CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H012731 KSH
Mr. Anthony M. Cooper
FedEx Trade Networks
128 Dearborn Street
Buffalo, NY 14207
RE: Request for reconsideration of HQ 956530, dated August 29, 1994; hand pump soap and lotion dispensers. Dear Mr. Cooper:
This letter is in response to your request of June 7, 2007, for reconsideration of Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 956530, dated August 29, 1994, as it pertains to the classification of hand pump soap and lotion dispensers under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
FACTS: In HQ 956530, dated August 29, 1994, the hand pump soap and lotion dispensers were classified in heading 8424, HTSUSA, which provides in relevant part for “Mechanical appliances (whether or not hand-operated) for projecting, dispersing or spraying liquids or powders.”
The hand pump soap and lotion dispensers were described as follows in HQ 956530:
[T]he ‘Dispenser’ and ‘Dispenser Elite’ contain four separate compartments which hold the various liquids. The ‘Dispenser II’ is a smaller, two-chambered unit. The ‘Dispenser Junior’ consists of two versions, one for a children's bathroom and one for a baby's room. All of the models are composed of a durable ABS plastic shell. Furthermore, in all of the models, the liquids can be dispensed by pushing the appropriate pump. The dispensers are designed for both permanent and temporary, but secure, installation to bathroom walls.
You state that the hand pump “is a linear force, double acting, single cylinder piston driven pump utilizing a single check valve. The liquid enters the
pump chamber from above, through a check valve during the suction or back stroke. During the horizontal compression stroke, the liquid is forced forward against the fore wall of the pump chamber and upward against the check valve. Having met the resistance of both the fore wall and the check valve, the liquid is forced to reverse flow over and around the piston, through a perforated flow ring and discharged downward through an exit spout. During the suction or back stroke portion of the cycle, the remaining residual liquid in the chamber is also discharged. The measured amount of volume of liquid discharged or dispensed during one cycle of the pump is equal to the net interior volume of the pump or approximately 2 milliliters.”
ISSUE:
Whether the hand pump soap and lotion dispensers are classified in heading 8424, HTSUS, as other mechanical appliances for projecting, dispersing or spraying liquids or in heading 8413, HTSUS, pumps for liquids whether or not fitted with a measuring device.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI may then be applied.
The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate classification under the HTSUS by offering guidance in understanding the scope of the headings and GRI. See T.D. 89-80. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).
You have requested reconsideration because you state that the merchandise does not “project, spray or disperse” as specified in heading 8424, HTSUS, but rather dispenses measured amounts of these liquids by use of a pump mechanism. Accordingly, you argue that the hand pump soap lotion dispensers should be classified in heading 8413, HTSUS.
The headings in contention are headings 8413 and 8424, HTSUS. These headings describe the following:
8413 Pumps for liquids, whether or not fitted with a measuring device…
* * *
8424 Mechanical appliances (whether or not hand operated) for projecting, dispersing or spraying liquids or powders... The EN to heading 8413, HTSUS, details what heading 8413 is meant to
cover. The note states the following in relevant part: This heading covers most machines and appliances for raising or
otherwise continuously displacing volumes of liquid...whether they are operated by hand or by any kind of power unit, integral or otherwise.
* * *
The heading also excludes:
* * *
(d) Appliances for projecting, dispersing or spraying liquids (heading 84.24).
* * *
The EN to heading 8424, HTSUS, elaborates on the terms "[m]echanical
appliances (whether or not hand-operated) for projecting, dispersing or spraying liquids or powders..." The EN states the following: This heading covers machines and appliances for projecting, dispersing or
spraying steam, liquids or solid materials...in the form of a jet, a dispersion (whether or not in drips) or a spray.
The appliances covered by heading 8424 either "project", "disperse", or
"spray" liquids or solids. The common meaning of a term is generally afforded deference when determining its proper interpretation for tariff purposes. Toyota Motor Sales (USA), Inc. v. United States, 7 CIT 178, 182, 585 F. Supp. 649, 653
(1984), aff'd, 753 F.2d 1061 (Fed. Cir. 1985); see Nippon Kogaku (USA), Inc. v. United States, 69 CCPA 89, 673 F.2d 380 (1982). Dictionaries and other lexicographic authorities may be utilized to determine a term's common meaning. Mast Indus., Inc. v. United States, 9 CIT 549 (1985), aff'd, 786 F.2d 1144 (Fed. Cir. 1986). "Project", "disperse" and "spray" are defined as follows:
Project: 1. To thrust outward or forward. 2. To throw forward: HURL...
Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary, pp. 940 (1984). Disperse: 1. To break up and scatter in various directions. 2. To cause to vanish or disappear: DISPEL. 3. To disseminate (e.g., knowledge). to move or scatter in different directions. Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary, pp. 388 (1984). Spray: 1. Liquid, as water, moving in a mass of dispersed droplets. 2. a. A fine jet of liquid discharged from a pressurized container...--vt. 1. To disperse (a liquid) in a mass of or jet of droplets. 2. To move in the form of a spray. Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary, pp. 1125 (1984). The hand pump soap and lotion dispensers thrust a fixed amount of the
liquid contents outward, albeit in a downward direction, so to "project", and the hand pump soap and lotion dispenser discharge a mass or a jet of droplets from the container, so to "spray". Additionally, the hand pump soap and lotion dispensers scatter a liquid in different directions, so to "disperse". Although the different directions of the dispersion may be in one small area or radius, nevertheless, the liquid is dispensed to different directions within this radius. The hand pump soap and lotion dispensers project, disperse and spray within the common meanings of the terms. Since the terms "disperse", "project" and "spray" are listed in the alternative in heading 8424, only one must be met. In this instance, all of the terms are met. While the dispensers may limit the maximum amount of liquid that can be projected onto one’s hand by any one stroke of the pump piston, the volume of the liquid discharged is simply a function of the size of the pump enclosure and the stroke of the piston within the pump. Moreover, the hand pump soap and lotion dispensers are not of the same class or kind of pumps as the industrial and similar pumps which continuously displace volumes of liquids which are provided for in heading 8413. Further, the hand pump soap and lotion dispensers do not raise or otherwise continuously displace volumes of liquids. Heading 8424 describes the hand pump soap and lotion dispensers. Thus, the hand pump soap and lotion dispensers are classified in heading 8424.
Our decision is consistent with numerous rulings on substantially similar merchandise. See HQ 088500, dated April 4, 1991; HQ 950081, dated March 30, 1992; HQ 956079, dated August 29, 1994; HQ 956522, dated August 29, 1994 and; HQ 956529, dated August 29, 1994.
HOLDING:
Pursuant to GRI 1, the hand pump soap and lotion dispensers are classified in heading 8424, HTSUS. They are provided for in subheading 8424.89.0000, HTSUS, which provides for: “Mechanical appliances (whether or not hand operated) for projecting, dispersing or spraying liquids or powders;
fire extinguishers, whether or not charged; spray guns and similar appliances; steam or sand blasting machines and similar jet projecting machines; parts thereof: Other appliances: Other.” The column one, general rate of duty is 1.8% ad valorem.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
HQ 956530, dated August 29, 1994, is hereby affirmed.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division