The product covered by the order is frozen fish fillets, including regular, shank, and strip fillets and portions thereof, whether or not breaded or marinated, of the species Pangasius Bocourti, Pangasius Hypophthalmus (also known as Pangasius Pangasius) and Pangasius Micronemus.
Frozen fish fillets are lengthwise cuts of whole fish. The fillet products covered by the scope include boneless fillets with the belly flap intact (“regular” fillets), boneless fillets with the belly flap removed (“shank” fillets) and boneless shank fillets cut into strips (“fillet strips/finger”), which include fillets cut into strips, chunks, blocks, skewers, or any other shape.
Specifically excluded from the scope are frozen whole fish (whether or not dressed), frozen steaks, and frozen belly-flap nuggets. Frozen whole, dressed fish are deheaded, skinned, and eviscerated. Steaks are bone-in, cross-section cuts of dressed fish. Nuggets are the belly-flaps.
The subject merchandise will be hereinafter referred to as frozen “basa” and “tra” fillets, which are the Vietnamese common names for these species of fish. These products are classifiable under tariff article code 0304.62.0020 (Frozen Fish Fillets of the species Pangasius, including basa and tra), and may enter under tariff article codes 0305.59.0000, 1604.19.2200, 1604.19.3200, 1604.19.4100, 1604.19.5100, 1604.19.6100 and 1604.19.8200 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). (Footnote 1)
The order covers all frozen fish fillets meeting the above specifications, regardless of tariff classification. Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope of the order is dispositive.
Scope Rulings Completed Between April 1, 2006 and June 30, 2006
Requestor: Catfish Farmers of America and certain individual U.S. catfish processors; imports of frozen fish fillets produced by Lian Heng Trading Co. Ltd. and Lian Heng Investment Co. Ltd. (collectively, ``Lian Heng''), are circumventing the antidumping duty order on frozen fish fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as provided in section 781(b) of the Act, and frozen fish fillets produced by Lian Heng are within the scope of the antidumping duty order on frozen fish fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; June 30, 2006.
Footnote 1: Until June 30, 2004, these products were classifiable under HTSUS 0304.20.6030, 0304.20.6096, 0304.20.6043 and 0304.20.6057. From July 1, 2004, until December 31, 2006, these products were classifiable under HTSUS 0304.20.6033. From January 1, 2007, until December 31, 2011, these products were classifiable under HTSUS 0304.29.6033. On March 2, 2011, the Department added two HTSUS numbers at the request of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that the subject merchandise may enter under: 1604.19.2000 and 1604 19.3000, which were changed to 1604.19.2100 and 1604.19.3100 on January 1, 2012. On January 1, 2012, the Department added the following HTSUS numbers at the request of CBP: 0304.62.0020, 0305.59.0000, 1604.19.4100, 1604.19.5100, 1604.19.6100 and 1604.19.8100. On March 7, 2017, the Department changed HTS numbers 1604.19.2100, 1604.19.3100, and 1604.19.8100 to HTS 1604.19.2200, 1604.19.3200, and 1604.19.8200, respectively. |