HQ 555579: Applicability of partial duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, to a prestressed concrete pile, complete with a steel driving tip, imported from Canada

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 555579

                                    June 4, 1990

          CLA-2  CO:R:C:V  555579 LS

          CATEGORY:  Classification

          TARIFF NO.:  9802.00.80

          Mr. Ed Sebastian
          Purchasing Supervisor
          Con-Force Structures Limited
          P.O. Box 9520
          Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 4G3

          RE:  Applicability of partial duty exemption under subheading
               9802.00.80, HTSUS, to a prestressed concrete pile, complete
               with a steel driving tip, imported from Canada

          Dear Mr. Sebastian:

                This is in response to your letters of January 17, 1990,
          and April 4, 1990, supplemented by your memorandum of May 8,
          1990, requesting a ruling on the applicability of subheading
          9802.00.80, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
          (HTSUS), to a prestressed concrete pile, complete with a steel
          driving tip, to be imported from Canada.  Photographs of the
          components and diagrams of the product were submitted.

          FACTS:

                According to the information provided in your letters and
          in a telephone conversation with a member of my staff, Traylor
          Brothers, Inc. of Olympia, Washington, supplies the following
          U.S. origin components to you, free of charge, for assembly in
          Canada:  (1) an embeddment consisting of an octagonal plate with
          eight reinforcing bars (rebars) and a ring, all of carbon steel;
          and (2) an attachment consisting of an H-Pile section with a
          cutting point; and (3) two deflector plates.  The following
          operations occur in Canada.  First, the embeddment is cast into a
          prestressed concrete pile by filling it with Canadian-origin
          concrete using a mold.  When the concrete hardens, the octagonal
          plate is left exposed.  Next, the attachment is welded to the
          embeddment at the point where the octagonal plate is exposed from
          the concrete.  Finally, the deflector plates will be welded to
          the H-Pile section.  The resulting prestressed concrete pile,
          complete with a steel driving tip, is then shipped to Traylor
          Brothers, Inc. in the U.S.













                                        - 2 -


          ISSUE:

                Whether the prestressed concrete pile, complete with a
          steel driving tip, will qualify for the partial duty exemption
          under subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, when imported into the U.S.

          LAW AND ANALYSIS:

                Subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, provides a partial duty
          exemption for:

                [a]rticles assembled abroad in whole or in part of
                fabricated components, the product of the United States,
                which (a) were exported in condition ready for assembly
                without further fabrication, (b) have not lost their
                physical identity in such articles by change in form, shape
                or otherwise, and (c) have not been advanced in value or
                improved in condition abroad except by being assembled and
                except by operations incidental to the assembly process
                such as cleaning, lubricating and painting.

          All three requirements of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, must be
          satisfied before a component may receive a duty allowance.  An
          article entered under subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, is subject to
          duty upon the full value of the imported assembled article less
          the cost or value of the U.S. components, upon compliance with
          the documentary requirements of section 10.24 of the Customs
          Regulations (19 CFR 10.24).

                Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)),
          provides, in part, that:

                The assembly operations performed abroad may consist of any
                method used to join or fit together solid components, such
                as welding, soldering, riveting, force fitting, gluing,
                laminating, sewing, or the use of fasteners, and may be
                preceded, accompanied, or followed by operations incidental
                to the assembly as illustrated in paragraph (b) of this
                section.

                We find that the filling of the embeddment with concrete
          constitutes an acceptable subassembly since it results in the
          permanent joinder of the concrete with the embeddment.  See
          Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 555580, dated April 2, 1990
          (joinder of concrete with a metal cylinder by pouring concrete
          into the metal cylinder in a mold, vibrating the mold to expel
          air, curing the concrete at room temperature, and removing the
          resulting guide shoe constitutes an acceptable assembly operation
          for purposes of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS).












                                        - 3 -


                The next assembly operation consists of welding the
          attachment to the embeddment at the point where the octagonal
          plate is exposed from the concrete.  Welding is specifically
          enumerated in 19 CFR 10.16(a) as one of the acceptable methods of
          assembly.  The final step of welding the deflector plates to the
          H-Pile section also constitutes an acceptable assembly operation.

          HOLDING:

                Assuming that there are no other processes involved before,
          during, or after the assemblies other than those described
          herein, we find that the prestressed concrete pile, complete with
          a steel driving tip, will be eligible for the partial duty
          exemption under subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, when imported into
          the U.S., upon compliance with the documentary requirements of 19
          CFR 10.24.  An allowance in duty is permitted for the value of
          the U.S. components, consisting of the embeddment, attachment,
          and two deflector plates.  No allowance is permitted for the cost
          or value of the concrete which is of Canadian origin.

                                        Sincerely,



                                        John Durant, Director
                                        Commercial Rulings Division