Applicability of the partial duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.50, HTSUS, to certain steel products exported to Canada for weld overlaying

HQ 556530 June 12, 1992 CLA-2-CO:R:C:S 556530 RAH CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 9802.00.50 Mr. John Sveum Branch Manager Milne & Craighead Customs Brokers Inc. 200 International Boulevard P.O. Box 2 Sweetgrass, MT 59484 RE: Applicability of the partial duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.50, HTSUS, to certain steel products exported to Canada for weld overlaying Dear Mr. Sveum: This is in repsonse to your letter of January 6, 1992, requesting a ruling on behalf of your client, Capitan Welding Technologies, Inc., on the dutiability of certain steel products exported to Canada for weld overlaying and then returned to the United States. FACTS: Your client intends to import into Canada carbon steel pipe which is manufactured in the United States. In Canada a 1/4 inch layer of Monel 400 (consisting of 70% Nickel, 30% Copper) will be welded (clad) to the inside of the pipe to provide corrosion protection. Your client states that from a "corrosion point of view" the pipe with the overlay is identical to solid Monel pipe, the latter being much more expensive. Your client sells the pipe to various oil companies which have to make their products "environmentally safe and friendly" for use in oil refineries. On June 9, 1992, a member of my staff called Capital Welding Technologies, Inc., for additional information. We were informed by Mr. Guenette that the pipe must either be solid monel pipe or have the monel overlay described herein to be used in the oil and gas industry for which it is marketed. - 2 - ISSUE: Whether U.S.-manufactured carbon steel pipe exported to Canada where Monel 400 is welded (clad) to the inside of the pipe to provide corrosion protection is entitled to a partial duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.50, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), upon importation into the United States. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Subheading 9802.00.50, HTSUS, provides a partial duty exemption for articles returned to the U.S. after having been exported to be advanced in value or improved in condition by means of repairs or alterations. Such articles are dutiable only upon the value of the foreign repairs or alterations, provided the documentary requirements of section 10.8, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.8), are satisfied. However, entitlement to this tariff treatment is precluded in circumstances where the operations performed abroad destroy the identity of the articles or create new or commercially different articles. See A.F. Burstrom v. United States, 44 CCPA 27, C.A.D. 631 (1956); Guardian Industries Corp. v. United States, 3 CIT 9 (1982). Tariff treatment under subheading 9802.00.50, HTSUS, is also precluded where the exported articles are incomplete for their intended use prior to the foreign processing. Guardian; Dolliff & Company, Inc. v. United States, 81 Cust. Ct. 1, C.D. 4755, 455 F. Supp. 618 (1978), aff'd, 66 CCPA 77, C.A.D. 1225, 82, 599 F.2d 1015, 119 (1979). Generally, we have held that coating is an alteration if the uncoated and coated article have the same uses, unless the coating imparts significantly new performance characteristics. See, Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 067373 dated April 9, 1982 (application in Canada of a protective plastic coating to domestically-produced steel which was used in identical applications to non-coated pipe constituted an alteration), and HRL 554192 dated September 5, 1986 (treating red cedar shakes and shingles with a flame retardant constitutes an alteration as they are completed articles ready for their intended use, are regularly so used in their untreated condition, and are preferred over the treated product). However, in HRL 555384 dated November 20, 1989, we held that galvanizing of steel in Canada in order to render it resistant to salt water corrosion exceeded an alteration and precluded any exemption from duty under the provisions of subheading 9802.00.50, HTSUS. In Ferrostall Metals Corporation v. United States, 11 CIT 470, 664 F. Supp. 535 (1987), the Court of International Trade held that hot-dip galvanizing of sheet steel resulted in a change in character by significantly altering - 3 - the mechanical and chemical composition of the steel and providing protection against corrosion. Moreover, we have held that a foreign galvanizing process exceeds an alteration and makes the steel articles into finished products with new and enhanced characteristics ready for their intended use as corrosion resistant materials. HRL 067675 dated February 12, 1982. In applying the above principles to the instant case, we conclude that the application of Monel 400 overlay to carbon steel pipe exceeds an alteration. The carbon steel pipe and the carbon steel pipe with Monel 400 overlay do not share the same uses. The carbon steel pipe exported to Canada is incomplete for its intended use in the oil and gas industry; the pipe is not suitable for its use in refineries without the overlay. Like galvanizing, the overlaying (cladding) process provides a protective coating for corrosion resistance to the metal and enhances the durability and longevity of the pipe. Accordingly, the steel pipe will not be entitled to the partial duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.50, HTSUS, upon importation into the United States. HOLDING: Carbon steel pipe exported to Canada where Monel 400 is welded to the inside of the pipe to provide corrosion protection will not be entitled to the partial duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.50, as that processing exceeds an alteration and creates corrosion-resistant pipe which is suitable for its intended use in the oil and gas industry. Sincerely, John Durant, Director Commercial Rulings Division