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NY B80287




December 19, 1996

CLA-2-44:RR:NC:2:230 B80287

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 4417.00.8090; 4408.10.0070; 4421.90.9840

Mr. Douglas M. Muller
Buist, Moore, Smythe & McGee, P.A.
P.O. Box 999
Charleston, S.C. 29402

RE: The tariff classification of wooden blanks for paint paddles, rulers, and fan handles, from Chile and Mexico.

Dear Mr. Muller:

In your letter dated November 26, 1996, on behalf of your client, American Paint Paddle Company S.C., Inc., you requested a tariff classification ruling. Samples representing three kinds of items, in their contemplated imported condition, were submitted and will be retained for reference.

The first sample is a pine wood paint-paddle blank. It is a sawn, planed, sanded piece of wood, 3 cm wide, 30.5 cm long and approximately 4.5 mm thick. With the exception of two slight, curved notches or indentations on opposite edges near one end, the wood has a uniform rectangular cross section throughout its length, and has square-cut edges and ends. Following importation in this form, the blanks will simply be imprinted by your client prior to being sold to retailers for distribution to their customers, who will in turn use them to stir and mix paint.

The applicable subheading for the paint-paddle blanks will be 4417.00.8090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other (than certain enumerated) tools and tool bodies...of wood. The general rate of duty is currently 6.8%. Effective January 1, 1997, the general rate of duty will be 6.3%.

The second sample is identified as a pine wood blank for a yardstick or ruler. With respect to shape, width, thickness and finish, it is the same as the above-described paddle blank, except that it does not have any notches, i.e., is just a plain, thin rectangular board (not identifiable as a ruler or any other article). You state that ruler blanks of this kind will be imported in lengths of 15 to 92 mm, then imprinted by your client and subsequently sold to retailers for resale as measuring sticks.

The applicable subheading for the yardstick/ruler blanks will be 4408.10.0070, HTS, which provides for veneer sheets and sheets for plywood (whether or not spliced) and other wood sawn lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed, of a thickness not exceeding 6 mm: coniferous...not reinforced or backed: other than Douglas fir. The general rate of duty is currently free (and will remain unchanged in 1997).

The third sample is described as a planed and sanded pine wood blank for a hand-held fan handle. About 2 mm in thickness, it has been peeled from a larger piece of wood and sawn to a curved shape having a length of about 20 cm and a width varying (with the curvature) from 2 to 3 cm. After importation, your client will simply imprint the imported blanks and sell them for use in producing the aforementioned hand-held fans.

The applicable subheading for the fan-handle blanks will be 4421.90.9840, HTS, which provides for other (non-enumerated) articles of wood. The general rate of duty is currently 4.4%. Effective January 1, 1997, the general rate of duty will be 4%.

Articles classifiable under subheadings 4417.00.8090 and 4421.90.9840, HTS, which are products of Chile are entitled to duty free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) upon compliance with all applicable regulations.

We note that the submitted samples are not marked with their country of origin. When imported into the United States, the products will be required to be so marked, legibly and in a conspicuous place. If the imprinting to which you refer will include any geographic references (e.g., place names, addresses, or locations in the United States), the country of origin marking must appear in close proximity to such references, in lettering of comparable size.

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 Paul Garretto, at (212) 466-5779.

Sincerely,

Roger J. Silvestri

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