CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H209839 DSR
Area Port Director
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Chicago Service Port
5600 Pearl Street
Rosemont, IL 60018
Attn: Jeffrey Kiekenbush, IS Team 307
RE: Internal advice request concerning the classification of gas springs for aircraft seats
Dear Sir:
This is in response to the request for internal advice submitted by counsel for importer Industrial Gas Springs, Inc., (IGS), dated February 15, 2012, regarding the tariff classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) of certain gas springs for aircraft seats.
FACTS:
The articles at issue are gas springs (also called gas struts) that are used to adjust the backs of aircraft passenger seats. Each gas spring is comprised of an aluminum cylinder filled with high pressure nitrogen that acts on a carbon steel rod to create force. This force enables the seat back to slowly lift and lower. The gas springs were originally entered under subheading 8803.90.9060, HTSUS, which provides for parts of aircraft. IGS subsequently abandoned that position and now asserts that the gas springs are classified in subheading 9401.90.50, HTSUS, which provides for parts of other seats. You have asserted that the articles are classifiable under subheading 8302.42.30, HTSUS, as base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture.
ISSUE:
Whether, at the time of importation, the subject gas springs are classified under heading 8302, HTSUS, as base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture; or under heading 9401, HTSUS, as parts of other seats.
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.
In addition, in interpreting the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (ENs) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System may be utilized. The ENs, although not dispositive or legally binding, provide a commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. See T.D. 89 80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
8302 Base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture, doors, staircases, windows, blinds, coach work, saddler, trunks, chests caskets or the like; …
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9401 Seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof:
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First, IGS asserts that the instant gas springs are classified by their principal use and, because they are “specialized” for use as parts of aircraft seats, they are not of the class of goods covered by heading 8302, HTSUS. In support of the assertion, IGS draws upon the EN to Chapter 94, HTS, which states that the chapter only covers parts identifiable by their shape or other specific features as parts designed solely or principally for an article of headings 9401 to 9403, and 9405. IGS interprets heading 9401, HTSUS, to be a principal use provision and thus more specific than heading 8302, HTSUS. Citing Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(a), IGS asserts that the gas springs should be classified in heading 9401 by virtue of their “principal use” as parts of airplane seats. We disagree.
Note 1(d) to Chapter 94, HTSUS, provides that Chapter 94, HTS, does not cover parts of general use, of base metal, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, HTS. Therefore, if the gas springs are considered to be “parts of general use” in heading 8302, HTSUS, that heading takes precedence over heading 9401, HTSUS, and no relative specificity analysis is necessary.
Furthermore, the EN to Section XV explains that “parts of general” use as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, HTS, presented separately are not considered to be parts of articles, but are instead classified in the headings of Section XV appropriate to them. The EN provides two examples of such goods – bolts specialized for central heating radiators or springs specialized for motor cars. The specialized bolts would remain classified in heading 7318 (as bolts) and not in heading 8708 (as parts of central heating radiators), and the specialized springs would be classified in heading 7320 (as springs) and not in heading 8708 (as parts of motor vehicles).
The instant gas springs are being presented separately from the seats in which they are to eventually be incorporated. Therefore, applying the above, classification of the subject gas springs hinges primarily on whether they are “parts of general use” as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, HTS. If they are not, heading 9401, HTSUS, may be considered.
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Note 2 to Section XV defines “parts of general use,” in relevant part, as “Articles of heading 8301, 8302, 8308 or 8310 and frames and mirrors, of base metal, of heading 8306.” The text of heading 8302, HTSUS, provides for base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture. Neither the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), nor the Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the HTSUS, provide a definition of the term “fittings” or “mountings.” A tariff term that is not defined in the HTSUS or in the ENs is construed in accordance with its common and commercial meanings, which are presumed to be the same. Nippon Kogasku (USA) Inc. v. United States, 69 C.C.P.A. 89, 673 F. 2d 380 (1982). Common and commercial meaning may be determined by consulting dictionaries, lexicons, scientific authorities and other reliable sources. C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 69 C.C.P.A. 128, 673 F. 2d 1268 (1982).
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (unabridged; 1961) defines “fitting” as “something used in fitting up: accessory, adjunct, attachment . . . a small often standardized part (as a coupling, valve, gauge) entering into the construction of a boiler, steam, water or gas supply installation or other apparatus . . .” Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1990) defines a “mounting” as a frame or support, such as, “an undercarriage or part on which a device (as a motor or artillery piece) rests in service,” or “an attachment for an accessory.” Thus, a mounting is generally a component that serves to join two other parts together.
Further, EN 83.02 provides in pertinent part: “This heading covers general purpose classes of base metal accessory fittings and mountings, such as are used largely on furniture, doors, windows, coachwork, etc. . . . This heading does not, however, extend to goods forming an essential part of the structure of an article ...” (emphasis added). It goes on to provide examples of mountings, fittings and similar articles for furniture, such as protective studs for legs of furniture, metal decorative fittings, shelf adjusters for bookcases, corner braces, reinforcing plates, bolts, fasteners and latches.
Considering the above, the common characteristics of parts of general use classifiable under heading 8302, HTSUS, are that they are articles that function to attach, fix (in place), fit, connect, protect, separate, bind, or stabilize two separate articles together, or one to (or from) the other. They do not form essential parts of the structure of the articles, e.g., a seat’s back and bottom supports. CBP has previously determined that goods in such general classes as bolts, springs, mountings, fittings and similar articles are “parts of general use,” even if specialized for use with specific products. The unique design specifications of the subject gas springs do not negate this concept. In HQ 966412, dated September 3, 2003, and HQ 966789, dated June 21, 2004, CBP arrived at this conclusion with regard to “oil bolts” for motorcycle brake transmissions. While the oil bolts therein had specialized features in that they were hollow and had holes in their stems to enable the unimpeded passage of fluids, the oil bolts were still, in essence, screws, i.e., cylinder-shaped metal objects with threads and heads designed or adapted for tightening by an instrument. As such, they were classifiable in heading 7318, HTSUS. The fact that the oil bolts allowed for the passage of fluids did not negate that they had a significant fastening function. In Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc. v. United States, Slip op. 09-51 (Ct. Intl. Trade 2009), the CIT affirmed CBP’s approach in HQ 966412 and HQ 966789, concluding that the term “screw” defined the articles at issue and that the oil bolts were correctly classified in heading 7318, HTSUS.
The gas springs at issue here also do not form essential parts of the structure of the seats in which they are incorporated. The springs are devices that merely allow the backs of the seats to be slowly lowered and raised from set positions in order to enhance the comfort of seated passengers. There is no evidence that airplane seats without the gas springs would not be able to perform their essential function of supporting the weight of seated passengers. Therefore, we find that the gas springs are parts of general use within the meaning of heading 8302, HTSUS, and are excluded from consideration as articles of heading 9401, HTSUS.
Finally, in distinguishing the subject gas springs from “springs or leaves for springs” under Chapter 73, HTS, IGS asserts that “[g]as springs, or nitrogen cylinders, have been described by CBP as being charged with gas and they utilize the ‘compressibility’ of that gas as a spring. HRL [sic] N046899 (January 8, 2009).” See February 15, 2012, Request for Internal Advice, page 8. While we agree with the general proposition that the subject springs are not akin to springs of Chapter 73, HTS, we distinguish NY N046899 from the case at hand. In NY N046899, CBP considered a pneumatic gas spring used in machinery found in a wide range of industrial applications. In classifying the spring in the “basket” heading 8487, HTSUS, as “other machinery parts, not containing electrical connectors, insulators, coils, contacts or other electrical features, and not specified or included elsewhere,” we first noted that the other heading at issue (heading 8412, covering other pneumatic cylinders) did not apply because the spring did not convert an external source of pressurized gas into mechanical energy. Additionally, we noted that the springs at issue were not parts suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine or machines of the same heading, and no parts heading described them, i.e., a more specific provision did not apply. Here, the springs are not used with machinery and, as explained above, the springs are classifiable in the non-“basket” heading 8302, HTSUS, as “base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture.”
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, the subject gas springs are classified under subheading 8302.42.30, HTSUS, as “Base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture …: Other mountings, fittings and similar articles, and parts thereof: Other, suitable for furniture: Of iron or steel, of aluminum or of zinc.” The column one, general rate of duty is 3.9% ad valorem.
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 at www.usitc.gov.
Sincerely,
Myles Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division