HQ 081472: Classification of Steel Wire Baskets for Trees

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                                        HQ 081472

                                    March 9, 1989

          CLA-2:CO:R:C:G     081472 JAS

          CATEGORY:    Classification

          TARIFF NO.:  HTSUS 7326.20.0050

          Mr. Edwin B. Katz
          Great Western Bag Company
          1416 N. Broadway
          St. Louis, Missouri 63102

          RE:  Classification of Steel Wire Baskets for Trees

          Dear Mr. Katz:

              In your letter of September 9, 1987, to the Area Director of
          Customs, New York Seaport, you inquire as to the tariff
          classification of steel wire baskets from Mexico.  You provided
          additional information by telephone.  Our ruling follows.

          FACTS:

              The articles in question are baskets ranging from 16 to 60
          inches in diameter formed and welded from 9 or 10 gauge
          galvanized steel wire.  You sell them primarily to nurserymen
          who, working with digging machines called tree spades, dig up
          young trees and shrubs and place them in these baskets.  Wire
          loops on the top of the baskets are bent inwards and secured with
          twine.  These baskets protect the roots of trees and shrubs by
          keeping the dirt ball intact during delivery to a display area or
          job site.  The wire basket is planted with the tree or shrub and
          is allowed to rust away in the ground.

          ISSUE:

              Are the steel wire baskets classifiable in a specific tariff
          provision or as articles of iron or steel?

          LAW AND ANALYSIS:

              We have examined existing tariff provisions for containers
          and find that they do not cover the wire baskets at issue.  These
          baskets are classifiable as articles of iron or steel wire under
          the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
















                                        - 2 -


          HOLDING:

              Articles of iron or steel wire are classifiable in subheading
          7326.20.00, HTSUS, dutiable at the rate of 5.7 percent ad
          valorem.  However, articles classifiable in this subheading, from
          Mexico, are eligible for entry free of duty under the Generalized
          System of Preferences (GSP), upon compliance with the law and
          applicable Customs Regulations.  Copies of these provisions are
          enclosed for your reference.



                                              Sincerely,




                                              John Durant, Director
                                              Commercial Rulings Division

          Enclosure