April 24, 2009 CBP Bulletin Notice on Applicability of 9802.00.50 to Certain Imported Putter Heads

Revocation of ruling, revocation of treatment.CBP is revoking one ruling on the applicability of 9802.00.50 to certain imported putter heads; in addition, this notice covers any rulings on this merchandise which may exist but have not been specifically identified. CBP is also revoking any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.

According to CBP, the revocations are effective for merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after June 23, 2009.

Golf putter heads. The merchandise is described as various models of Redwood golf putter heads that undergo manufacturing or other processing in Taiwan, the U.S., and, in certain instances, China. The putter heads are forged in Taiwan and then imported into the U.S. In the U.S., the putter heads are milled, rough edges are smoothed, a hosel hole is drilled, and the Ping logo is engraved into the piece. The company states that this results in a finished Ping putter head. After the U.S. processing, some of the finished putter heads are sold in the U.S. The remainder is exported to China for additional processing. In China, the putter heads are coated in black nickel, painted with decorative lines, and affixed with the Ping logo. They are then re-imported into the U.S. to be assembled with other component parts into finished golf clubs.

CBP is issuing HQ H026901 in order to revoke HQ H020437 and determine that the putter heads are eligible for a partial duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.50, HTSUS, provided that the documentation requirements of 19 CFR 10.8 are met.

Subheading 9802.00.50 provides a partial duty exemption for articles that are returned after having been exported to be advanced in value or improved in condition by means of repairs or alterations, provided that the documentary requirements of 19 CFR 10.8 are met. For qualifying articles, duty is assessed only on the cost or value of the foreign processing. However, in circumstances where the operations abroad destroy the identity of the exported article or create a new or commercially different article, entitlement to subheading 9802.00.50 is precluded.

In HQ H020437 CBP held that the imported putter heads processed in China were not eligible for 9802.00.50, stating that coating the putter heads in black nickel changed the quality and added a significant characteristic to the putter head, thus the putter heads were not finished for their intended use prior to being exported from the U.S.

CBP makes this change based on new information. Additional information was supplied to correct a factual error in the original submission which stated that the black nickel coating provided anti-corrosive properties. The new information indicates that the application of the black nickel coating is only an aesthetic alteration and does not change the quality of the putter head and make it more anti-corrosive.

CBP now determines that the coating of the putter heads in black nickel in China does not change the quality of the putter heads and does not add a significant characteristic to the putter heads as noted by the third-party empirical tests, and that therefore the putter heads are eligible for a partial duty exemption under subheading 9802.00.50 provided that the documentation requirements of 19 CFR 10.8 are met..

(See ITT's Online Archives or 02/25/09 news, 09022540 6, for BP summary of proposed HQ H026901.)

April 24, 2009 CBP Bulletin (Vol. 43, No. 17) available athttp://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/legal/bulletins_decisions/bulletins_2009/