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NY M87032




October 25, 2006

CLA-2-39:RR:NC:SP:221 M87032

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 3924.90.5500

Mr. Naseem Jarjoura
Batten Industries Inc.
1520 Columbia Street
North Vancouver, BC, V7J 1A4 Canada

RE: The tariff classification of laundry soda from the United States and dryerballs from China.

Dear Mr. Jarjoura:

In your undated letter, received in this office on September 26, 2006, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The sample provided with your letter is a packaging box consisting of a box of laundry soda and a box containing two dryerballs made of molded plastics. The dryerballs are egg-shaped articles with numerous stubs protruding from the surface, designed for use in an automatic clothes dryer. The movement of the balls helps to separate the clothes early in the drying cycle to reduce drying time while the nodules relax the fibers of the fabric to make clothes softer. The laundry soda is said to contain sodium silicate and coconut oil based detergents. According to the marking on the outer box, the dryerballs are made in China and the laundry soda is made in the United States. You have not indicated the condition in which the laundry soda was exported from the United States, nor have you indicated what, if any, processing was performed on it.

The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Tariff System provide guidance in the interpretation of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System at the international level. Explanatory Note X to GRI 3(b) provides that the term "goods put up in sets for retail sale" means goods that: (a) consist of at least two different articles which are, prima facie, classifiable in different headings; (b) consist of articles put up together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity; and (c) are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users without repacking.

The laundry soda and dryerballs are not considered to be a set for tariff classification purposes since the components are not put up together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity. Therefore, the two products must be classified separately.

The applicable subheading for the dryerballs will be 3924.90.5500, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for tableware, kitchenware, other household articles and toilet articles, of plastics: other. The rate of duty will be 3.4 percent ad valorem.

You did not provide enough information for us to determine the tariff classification of the laundry soda. If you wish a classification ruling on this product, provide a list of all the components of the laundry soda, and a chemical analysis and the CAS number for each component. Indicate whether or not the laundry soda contains any aromatic or semi-aromatic surface-active agents. Describe the form in which the laundry soda is exported from the United States and detail all of the processing performed in Canada or any other country. We note that the laundry soda may be eligible for duty free treatment in subheading 9801.00.1097, HTSUS, which provides for products of the United States if returned after having been exported without having been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process of manufacture or other means while abroad.

Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.

Pursuant to title 19 United States Code, Section 3005, The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is expected to be amended effective 1/1/07. The amendments are expected to affect the classification of your merchandise. Pursuant to Section 3005 c, the report recommending those changes has been sent to the President for proclamation of the changes. Upon the expiration of sixty legislative days, in the absence of Congressional action, the recommended changes will become law. Accordingly, based on that recommendation, it is anticipated that your merchandise will be classified in subheading 3924.90.5600 under the 2007 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Under the circumstances, this classification under the 2007 tariff is advisory only.

We note that the box containing the dryerballs is not legally marked. Although the box is marked “Made in China” on one side, one of the box side panels is printed with the name and Canadian address of the distributor, and the box bottom panel is printed with an address in the United Kingdom.

The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. §1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.

Section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. §134.46), requires that in any case in which the words "United States," or "American," the letters "U.S.A.," any variation of such words or letters, or the name of any city or locality in the United States, or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced, appears on an imported article or its container, there shall appear, legibly and permanently, in close proximity to such words, letters, or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin preceded by "Made in," "Product of," or other words of similar meaning.

The country of origin marking on the package containing the dryerballs will satisfy the marking requirements if the wording “Made in China” appears on the panel with the Canadian address and the panel with the United Kingdom address, in close proximity to those addresses and in equal size lettering.

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 Joan Mazzola at 646-733-3023.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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