CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H058784 CkG
TARIFF NO: 8479.89.98
Port Director
Port of Houston
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
2350 N. Sam Houston Pkwy E. #1000
Houston, TX 77032-3100
RE: Internal Advice # 09/014; classification of a certain tree running tool
Dear Port Director:
This letter is in reply to your memorandum dated April 14, 2009, forwarding
Request for Internal Advice # 09/014, initiated on behalf of Cameron International
Corporation. At issue is the classification of a tree running tool. Previous entries have
been liquidated in heading 8481, HTSUS, which provides for “Taps, cocks, valves and
similar appliances…parts thereof.” The importer claims classification in heading 8479,
HTSUS, which provides for “Machines and mechanical appliances having individual
functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof.” In reaching
our decision we have taken into consideration additional information submitted by the
importer to this office during October and November, 2009.
FACTS:
The Tree Running Tool (TRT) is a hydraulically operated device used in
undersea oil and gas operations. It is used to raise a “Christmas Tree” (a device composed of pipes and valves that caps a natural gas or oil well and controls its flow) to the surface. The tree runner is connected to a reel and umbilical located on the surface platform as well as to a control panel which is used to remotely operate the TRT. The TRT moves along the length of a drill pipe or wire from the ocean surface to the Tree and connects to the tree with hydraulically actuated latch dogs. Once connected, the TRT and the tree are lifted to the surface via the drill string (a column or string of drill pipe that transmits drilling fluid and rotational power to the drill bit), a winch and cable, or a crane installed on the surface platform.
ISSUE:
Whether the tree running tool is classifiable as a lifting or handling machine of
heading 8428, HTSUS, as a machine having an individual function of heading 8479,
HTSUS, or as a tap, cock, valve or similar appliance of heading 8481, HTSUS, or as a
part of any of the foregoing machines.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS) in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes and, provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to the remaining GRIs 2 through 6.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
8428 Other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery (for example, elevators, escalators, conveyors, teleferics):
8428.90.01 Other machinery….
* * * * *
8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof:
Other machines and mechanical appliances:
8479.89 Other:
8479.89.98 Other….
* * * * *
8481 Taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, for pipes, boiler shells, tanks,
vats or the like, including pressure-reducing valves and thermostatically
controlled valves; parts thereof:
8481.80 Other appliances:
8481.80.90 Other….
* * * * *
Note 5 to Section XVI, HTSUS, in which Chapter 84 is located, provides as follows:
For the purpose of these notes, the expression “machine” means any machine, machinery, plant, equipment, apparatus or appliance cited in the headings of chapter 84 or 85.
The Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
EN 84.28 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
With the exception of the lifting and handling machinery of headings 84.25 to 84.27, this heading covers a wide range of machinery for the mechanical handling of materials, goods, etc. (lifting, conveying, loading, unloading, etc.). They remain here even if specialised for a particular industry, for agriculture, metallurgy, etc.
…
Lifting or handling devices are often used with furnaces, converters, rolling mills, etc., e.g., machines for inserting, handling or withdrawing the pieces being worked; for manipulating doors, covers, hearths, etc; tipping or tilting machines.
EN 84.79 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
This heading is restricted to machinery having individual functions, which:
(a) Is not excluded from this Chapter by the operation of any Section or
Chapter Note.
and (b) Is not covered more specifically by a heading in any other Chapter of
the Nomenclature.
and (c) Cannot be classified in any other particular heading of this Chapter
since:
No other heading covers it by reference to its method of
functioning, description or type.
and (ii) No other heading covers it by reference to its use or to the
industry in which it is employed.
or (iii) It could fall equally well into two (or more) other such
headings (general purpose machines).
The machinery of this heading is distinguished from the parts of machinery, etc.,
that fall to be classified in accordance with the general provisions concerning
parts, by the fact that it has individual functions.
For this purpose the following are to be regarded as having individual functions:
…
(B) Mechanical devices which cannot perform their function unless they are mounted on another machine or appliance, or are incorporated in a more complex entity, provided that this function:
(i) is distinct from that which is performed by the machine or appliance whereon they are to be mounted, or by the entity wherein they are to be incorporated, and
(ii) does not play an integral and inseparable part in the operation of such machine, appliance or entity.
EN 84.81 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
This heading covers taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, used on or in pipes, tanks, vats or the like to regulate the flow (for supply, discharge, etc.), of fluids (liquid, viscous or gaseous), or, in certain cases, of solids (e.g., sand). The heading includes such devices designed to regulate the pressure or the flow velocity of a liquid or a gas.
* * * * * *
Based on the description of the TRT, we agree with the importer that the tree running tool does not perform the function of a machine of heading 8481, HTSUS, unlike the Christmas Tree itself, which may be used to control the flow of fluids, solids, or gas. See EN 84.81. See also New York Ruling Letter (NY) N026777, dated May 20, 2008 (regarding the classification of a Christmas Tree in heading 8481, HTSUS).
We have also considered whether the TRT could be classified as a part of a machine of heading 8481, HTSUS. The term “part” was defined by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Bauerhin Techs. Ltd. Pshp. v. United States, 110 F.3d 774, 779 (Fed. Cir. 1997), as “an imported item dedicated solely for use with another article.” The TRT can be used with the Christmas Tree as well as with a winch and cable, drill string or crane. It therefore does not meet the judicial definition of a part because it is not “dedicated solely for use” with another article, in this case the Christmas Tree, of heading 8481, HTSUS.
Because the TRT is used to raise Christmas Trees, we must also consider
whether it meets the terms of heading 8428, HTSUS, which provides for lifting and handling machinery. Neither “lifting machinery” nor “handling machinery” is defined in the text of the HTSUS or in the ENs. Note 5 to Section XVI, HTSUS, in which Chapter 84 is located, defines “machinery” in relevant part, as any machine, machinery, plant, equipment, apparatus or appliance cited in the headings of chapter 84, HTSUS. However, this definition is not substantially helpful. In such cases, "the term's correct
meaning is its common meaning." Mita Copystar Am. v. United States, 21 F.3d 1079, 1082 (Fed. Cir. 1994). The common meaning of a term used in commerce is presumed to be the same as its commercial meaning. Simod Am. Corp. v. United States, 872 F.2d 1572, 1576 (Fed. Cir. 1989). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a “machine” as follows:
e (1) : an assemblage of parts that transmit forces, motion and energy one to another in a predetermined manner (2) : an instrument (as a lever) designed to transmit or modify the application of power, force or motion f: a mechanically, electrically, or electronically operated device for performing a task.
See http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/machine. The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines “handle” as follows: “to pick something up and touch, hold or move it with your hands.” See http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key= 35542&dict=CALD&topic=touching-and-feeling. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary similarly defines “handle” as “to feel or manipulate with the hands.” See http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/handle?view=uk. Finally, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary further defines the verb “lift” as “1 a : to raise from a lower to a higher position.” See http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lift. The ENs to heading 8428, HTSUS, further explain that machines of this heading are for the mechanical handling, such as lifting, loading, unloading, of goods and materials.
“Handling machinery” of heading 8428, HTSUS, thus engages in the handling of objects via mechanical means, for example by mechanical arms. “Lifting machinery” of the heading also operates by mechanical means to raise objects to a higher position. The lifting and handling machines of heading 8428, HTSUS, either perform the actual function of lifting, moving or manipulating an object, or they constitute an integral part of a lifting or handling system. See EN 84.28. CBP has previously classified: hydraulic arms (HQ 953543, dated April 15, 1993); hydraulic lifting rollers and roller die lifters (HQ 958621, dated December 28, 1995); a handling machine (NY F80576, dated January 4, 2000); and, industrial robots (NY E87651, dated October 1, 1999), in this heading.
In the instant case, the TRT does not itself lift the Tree. Rather, the TRT merely latches onto the Tree while both are lifted to the surface by one of several mechanisms, including a winch and cable system, a drill string, or a crane. Nor can merely gripping the Tree be considered “handling” for the purpose of heading 8428, HTSUS, because the TRT does not, in and of itself, manipulate or move the Christmas Tree. It is therefore not a lifting or handling machine of heading 8428, HTSUS. Furthermore, because the TRT can be used with a machine of heading 8481, HTSUS—i.e., the
Christmas Tree—as well as with machines of heading 8428, HTSUS, it is not solely used with a lifting or handling machine, and thus is not classifiable as a part of a machine of heading 8428, HTSUS, pursuant to the definition of a part set forth in Bauherin. See discussion on parts, supra. As such, it cannot be classified in heading 8431, HTSUS, which provides for parts of machines of heading 8428, HTSUS.
The importer believes that the correct classification of the TRT is in heading 8479, HTSUS, as a machine having an individual function not specified or included elsewhere in Chapter 84, HTSUS. EN 84.79 explains that in order to be classified in this heading, a machine must have an individual function that is distinct from the machine onto which it is mounted or the entity into which it is incorporated. See EN 84.79(B). In this case, that function is to latch on to the Christmas Tree so that the Tree can be lifted to the surface by the drill string, cable or crane to which it is attached. Furthermore, the TRT is not more specifically provided for elsewhere in Chapter 84 or in another chapter, and it is not excluded from classification in Chapter 84. The TRT is thus classified in heading 8479, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, the tree running tool is classified in heading 8479,
HTSUS, specifically in subheading 8479.89.98, HTSUS, which provides for “Machines
and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included
elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and mechanical appliances:
Other: Other.” The 2009 column one, general rate of duty is Free.
You are to mail this decision to the internal advice requester no later than 60
days from the date of the decision. At that time, the Office of International Trade,
Regulations and Rulings, will make the decision available to CBP personnel and to the
public on the CBP Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.cbp.gov, by means of
the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division