Classification of telephone poles impregnated with creosote and other preservatives; Heading 4403, HTSUSA
Active· CBP ruling HQ 088379· Issued 1991-04-08
Ruling text
HQ 088379
April 8, 1991
CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 088379jlj
CATEGORY: Classification
TARIFF NO.: 4403.10.0020
Mr. Gilbert A. Partida
Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye
401 B Street, Suite 1700
San Diego, California 92101-4219
RE: Classification of telephone poles impregnated with creosote
and other preservatives; Heading 4403, HTSUSA
Dear Mr. Partida:
This is in reference to your letter of December 6, 1990, in
which you requested a tariff classification under the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) for
telephone poles impregnated with creosote and other
preservatives, which will be imported from Mexico by your client,
San Diego Wood Preserving, Inc.
FACTS:
The raw wood poles are made from Douglas fir and are in
lengths of 25 to 70 feet. They are exported from the United
States to Mexico. In Mexico they are treated with creosote or
pentachloriphenol mixed with blending oil. After treatment with
the preservatives, the poles are returned to the United States
through the port of Calexico, California.
ISSUE:
What is the correct HTSUSA classification of these poles?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
You suggest classification uncer the provision for wood in
the rough, whether or not stripped of bark or sapwood, or roughly
squared: treated with paint, stain, creosote or other
preservatives: poles, piles and posts: telephone, telegraph and
electrical power poles, in subheading 4403.10.0020, HTSUSA.
The Explanatory Notes, the official interpretation at the
international level of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, state in
relevant part concerning Heading 4403:
The principal products classified
here...include:...poles for
telephone...lines....
In view of the Explanatory Notes, we agree that subheading
4403.10.0020, HTSUSA, is the correct classification.
HOLDING:
The instant telephone poles impregnated with preservatives
are classified in subheading 4403.10.0020, HTSUSA. This is a
duty-free provision.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division
Source: rulings.cbp.gov — ruling 088379, retrieved 2026-10-12T05:20:35Z, republished verbatim. This digest is informational; only CBP issues binding rulings.