Recent CBP NY Rulings
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
N334654: The country of origin of Acetazolamide Tablets in dosage form
| Country of Origin: India |
| Items: Acetazolamide, imported in 125 mg and 250 mg tablets, is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor. It is indicated for the adjunctive treatment of edema due to congestive heart failure, drug-induced edema, centrencephalic epilepsies, chronic simple glaucoma, secondary glaucoma, and preoperatively in acute angle-closure glaucoma where delay of surgery is desired in order to lower intraocular pressure. It is also indicated for the prevention or amelioration of symptoms associated with acute mountain sickness in climbers attempting rapid ascent and in those who are very susceptible to acute mountain sickness despite gradual ascent. |
| Reason: The country of origin is where the API is made. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 12, 2023 |
N334656: The country of origin of Metronidazole Topical Cream 0.75%
| Country of Origin: India |
| Item: Metronidazole topical cream is a member of the imidazole class of antibacterial agents. It is indicated for topical application in the treatment of inflammatory papules and pustules of rosacea. |
| Reason: The country of origin will be where the API is made. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 12, 2023 |
N334669: The country of origin of Frozen Grilled Dried Sockeye Salmon
| Country of Origin: Japan |
| Item: Sockeye salmon caught in Russian Federation waters and/or by Russian Federation vessels and transported frozen to Japan for processing. The processing of the sockeye salmon consists of thawing, sorting, washing, eliminating fins, tails, brown meat, center cutting, washing, brining, drying, grilling and cooling the product by fan. Further, all broken pieces are removed, the product is vacuum packed, sanitized with hot water then cooled down with cold water prior to being frozen and packed to be shipped to the U.S. |
| Reason: The salmon is substantially transformed due to the processing in Japan. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 12, 2023 |
N334752: The tariff classification of footwear from China
| HTS: 6405.90.9060, 12.5%, "Other footwear: Other: Other: Other." |
| Item: A closed toe, closed heel, above-the-ankle, woman’s “work boot” styled boot. The external surface area of the upper consists of a textile material underlay covered with a jelly sheet incorporating glass stones or ceramic pearls. The glass stones of varying size are positioned close together and completely obscure the underlying material. The rubber/plastics outer sole is thick and rugged. The shoe has a separately attached tongue with laces as means of closure. |
| Reason: N/A |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 12, 2023 |
N334756: The Country of Origin of a Golf Club Set assembled in Vietnam and the Applicability of Section 301 Trade Remedies
| Country of Origin: Vietnam |
| Section 301 Duty Applicability: Not applicable |
| Items: The Top Flite Adult XL Men’s golf set. The set will be packaged together and imported as a single unit for retail sale with a driver club, a #3 fairway wood club, a #5 hybrid club, five iron clubs, a putter club, a polyester golf bag, three polyester headcovers, one for each of a driver;, #3 fairway, and #5 hybrid, thermoplastic resin grips, and other packaging materials, including a cardboard box and cardboard outer carton. |
| Reason: In all production scenarios, the golf clubs head or shaft will be manufactured in Vietnam, where the assembly of the golf clubs occur, which substantially transforms the foreign components into a product of Vietnam. The golf set consists of two or more different articles that are classifiable in different headings. The set also consists of articles put up together to carry out a specific activity (playing a round of golf). The essential character of the set is imparted by the golf clubs of Vietnamese origin. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 12, 2023 |
N334939: The tariff classification of germanium blanks from China
| HTS: 8112.92.6000,2.6%, "beryllium, chromium, hafnium, cadmium, germanium, vanadium, gallium, indium and niobium (columbium), and articles of these metals, including waste and scrap: other: unwrought; waste and scrap; powders: other: germanium: unwrought." |
| Item: High purity germanium blanks. In China, high purity germanium raw material and a dopant of 99.99999% antimony is mixed and placed into a crystal furnace where a crystal growth process is conducted. The resulting article from the crystal growth is a germanium crystal bar. After the crystal growth, the germanium bar is annealed, which involves heating and slowly cooling, to relieve the internal stress. The bar is then sliced and roughly ground, similar to descaling. |
| Reason: The cutting operation to create the primary forms from the unwrought bars simply creates a more manageable version of the same unwrought bar. The primary forms have not been rolled, forged, drawn or extruded. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 12, 2023 |
N334994: The tariff classification of a woman’s garment from Vietnam
| HTS: 6211.43.1078, 16%, "Track suits, ski-suits and swimwear; other garments: Other garments, women’s or girls’: Of man-made fibers: Other: Jackets and jacket-type garments excluded from heading 6202." |
| Item: A woman’s upper body garment constructed from 90% polyester and 10% spandex woven fabric. The garment features a stand-up collar, long sleeves with ribbed knit cuffs, unsecured pockets below the waist, a full front opening secured by a slide fastener, and a ribbed knit bottom. |
| Reason: N/A |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 12, 2023 |
N335063: The country of origin of ferrosilicon powder
| Country of Origin: China |
| HTS: 7202.29.0050, 9903.80.01, free + 25%, "Ferroalloys: Ferrosilicon: Other, Other." |
| Item: Lump ferrosilicon is purchased from China, measuring 10-50 mm. The product is sent to Japan for further processing. In Japan, a milling and crushing operation breaks the ferrosilicon down into a powder. The ferrosilicon also undergoes a surface stabilization treatment before it is packaged for export to the United States. You propose that the country of origin for the ferrosilicon powder is Japan. |
| Reason: The milling, crushing, and surface treatment of the lump ferrosilicon into a powder doesn't constitute a substantial transformation. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 12, 2023 |
N334641: The tariff classification of a Mackerel Salad from Italy
| HTS: 2005.99.9700, 11.2%, "Other vegetables prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, not frozen … other vegetables and mixtures of vegetables … other … other." |
| Item: A Mackerel Salad with beans, sweet corn, peppers and carrots. The prepared, ready-to-eat meal is said to contain approximately 23% red beans, 20% sweet corn, 19% Mackarel, sunflower seed oil, 6% each of peppers and carrots, water, flavorings and salt. The product will be imported in an ambient condition, packed in 160-gram tin cans. |
| Reason: Food preparations fall in Chapter 16 only if they contain greater than 20 percent by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, insects, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 11, 2023 |
N334642: The tariff classification of a Salmon Salad from Italy
| HTS: 2005.99.9700, "Other vegetables prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, not frozen … other vegetables and mixtures of vegetables … other … other." |
| Item: A Salmon Salad with beans, sweet corn, peppers and carrots. The prepared, ready-to-eat meal is said to contain approximately 23% red beans, 20% sweet corn, 19% Salmon, sunflower seed oil, 6% each of peppers and carrots, water, flavorings and salt. The product will be imported in an ambient condition, packed in 160-gram tin cans. |
| Reason: Food preparations fall in Chapter 16 only if they contain greater than 20 percent by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, insects, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 12, 2023 |