August 22, 2007 CBP Bulletin Notice on Micro Silica Sand
In the August 22, 2007 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 41, No. 35), CBP published a notice revoking a classification ruling and a treatment as follows:
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Revocation of ruling; revocation of treatment.CBP is revoking one ruling on the classification of micro silica sand. CBP is also revoking any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
According to CBP, the revocation is effective for merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after October 21, 2007.
Micro silica sand.The product at issue is micro silica sand, D-124 Litefil, which is a lightweight mineral filler used as a partial replacement of heavyweight fillers, i.e., replacement of heavyweight aggregates used in hydraulic cement based slurries for oil/gas well drilling. It is a by-product of fly ash, a waste material derived from the combustion of coal at power stations. The chemical composition of the micro silica sand is 55% silica, 43% alumina and less than 1% iron.
CBP is issuing HQ H003743 in order to revoke HQ 955742 and reclassify the merchandise under HTS 2621.90.0000 as "Other slag and ash, including seaweed ash (kelp); ash and residues from the incineration of municipal waste: Other," rather than under HTS 2620.90.90 as "Ash and residues (other than from the manufacture of iron or steel) containing metals or metal compounds."
CBP takes this position based on the Explanatory Notes to HTS 2620 and 2621. The ENs to HTS 2620 state that it covers slag, ash and residues containing metals, arsenic, etc. that are used in industry either for the extraction of arsenic or metals or as a basis for the manufacture of their chemical compounds. Although the micro silica sand contains metals, namely aluminum oxides, the sand is not of a kind used in industry for the extraction of arsenic, metals or as a basis for the manufacture of chemical compounds. Rather, it is used as a filler in cement or as an extender for plastic compounds. Accordingly, the micro silica sand cannot be classified in HTS 2620. The ENs to HTS 2621 explicitly state that the products of this heading are of mineral origin (e.g. coal), among other products. Accordingly, the micro silica sand is classified in HTS 2621.
new: 2621.90.0000, duty-free; previous: 2620.99.8500, duty-free (current HTS number corresponding to old 2620.90.90)
(See ITT's Online Archives or 06/22/07 news, (Ref: 07062245), for BP summary of proposed HQ H003743.)
August 22, 2007, CBP Bulletin (Vol. 41, No. 35) available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/legal/bulletins_decisions/bulletins_2007/