Austenitic stainless steel plate; further processed
Active· CBP ruling HQ 084776· Issued 1989-09-21
Ruling text
HQ 084776
September 21, 1989
CLA-2 CO:R:CV:G: 084776 JLV
CATEGORY: Classification
TARIFF NO.: 7219.21.00; 7219.22.00
Mr. Serge Vinograd
Charleroi (USA)
88 Danbury Road
Wilton, Connecticut 06897
RE: Austenitic stainless steel plate; further processed
Dear Mr. Vinograd:
In a letter of May 15, 1989, you requested a ruling on
the classification, appraised value, and quota status for
stainless steel plate manufactured in Belgium from stainless
steel slabs that were produced in the United States.
FACTS:
The merchandise is described by you as steel "plates"
having a chemical composition or quality within the
requirements of ASTM 240 T-304L and ASTM 240 T-316L. In
percent by weight, type 304L has a chromium content of 18.00
to 20.00 and a nickel content of 8.00 to 12.00; type 316L, on
the other hand, has a chromium content of 16.00 to 18.00, a
nickel content of 10.00 to 14.00, and a molybdenum content of
2.00 to 3.00. Both steels also consist of the following
elements (percent by weight):
0.030 carbon
2.00 manganese
0.045 phosphorus
0.030 sulfur
0.75 silicon
0.10 maximum other
The sizes will vary in thickness from 3/16 inch (4.7625 mm) to
1.5 inches (38.1 mm), in width from 60 inches (1524 mm) to 100
inches (2540 mm), and in length from 180 inches (4572 mm) to
480 inches (12,192 mm).
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The plates will be manufactured in Belgium from hot
rolled slabs produced in the United States. The processing in
Belgium will involve the following: heating, hot rolling,
annealing, and pickling. After cutting to size, the cut
lengths will be exported to the United States.
After importation into the United States, the plates will
be marketed to various users of stainless steel plate, such as
fabricators of tanks for petrochemical applications.
ISSUE:
What is the tariff classification of the steel products,
and what is the basis for determining the dutiable value? Is
the steel subject to any quantitative limitations?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Note 1(e), chapter 72, defines stainless steel as "alloy
steels containing, by weight 1.2 percent or less of carbon and
10.5 percent or more of chromium, with or without other
elements." Note 1(k), chapter 72, defines flat-rolled
products, in pertinent part, as "[r]olled products of solid
rectangular (other than square) cross section * * * in the
form of * * * straight lengths, which * * * if of a thickness
of 4.75 mm or more are of a width which exceeds 150 mm and
measures at least twice the thickness." The plates in issue
fall within these definitions.
Articles of heading 7219 are described as flat-rolled
products of stainless steel, of a width of 600 mm or more.
Annealing and pickling of the stainless steel plates does not
make them "further worked" as the term is used in the
subheadings to heading 7219. See additional U.S. note 2,
chapter 72, which defines the term (unless the context
provides otherwise) for purposes of chapter 72 as relating to
certain surface treatments.
The steel products are hot-rolled stainless steel plates
in straight lengths which have not been further worked.
Depending on the thickness, these products are classified in
subheading 7219.21.00 or 7219.22.00, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).
Certain alloy steel products, including flat-rolled
stainless steel of the type in issue, are subject to
additional duties and quantitative limitations. Note 4,
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subchapter III, chapter 99, HTSUSA, defines the steel that is
subject to these duties or limitations. Note 4(a)(ix) states
that "[t]he term 'stainless steel of the type described in
U.S. note 4(e)(ix) to this subchapter' refers to stainless
steel which contains by weight less than 1 percent carbon and
over 11.5 percent chromium." Subheading 9903.72.01 describes
the type of stainless steel plates in issue, but specifically
excludes products of the European Communities from the
additional duties under that subheading. Note 4(g)(i),
subchapter III, chapter 99.
Subject to certain exceptions, stainless steel articles
classified in subheadings 7219.21.00 and 7219.22.00, if
products of Belgium, are subject to a Voluntary Restraint
Agreement (VRA) on steel. Therefore, the plates may be
subject to VRA export certification requirements.
Effective January 1, 1989, the HTSUSA superseded and
replaced the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS).
Item 806.30, TSUS, was carried over into the HTSUSA without
change as subheading 9802.00.60. The applicability of this
subheading may affect both the VRA status and the dutiable
value of the stainless steel plates.
For purpose of the VRA, because the U.S. slab is within a
category of VRA steel (i.e., semifinished products in
subheading 7218.90.00), plates processed in Belgium from the
slab and returned to the United States under subheading
9802.00.60, HTSUSA, would not be subject to the VRA
requirements.
The provision also allows a partial duty exemption. In
order to benefit from the partial duty exemption and to be
allowed entry without regard for the VRA requirments, the
plates must satisfy these statutory criteria:
Any article of metal (as defined in U.S. note 3(d)
of this subchapter) manufactured in the United
States or subjected to a process of manufacture in
the United States, if exported for further pro-
cessing, and if the exported article as processed
outside the United States, or the article which
results from the processing outside the United
Staes, is returned to the United States for further
processing.
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Subheading 9802.00.60 imposes a dual "further processing"
requirement on metal articles--one foreign, and when returned,
one domestic. Metal articles satisfying these statutory
requirements may be entered under subheading 9802.00.60 with
duty only on the value of such processing performed outside
the United States, upon compliance with section 10.9, Customs
Regulations (19 CFR 10.9).
We have previously held that for purposes of item 806.30,
TSUS, 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. Thus, further processing includes machining,
grinding, drilling, threading, punching, forming, plating, and
the like, but does not include painting or the mere assembly
of finished parts by bolting, welding, etc. C.S.D. 84-49, 18
Cust.Bull. 957 (1983).
In the present case, although the foreign processing of
steel slabs into steel plates clearly changes the shape of the
metal and constitutes "further processing" within the ambit of
the statute, there are no facts in the file which describe the
type of processing, to be performed on the returned plates,
which would satisfy the second "further processing"
requirement of subheading 9802.00.60, HTSUSA. In the absence
of this information, we cannot determine the applicability of
subheading 9802.00.60; therefore, the plates will be dutiable
on their full value when imported into the United States.
We note, for your information, that the meaning of the
term "further processing" was discussed in a ruling of
September 6, 1989 (file 554965), copy enclosed. To the extent
that you believe the criteria in that ruling apply to your
products, then you may seek a ruling on the question as to
whether the stainless steel plates are further processed in
the United States.
HOLDING:
The stainless steel plates are classified as flat-rolled
products of stainless steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, not
further worked than hot-rolled, not in coils, in subheading
7219.21.0000 or 7219.22.0000, HTSUSA, depending on the
thickness of the plates when imported.
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We do not have sufficient information to rule that the
plates are subject to "further processing" in the United
States within the meaning of subheading 9802.00.60, HTSUSA.
Therefore, the stainless steel plates are subject to the VRA
export certification requirements and are subject to duty on
their full value.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division
Enclosure
6cc: AD NY Seaport
2cc: Chief, CIE
1cc: Director, Trade Ops
1cc: AC, CO
1cc: Director, CommRulDiv
1cc: Director, Agreements Compliance (ITA, DOC)
1cc: Reading File
1cc: Chief, Value Branch
LIBRARY: valentin
FILE NAME: 084776
Source: rulings.cbp.gov — ruling 084776, retrieved 2026-10-12T05:18:47Z, republished verbatim. This digest is informational; only CBP issues binding rulings.