The tariff classification of shiplap wood boards from Canada

N303607 April 19, 2019 CLA-2-44:OT:RR:NC:N1:130 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 4409.10.9040 Kathleen Roseann Mary Frost Metrie Canada, Ltd. 19950 101 Ave British Columbia Langley, V1M 3G6 CANADA RE: The tariff classification of shiplap wood boards from Canada Dear Ms. Frost: In your letter, dated March 22, 2019, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Product information and photos were submitted for our review. The product under consideration is boards consisting of an estimated blend of 60 percent pine, 30 percent spruce, and 10 percent balsam (fir), all coniferous woods sourced in British Columbia. The boards measure approximately 1/2” thick by 5 3/8” wide by 8 feet long. The boards will be imported in packages of five pieces. The boards are shaped along their edges and back with a continuous profile. They are lapped on their edges, i.e., shaped with a step-cut along one edge and with an inverted step cut on the other. The laps function as joinery between two boards. Each board also has two squared grooves on the panel back which run the length of the board. The ends of the boards are straight-cut. In your letter, you identify the boards as moldings and do not indicate their use (for example, as siding). However, they are not moldings for tariff purposes. The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized System (ENs) for heading 4409, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), require that moldings be “shaped to various contours, such as are used for the manufacture of picture frames, decoration of walls, furniture, doors, and other carpentry or joinery.” The instant boards are not functional for decorative use. Instead, they are wood continuously shaped along any of its edges or faces. The applicable subheading for the shiplap boards will be 4409.10.9040, HTSUS, which provides for Wood (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rebated, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) along any of its edges, ends or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or end-jointed: Coniferous: Other: Other: Other. The rate of duty will be free. The imported shiplap wood boards may be subject to antidumping duties and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) for softwood lumber from Canadas. Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the Enforcement and Compliance office in the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). You can contact them at http://trade.gov/enforcement/ (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” under “Popular Topics” at the top of the screen), and you can search AD/CVD deposit and liquidation messages using CBP’s AD/CVD Search tool at http://addcvd.cbp.gov/. 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 the World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current. 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 [email protected]. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division