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NY N022877




February 26, 2008

CLA-2-98:OT:RR:NC:1:117

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9802.00.6000

Donald S. Stein
Greenberg Taurig, LLP
2101 L Street, NW
Suite 1000
Washington, D.C. 20037

RE: The applicability of subheading 9802.00.6000 to certain copper wire rod from Brazil.

Dear Mr. Stein:

In your letter dated January 30, 2008, on behalf of Caraiba Metals, S.A., you requested a tariff classification ruling seeking confirmation that partial duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.6000 is applicable to your importations of certain copper wire rod from Brazil.

You state that your company purchases U.S. origin copper scrap which is exported from the U.S. to Brazil. In Brazil this scrap will be mixed with non-U.S. originating copper concentrate and scrap, and then manufactured into cathodes. From these cathodes coils of copper wire rod are produced and subsequently shipped back to the United States for to further processing. Upon return to the U.S., the copper wire rod is drawn to smaller diameters resulting in the production of bare copper wire of varying sizes which will be used in the creation of specialty cables. These cables will then be further processed by the application of a specific coating determined by its actual use.

Subheading 9802.00.6000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), provides a partial duty exemption for:

(a)ny article of metal (as defined in U.S. note 3(e) of this subchapter) manufactured in the United States or subjected to a process of manufacture in the United States, if exported for further processing, and if the exported article is processed outside the United States, or the article which results from the processing outside the United States, is returned to the United States for further processing.

      This tariff provision imposes a dual "further processing" requirement on eligible metal articles: one foreign, and when returned, one domestic. Articles of metal satisfying these statutory requirements may be classified under subheading 9802.00.60, HTS, with duty only upon the value of such processing performed outside the U.S., upon compliance with the documentation requirements of section 10.9, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.9).

      In C.S.D. 84-49, 18 Cust. Bull. 957 (1983), it was stated that:

(f)or purposes of item 806.30 (the precursor provision to subheading 9802.00.60, HTS), the term "further processing" has reference to processing that changes the shape of the metal or imparts new and different characteristics which become an integral part of the metal itself and which did not exist in the metal before processing.

The conversion of copper scrap to coils of copper wire rod not only changes the shape of the metal, but also imparts new and different characteristics to the copper, constituting “further processing” under this tariff provision. Therefore, the foreign further processing requirement is met by the operations performed in Brazil. In addition, the U.S. drawing of the copper wire rod into wire, and the subsequent fabrication of specialty cable, appear to satisfy the domestic portion of this special provision. Accordingly, the subject merchandise may be entered under subheading 9802.00.6000 with duty only upon the value of the foreign processing contingent upon compliance with applicable regulations.

19 CFR 10.9(j) provides, in pertinent part, that: the cost or fair market value, as the case may be, of the processing outside the United States which is set forth in the invoice and entry papers as the basis for the assessment of duty under subheading 9802.00.60, HTSUS, shall be limited to the cost or value of the processing actually performed abroad (including all domestic and foreign articles used in the processing, but does not include the exported United States metal article) and shall not include any of the expenses incurred in this country, whether by way of engineering costs, preparation of plans or specifications, and the furnishing of tools or equipment for doing the processing abroad, or otherwise.

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/.

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 Gloria Stingone at 646-733-3020.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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