CLA-2 CO:R:C:G: 083801 BPM
Mr. Robert J. Woody
Lane & Mittendorf
919 18th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
RE: Unassembled steel and wood storage units.
Dear Mr. Woody:
By letter dated February 14, 1989, you requested a ruling
on the appropriate tariff classification of unassembled steel and
wood storage units under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States Annotated (HTSUSA). Your request has been
forwarded to this office for a reply.
FACTS:
The goods to be classified herein are storage units of 22
gauge steel with wooden flooring. The units are entered
unassembled, are available in two sizes, and, once assembled, are
intended to be fastened together to form a single structure
containing separate storage units. The two locker sizes are 4' x
4' x 4' and 4' x 4' x 8'.
ISSUE:
Are unassembled storage units of steel and wood
classifiable under heading 9406, HTSUSA, as prefabricated
buildings, or under subheading 8609, HTSUSA, as containers
specially designed and equipped for carriage by one or more modes
of transport?
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LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The importer of the goods, U.S. Safe-Guard Corporation
(Safe-Guard), argues that the lockers should be classified under
8609.00.00, HTSUSA, which covers "containers specially designed
and equipped for carriage by one or more modes of transport."
Safe-Guard points out that "[t]he containers are fitted with
skids so that they can be readily picked up by a forklift, loaded
onto a flatbed trailer, then moved to another location where
needed." The Explanatory Notes to heading 8609 indicate that the
heading covers only packing receptacles specially designed and
equipped for carriage by one or more modes of transport--those
containers that are equipped with fittings to facilitate handling
and securing on the transporting vehicle, that are suitable for
door-to-door transport of goods without intermediate repacking
and that are intended to be used repeatedly for the transport of
goods. The lockers are not designed to be used repeatedly for
the transport of goods. They merely have a feature that
accomodates their own transportation and relocation if needed.
They are not the type of container described by 8609, HTSUSA.
Safe-Guard also argues that the lockers are not described
by subheading 9406.00.80 because they are not "structures."
Heading 9406 covers "prefabricated buildings." The term
"prefabricated buildings" is defined by Chapter Note 4 to mean
"buildings which are finished in the factory or put up as
elements, entered together, to be assembled on site, such as
housing or worksite accomodation, offices, schools, shops, sheds,
garages or similar buildings." The lockers are prefabricated
sheds used as storehouses, and are therefore "prefabricated
buildings" as that term is used in the HTSUSA. Additionally, the
larger lockers are displayed in the sales literature accompanying
the request as suitable for use as garages for motorcycles.
Garages also fall within the definition of "prefabricated
buildings" found in Note 4.
Heading 9406 contains two legal subheadings--one for
prefabricated buildings "of wood," and one for "other"
prefabricated buildings. The lockers are potentially
classifiable under either of the two subheadings within Heading
9406 since they are composed of metal and wood. Rule 2(b),
General Rules of Interpretation, made applicable to the
subheadings by Rule 6, states that the classification of goods
consisting of more than one material or substance shall be
determined according to the principles of Rule 3. Rule 3(a)
provides that when two or more headings each refer to part only
of the materials of the goods, the subheadings are to be regarded
as equally specific. Subheading 9406.00.40, by referring to
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wood, clearly refers to part only of the lockers. Subheading
9406.00.80, contains the word "other," which refers to the metal
and other non-wooden parts of the lockers, and therefore refers
to part only of the lockers as well.
Since the two subheadings of heading 9406 each refer to
part only of the materials composing the lockers, the principles
of Rule 3(b) apply. Rule 3(b) requires classification of the
lockers as if they consisted of the material giving them their
essential character. Because the metal components comprise a
majority of the bulk, weight and value of the lockers, and
because the essential elements of the buildings (walls, roof and
doors) are metal, metal is the material giving the lockers their
essential character. The lockers are therefore classified as if
they were composed of metal.
HOLDING:
The Safe-Guard prefabricated storage units are properly
classified as other prefabricated buildings of metal under
subheading 9406.00.8030, HTSUSA, dutiable at 5.7 percent ad
valorem.
Any Export Steel Certificate required by the United States
Department of Commerce (to be obtained from the Mexican
Department of Commerce pursuant to the Understanding Concerning
Trade in Certain Steel Products between the Government of the
United Mexican States and the Government of the United States of
America) must be presented at the time of entry. You may want to
obtain a decision on this requirement from the Office of
Agreements Compliance of the International Trade Commission,
Department of Commerce.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division