CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 962368 AML
TARIFF NOS.: 7307.19.30; 7325.99.10; 8547.90.00
Port Director
U.S. Customs Service
150 North Royal Street
Mobile, Alabama 36602
RE: Protest 1901-98-100023; cast iron connectors and conduit fittings.
Dear Port Director:
The following is our decision regarding protest 1901-98-100023, concerning your classification of cast iron connectors and conduit fittings pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Photocopies were provided for our examination. Consideration was given to arguments and samples provided by counsel at a meeting held at Customs Headquarters on July 22, 1999, as well as supplemental arguments and additional samples which were received on August 20, 1999.
FACTS:
The articles are unfinished ductile cast iron connectors, connector bodies, one hole straps, spacer conduits and grounding bushings. The following thirteen articles, referred to by the protestant as ?connectors,? were reclassified by you (from subheading 7325.99.10, HTSUS, as other articles of cast iron or steel, to subheading 7307.19.30, HTSUS, as tube or pipe fittings (for example, couplings, elbows, sleeves), of iron or steel, other cast fittings, ductile)) and are subject to this protest:
1. T&B Part # 74R3201 - Body Connector
2. T&B Part # 73R8201 - 90 Degree Connector
3. T&B Part # 77R6001 - 90 Degree Connector
4. T&B Part # 74R5301 - 90 Degree Connector
5. T&B Part # 751R901 - 45 Degree Connector
6. T&B Part # 73R6203 - 90 Degree Connector Body
7. T&B Part # R739901 - Straight Connector
8. T&B Part # 79R6501 - Body
9. T&B Part # 792R801 - 45 Degree Connector
10. T&B Part # 79R6502 - 45 Degree Connector
11. T&B Part # 7144R01 - 90 Degree Connector
12. T&B Part # R773301 - 90 Degree Connector
13. T&B Part # 7171R01 - Body
The connectors are manufactured with various degrees of angle and are used to join metal conduit - tubing used to house and protect electrical wiring. The protestant claims that the articles, as entered, do not possess the essential character of cast ductile tube or pipe fittings as provided for in subheading 7307.19.30, HTSUS. Rather, the protestant suggests, the articles are classifiable in subheading 7325.99.10, HTSUS, which provides for other cast articles of iron or steel, other, of cast iron.
Upon importation, the fittings consist of cast metal couplings without threads, sealing rings, insulating nuts, lock nuts or cones - parts which will be added following entry at the domestic factory. The protestant alleges that because the articles will be improved by threading and the incorporation of the additional parts needed to form a completed article, the articles do not possess the essential character of fittings classifiable in subheading 7307, HTSUS.
The second category of parts under protest are referred to by the protestant as conduit straps, conduit spacers and grounding bushings. They are described as follows:
1. T&B Part # R789701 - One Hole Strap
2. T&B Part # R759901 - Spacer Conduit
3. T&B Part # R789801 - Strap
4. T&B Part # R789901 - One Hole Strap
5. T&B Part # 729R301 - Grounding Bushing
The conduit straps (one hole strap, strap) are designed and used to secure the conduit and connectors to a supporting surface. The conduit spacers are designed and used to separate the conduit from the supporting surface. Although used to connect conduit, the grounding bushing is designed and used to ?ground? the conduit, that is, to allow an electric charge to pass through the conduit to the ground surface rather than across the ground surface itself.
The articles were entered on May 2, 1997 and August 12, 1997, and the entries were liquidated on June 12, 1998, with classification in subheading 7307.19.30, HTSUS, as cast ductile tube or pipe fittings. This protest was filed on September 9, 1998.
ISSUE:
Whether the unfinished ductile cast iron connectors, connector bodies, one hole straps, spacer conduits and bushings are classifiable under subheading 7307.19.30, HTSUS, as cast ductile tube or pipe fittings; or subheading 7325.99.10, HTSUS, as other cast articles of iron or steel, other, of cast iron?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Initially we note that the protest was timely filed (i.e., within 90 days after but not before the notice of liquidation; see 19 U.S.C. 1514 (c)(3)(A)) and the matter is protestable (see 1514 U.S.C. 1514 (a)(2) and (5)).
Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 states in part that for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6.
The HTSUS subheadings under consideration are as follows:
7307 Tube or pipe fittings (for example, couplings,
elbows, sleeves), of iron or steel:
Cast fittings:
7307.19 Other:
7307.19.30 Ductile fittings
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
7325 Other cast articles of iron or steel:
Other:
7325.99 Other:
7325.99.10 Of cast iron.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
8547 Insulating fittings for electrical machines,
appliances or equipment, being fittings wholly of
insulating material apart from any minor components
of metal (for example, threaded sockets)
incorporated during molding solely for the purposes
of assembly, other than insulators of heading 8546;
electrical conduit tubing and joints therefor, of
base metal lined with insulating material:
8547.90.00 Other.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally binding on the contracting parties, and therefore not dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System and are thus useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89 80. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).
EN 73.07 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
73.07 TUBE OR PIPE FITTINGS (FOR EXAMPLE, COUPLINGS, ELBOWS, SLEEVES), OF IRON OR STEEL.
* * *
This heading covers fittings of iron or steel, mainly used for connecting the bores of two tubes together, or for connecting a tube to some other apparatus, or for closing the tube aperture. This heading does not however cover articles used for installing pipes and tubes but which do not form an integral part of the bore (e.g., hangers, stays and similar supports which merely fix or support the tubes and pipes on walls, clamping or tightening bands or collars (hose clips) used for clamping flexible tubing or hose to rigid piping, taps, connecting pieces, etc.) (heading 73.25 or 73.26)[emphasis in original].
The connection is obtained:
by screwing, when using cast iron or steel threaded fittings;
or by welding, when using butt welding or socket welding steel fittings. In the case of butt welding, the ends of the fittings and of the tubes are square cut or chamfered;
or by contact, when using removable steel fittings.
This heading therefore includes flat flanges and flanges with forged collars, elbows and bends and return bends, reducers, tees, crosses, caps and plugs, lap joint stub ends, fittings for tubular railings and structural elements, off sets, multi branch pieces, couplings or sleeves, clean out traps, nipples, unions, clamps and collars.
?It is well established that an imported article is to be classified according to its condition as imported . . . .? XTC Products, Inc. v. United States, 771 F.Supp. 401, 405 (1991). See also, United States v. Citroen, 223 U.S. 407 (1911).
In Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 959315, dated October 1, 1996, Customs made the following comments concerning ?cast? articles:
Generally, cast articles result from molten blast furnace iron being bottom poured into a mold. After sufficient time for solidification and cooling, the castings are removed from the mold by a shake out machine. The casting process is considered complete when surface imperfections are removed by blast cleaning, chipping, burning or combinations of these processes.
We find that the connectors constitute cast articles of iron or steel.
GRI 2(a) provides:
2.(a) Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled.
The ENs to GRI 2(a) provide, in pertinent part:
(II) The provisions of this Rule also apply to blanks unless these are specified in a particular heading. The term ?blank? means an article, not ready for direct use, having the approximate shape or outline of the finished article or part, and which can only be used, other than in exceptional cases, for completion into the finished article or part (e.g., bottle preforms of plastics being intermediate products having tubular shape, with one closed end and one open end threaded to secure a screw type closure, the portion below the threaded end being intended to be expanded to a desired size and shape).
Semi manufactures not yet having the essential shape of the finished articles (such as is generally the case with bars, discs, tubes, etc.) are not regarded as ?blanks?.
The castings, upon entry, constitute the essence of conduit fittings. It is the housing and protection of wires which is the intended purpose of conduit, and the intended use and function of the fittings is to connect and redirect lengths of conduit. The articles are readily recognizable as fittings and connectors for electrical conduit (i.e., they have the essential shape of the finished articles), and are sufficiently complete, in their most basic form, to have the essential character of conduit fittings. The articles, although ?not ready for direct use, [do] hav[e] the approximate shape or outline of the finished article or part, and . . . can only be used, other than in exceptional cases, for completion into the finished article or part.? The addition following importation of nuts and bushings does not affect this determination - the nuts and bushings facilitate connection of the fittings but do not function to house or protect the wires contained inside of the articles. The unfinished fittings are provided for in subheading 7307.19.30, HTSUS.
The protestant suggests that the ?substantial completion? test established by the Court in Daisy Heddon v. United States, 66 CCPA 97, C.A.D. 1228, 600 F.2d 799 (1979), substantiates its position that the article cannot be classified as an other ductile fitting of cast iron or steel, because of the additional manufacture and components which are added following importation. Daisy- Heddon involved application of the provision in the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) corresponding to GRI 2(a). The Court used a ?substantially complete? test in interpreting the provision. Cases such as Daisy Heddon are not instructive in the classification of articles under the HTSUS, because, as a result of GRI 2(a), a dissimilar interpretation is required by the text of the HTSUS. GRI 2(a) calls for an ?essential character? test and not a ?substantially complete? test. The criteria of Daisy Heddon is not used in classifying goods under the HTSUS. See Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 081623, dated May 18, 1989; HQ 951183, dated June 16, 1992; see also Sharp Microelectronics Technologies, Inc. v. United States, 20 CIT 793, 932 F. Supp. 1499 (1996), aff?d 122 F.3d 1466 (Fed Cir. 1997).
The exception to this determination are the parts contained in the ?second category? of items that are subject to this protest: part # R789701, a one hole strap; part # R759901, the spacer conduit; part # R789801, the strap; part # R789901, a one hole strap; and part # R729801, the grounding bushing. Except for the grounding bushing, addressed below, these articles do not house or protect electrical wires, they facilitate the installation and anchoring to a surface of the conduit. (See EN 7307 which provides in pertinent part: ?[t]his heading does not however cover articles used for installing pipes and tubes but which do not form an integral part of the bore (e.g., hangers, stays and similar supports which merely fix or support the tubes and pipes on walls, clamping or tightening bands or collars (hose clips) used for clamping flexible tubing or hose to rigid piping, taps, connecting pieces, etc.) (heading 73.25 or 73.26)?[emphasis in original]). As such, they are classifiable as other cast articles of iron or steel in subheading 7325.99.10, HTSUS.
The grounding bushing is precluded from classification in heading 7307, HTSUS, by the EN for that heading, which provides, in pertinent part: ?[t]his heading excludes . . . (f) insulated joints for electrical conduit tubing (heading 85.47).? The grounding bushing is classifiable as an electrical conduit joint for such tubing, of base metal lined with insulating material, in subheading 8547.90.00, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The unfinished ductile cast iron connectors, connector bodies,, spacer conduits and bushings are classified under subheading 7307.19.30, HTSUS, as other tube or pipe fittings (for example, couplings, elbows, sleeves), of iron or steel, ductile fittings.
The second category of articles: part # R789901, a one hole strap; part # R759901, the spacer conduit; part # R789801, the strap; part # R789901, a one hole strap are classifiable as other cast article of iron or steel in subheading 7325.99.10, HTSUS, as other cast articles of iron or steel, other, of cast iron; and part # R729801, the grounding bushing, is classified in subheading 8547.90.00, HTSUS, as an electrical conduit joint for such tubing, of base metal lined with insulating material.
The protest should be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you are to mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision, the Office of Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to Customs personnel, and to the public on the Customs Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.customs.ustreas.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division