreign article, or as subject to duty, if--
the article is--
assembled or processed in whole of fabricated components that are a product of the United States, or
processed in whole of ingredients (other than water) that are a product of the United States, in a beneficiary country; and
neither the fabricated components, materials or ingredients, after exportation from the United States, nor the article itself, before importation into the United States, enters the commerce of any foreign country other than a beneficiary country.

To qualify for Note 2(b) duty-free treatment, an eligible article must be assembled or processed in a BC entirely of components or ingredients that are a “product of” the U.S. As used in this paragraph, the term “beneficiary country” means a country listed in General Note 7(a), HTS, which includes the Dominican Republic.

The finished articles of jewelry, assembled entirely from U.S. materials in the Dominican Republic and imported into the U.S. will be entitled to duty-free treatment under Note 2(b), assuming all documentation requirements are met. The subject jewelry, as products of the United States, do not require country of origin marking origin marking upon entry.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 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 Lawrence Mushinske at 646-733-3036.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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