CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H103227 EG
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Port of Savannah
1 East Bay Street
Savannah, GA 31401
Attn: Angelia Amerson, Senior Import Specialist
RE: Internal Advice Request; Tariff classification of aerosol can fittings
Dear Port Director:
A letter to you dated February 1, 2010, initiated a request for internal advice on behalf of importer Crown Cork & Seal USA, Inc. (Crown). You forwarded Crown’s request and a memorandum for internal advice to our office. The internal advice request pertains to the tariff classification of tinplate steel aerosol can fittings. This letter is in reply to your memorandum dated April 19, 2010.
FACTS:
Crown imports, among other things, tinplate steel aerosol can fittings. These fittings entered in 2008 are the tops and bottoms of unfinished aerosol cans. The bottom is a solid and thin piece of metal. The top is a dome-shaped, thin piece of metal with a hole cut out of its center. Crown sells these fittings to its customers. Through a series of manufacturing processes, the customer will attach the bottom to an unfilled aerosol can to secure the base. The customer will then attach the top and fill the can. Finally, the customer will complete the filled aerosol can by inserting a pump and nozzle apparatus through the hole in the top. Crown does not manufacture or supply the nozzle component and Crown does not fill the cans.
In its request for Internal Advice, Crown takes the position that the aerosol can fittings are properly classified in subheading 7326.90.10 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which covers “Other articles of iron or steel: other: of tinplate.” In your memorandum, you state that the aerosol can fittings should be classified under subheading 8309.90.00, HTSUS, which covers, in pertinent part, “Stoppers, caps and lids (including crown corks, screw caps and pouring stoppers), capsules for bottles . . . seals and other packing accessories, and parts thereof, of base metal: Other.”
ISSUE:
Are the aerosol can fittings classified under subheading 7326.90.10, HTSUS, or under subheading 8309.90.00, HTSUS?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). 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 GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
The following 2008 HTSUS provisions under consideration are:
7326 Other articles of iron or steel:
7326.90 Other:
7326.90.10 Of tinplate . . .
* * *
8309 Stoppers, caps and lids (including crown corks, screw caps and pouring stoppers), capsules for bottles, threaded bungs, bung covers, seals and other packing accessories, and parts thereof, of base metal:
8309.90.00 Other . . .
* * *
The following rulings have all classified steel can ends under Heading 8309, HTSUS, as “seals … of base metal”: New York Ruling Letter (NY) NY 860073, dated February 13, 1991 (soda can ends and aerosol can ends), Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 951510, dated August 7, 1991 (tops and bottoms of juice cans), HQ 953509, dated July 22, 1993 (salmon can ends) and HQ 955308, dated March 28, 1994 (can ends for finished cans with a capacity less than 50 liters).
Crown argues that the aerosol can fittings at issue are distinguishable from the aforementioned rulings because the top fitting has a circular hole cut out for the nozzle and pump assembly and thus, it does not seal the finished can. In their view, the aerosol cans are sealed only after the nozzle and pump assembly are inserted. As such, Crown insists that its aerosol can fittings are precluded from classification under Heading 8309, HTSUS, as “seals … and parts thereof, of base metal,” and are instead classified under Heading 7326, HTSUS, as “[o]ther articles of iron or steel.”
Relying on the common meaning of the term, CBP has previously defined the term “seal” as “something that firmly closes or secures: as . . . (1) a tight and perfect closure (as against the passage of gas or water)” and “[a]ny means of preventing the passage of gas or liquid into or out of something, esp. at a place where two surfaces meet. ” See HQ 951510, dated August 7, 1992 (citing Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1986) p. 203 and The Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. XIV (2d Ed. 1989), p. 794 respectively).
A filled and completed aerosol can has two “seals”, or two tight and perfect closures to prevent the passage of gas or liquid from the can. The solid bottom aerosol can fitting seals the bottom. The nozzle and pump assembly seals the top. Crown’s bottom aerosol can fitting is a “seal . . . of base metal”, classified under Heading 8309, HTSUS, because it prevents the passage of the aerosol can’s contents. In contrast, the dome-shaped, top aerosol can fitting is not a “seal” because it has a hole in it and as such, it does not prevent the passage of gas or liquid from the can. Therefore, the top aerosol can fitting is classified under Heading 7326, HTSUS, as “[o]ther articles of iron or steel.”
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, the subject bottom aerosol can fittings are classifiable in Heading 8309, HTSUS. They are specifically provided for in subheading 8309.90.00, HTSUS, which provides for “[s]toppers, caps and lids (including crown corks, screw caps and pouring stoppers), capsules for bottles, threaded bungs, bung covers, seals and other packing accessories, and parts thereof, of base metal: other.” The column one, general rate of duty is 2.6 percent ad valorem.
By application of GRI 1, the subject top aerosol can fittings with holes cut out are classifiable in Heading 7326, HTSUS. They are specifically provided for in subheading 7326.90.10, HTSUS, which provides for “[o]ther articles of iron or steel: other: of tinplate.” The column one, general rate of duty is free.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at www.usitc.gov.
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