The tariff classification of steel tubes from Mexico.

N064555 July 2, 2009 CLA-2-73:OT:RR:NC:1:117 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 7306.40.1015 Ms. Eleanore Kelly-Kobayashi Rode & Qualey 55 West 39th Street New York, NY 10018 RE: The tariff classification of steel tubes from Mexico. Dear Ms. Eleanore Kelly-Kobayashi: In your letter dated June 9, 2009, on behalf of BD infusion Therapy Systems you requested a tariff classification ruling. Representative samples were submitted with your request and will be returned to you. The products you plan to import are welded stainless steel tubes with outside diameters ranging from to .016” (0.406 mm) to .0654” (1.66 mm) and wall thicknesses ranging from to .004” (.102 mm) to .008” (.203 mm). After importation, these tubes will be further manufactured into needles and ultimately assembled into syringes. You state, “We submit that the imported metal tubes are classifiable in subheading 9018.31.00, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which covers, ‘Tubular metal needles and needles for sutures and parts and accessories thereof…Other’.”  Actually, other than the “Other” at the end, the language you cite is exactly that for 9018.32, not 9018.31, whose language is quite different (although both are covered by the same less indented description.)  Consistent with the argument you then make, we assume that you are actually proposing classification in HTSUS 9018.32.  However, in either case, your imports are quite similar to items which are not classified in 9018 per New York Ruling Letter 888798 dated 8-19-93, i.e., “(W)elded stainless steel tubes…imported in … pre-cut lengths ranging from 1 to 4 inches… The wall thicknesses will range from 0.0030 inch to 0.014 inch. After importation, these tubes will be further processed and ultimately made into disposable syringe needles.”  Also, the “blanks” for HS heading 9018.32 are indicated as those which, unlike these imports, have “been ground in two planes which intersect to form a sharp point” per Classification Opinion 901832/1 by the World Customs Organization, Harmonized System Committee, in its on-line Compendium of Decisions. The merchandise is merely a welded tube at the time of importation and therefore classifiable in heading 7306, HTSUS. The applicable subheading for the steel tubes will be 7306.40.1015, HTSUS, which provides for other tubes, pipes and hollow profiles (for example, open seamed or welded, riveted or similarly closed), of iron or steel, other, welded, of circular cross section, of stainless steel, having a wall thickness of less than 1.65 mm, containing more than 0.5 percent by weight of nickel, other. The duty rate will be free. 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 Mary Ellen Laker at (646) 733-3020. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director National Commodity Specialist Division