Importer Says Frozen Eel Entries Aren't Transformed in China, Remain US Products
Importer American Eel Depot filed a pair of complaints at the Court of International Trade on June 27 to contest CBP's classification of its frozen roasted eel under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 1604.17.10 and secondary subheading 9903.88.03, subjecting the goods to Section 301 duties. The company argued that its goods aren't products of China but, in fact, have a country of origin of the U.S. (American Eel Depot v. United States, CIT # 21-00278, -00279).
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The subject imports are frozen roasted eel produced from "Anguilla rostrata (common name: American Eel)" caught in the U.S. American Eel Depot said it has a DNA report confirming the subject eels are American eels, which are known to reproduce in the Sargasso Sea and then migrate to the East Coast of the U.S.
"Anguilla rostrata are only found and harvested in U.S. waters and are not known to migrate to any other geographical region," the complaints said. After the baby eels are harvested in the U.S., they are sent to China, where they grow to adult size, then are "de-headed, deboned, gutted, fins removed, trimmed, washed, roasted, steam cooked, roasted with and without sauce, and frozen."
The skin was kept on the imports, and the subject eels weren't filleted prior to importation, the company said. As a result, American Eel Depot argued that the processing in China didn't constitute a "substantial transformation," making the eels a product of the U.S. and sparing them from Section 301 duties.