The tariff classification of multilayer wood flooring from China

N221435 July 12, 2012 CLA-2-44:OT:RR:NC:2:230 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 4412.99.5100; 4418.72.9500 Ms. Heddy Tang Continental Agency Inc 1400 Montefino Avenue Suite 200 Diamond Bar, CA 91765 RE: The tariff classification of multilayer wood flooring from China Dear Ms. Tang: In your letter dated June 8, 2012, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, World Data & Media Inc DBA Country Wood Flooring. The ruling was requested on multilayer wood flooring panels. A representative 8” long sample was submitted for our examination. The multilayer wood flooring panel consists of two layers laminated together measuring approximately 2 ¼” to 9” wide x 9/16” to ¾” thick as imported. You do not state a specific length. The face layer is a 3mm to 4mm thick veneer of either white oak, red oak, birch, maple, ash or American walnut. The back layer is composed of horizontally oriented, finger-jointed, edge-glued wood strips. You state that the back layer will be the same species as the face layer. The edges of the multilayer wood flooring panel are tongued and grooved with an interlocking profile and has two shallow grooves running lengthwise on the back surface. The construction of the flooring panel with a 3mm face layer meets the definition of a veneered panel as set forth in the Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized System for heading 4412: “Veneered panels…are panels consisting of a thin veneer of wood affixed to a base, usually of inferior wood, by gluing under pressure.” The applicable subheading for the multilayered wood flooring panel with a face ply of 3mm will be 4412.99.5100, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated wood: Other: Other: With at least one outer ply of nonconiferous wood: Other: Other. The rate of duty will be free. Additional U.S. Note 4 (b) of Chapter 44, HTSUS, states that multilayer assembled flooring panels having a face ply of 4 mm or more in thickness are included (classifiable) in heading 4418. The applicable subheading for the multilayered wood flooring panel with a face ply of 4mm will be 4418.72.9500, HTSUS, which provides for Builders’ joinery and carpentry of wood: Assembled flooring panels: Other, multilayer: Other (than having a face ply more than 6 mm in thickness): Other (than of unidirectional bamboo). The rate of duty will be 8 percent ad valorem. Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/. The wood flooring in question, which is tongued and grooved with an interlocking profile, may be subject to an ITC exclusion order dealing with certain laminated floor panels (ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-545). The determination of whether your flooring panels are subject to the ITC Exclusion Order will be made independently of the tariff classification ruling. For further information on admissibility please contact your local Customs office prior to importation of the goods. If you require a written ruling on whether the exclusion order applies to your flooring panels, you should submit a ruling request with a sample of the flooring panels to the following office: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, IPR & Restricted Merchandise Branch, Regulations and Rulings, 799 9th Street N.W. – 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20229-1177. The merchandise in question may be subject to antidumping duties or countervailing duties.  Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the Import Administration in the Department of Commerce and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection.  You can contact them at http://www.trade.gov/ia/ (click on “Contact Us”).  For your information, you can view a list of current AD/CVD cases at the United States International Trade Commission website at http://www.usitc.gov (click on “Antidumping and countervailing duty investigations”), and you can search AD/CVD deposit and liquidation messages using the AD/CVD Search tool at http://addcvd.cbp.gov/. 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 Laurel Duvall at (646) 733-3035. Sincerely, Thomas J. Russo Director National Commodity Specialist Division