Import Administration
Raw Flexible Magnets from Taiwan (A-583-842)

Scope Description:

The products covered by this order are certain flexible magnets regardless of shape (see footnote 1), color, or packaging (see footnote 2). Subject flexible magnets are bonded magnets composed (not necessarily exclusively) of (i) any one or combination of various flexible binders (such as polymers or co-polymers, or rubber) and (ii) a magnetic element, which may consist of a ferrite permanent magnet material (commonly, strontium or barium ferrite, or a combination of the two), a metal alloy (such as NdFeB or Alnico), any combination of the foregoing with each other or any other material, or any other material capable of being permanently magnetized.

Subject flexible magnets may be in either magnetized or unmagnetized (including demagnetized) condition, and may or may not be fully or partially laminated or fully or partially bonded with paper, plastic, or other material, of any composition and/or color. Subject flexible magnets may be uncoated or may be coated with an adhesive or any other coating or combination of coatings.

Specifically excluded from the scope of this order are printed flexible magnets, defined as flexible magnets (including individual magnets) that are laminated or bonded with paper, plastic, or other material if such paper, plastic, or other material bears printed text and/or images, including but not limited to business cards, calendars, poetry, sports event schedules, business promotions, decorative motifs, and the like. This exclusion does not apply to such printed flexible magnets if the printing concerned consists of only the following: a trade mark or trade name; country of origin; border, stripes, or lines; any printing that is removed in the course of cutting and/or printing magnets for retail sale or other disposition from the flexible magnet; manufacturing or use instructions (e.g., “print this side up,” “this side up,” “laminate here”); printing on adhesive backing (that is, material to be removed in order to expose adhesive for use such as application of laminate) or on any other covering that is removed from the flexible magnet prior or subsequent to final printing and before use; non-permanent printing (that is, printing in a medium that facilitates easy removal, permitting the flexible magnet to be re-printed); printing on the back (magnetic) side; or any combination of the above.

All products meeting the physical description of subject merchandise that are not specifically excluded are within the scope of this order. The products subject to the order are currently classifiable principally under subheadings 8505.19.10 and 8505.19.20 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). The HTSUS subheadings are provided only for convenience and customs purposes; the written description of the scope of the order is dispositive.

Scope Rulings Made Between July 1, 2012, and September 30, 2012
Requestor: Accoutrements LLC; its mustache magnet is not within the scope of the antidumping duty order; August 7, 2012.

Scope Rulings Completed Between April 1, 2011, and June 30, 2011
Requestor: Jingzhou Meihou Flexible Magnet Co. Ltd; its rolls of meter-wide magnet sheeting, craft magnets, and door gasket extrusions are within the scope of the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders; May 10, 2011.

Scope Rulings Completed Between January 1, 2011, and March 31, 2011
Requestor: InterDesign; its sixty raw flexible magnets are not within the scope of the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders; January 11, 2011.

Scope Rulings Completed Between July 1, 2009, and September 30, 2009:
Requestor: Direct Innovations; certain decorative retail magnets are within the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders; July 13, 2009.


Footnote 1: The term “shape” includes, but is not limited to profiles, which are flexible magnets with a non-rectangular cross-section.

Footnote 2: Packaging includes retail or specialty packaging such as digital printer cartridges.