CLA-2:CO:R:C:M 950244 JAS
Mr. Steven Schwartz
LTG Technologies, Inc.
P.O. Box 2627
Spartanburg, S.C. 29304-2627
RE: Dryer Oven for Coated Metal Sheets; Machinery for the
Treatment of Materials by Temperature Change (Heating);
Headings 8417, 8419; NY Ruling 861416 Affirmed
Dear Mr. Schwartz:
This is in response to your request for reconsideration of a
ruling issued by our New York office on the LTG continuous drying
oven from Germany. A diagram of the oven system was submitted.
Your subsequent letter of September 5, 1991, indicates that
this transaction may now be current at the port of Baltimore.
This response is limited to prospective transactions only, but we
will forward a copy to the appropriate Customs officer at that
port.
FACTS:
The drying oven will be shipped disassembled and will
include heating units, heat exchanger, fans and blowers, pressure
and temperature measuring devices, plus insulated ductwork and
metal panels and prefabricated steel profiles for support. The
oven is electrically powered and will use natural gas to dry
metal sheets coated with lacquer and lithography for the metal
can industry. Material handling equipment may be sold with the
oven system or separately.
New York ruling 861416, dated March 25, 1991, confirmed
classification of the oven in subheading 8417.80.0000, Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA),
industrial or laboratory furnaces and ovens. The rate of duty is
5.7 percent ad valorem. You believe that subheading 8419.39.00,
HTSUS, machinery, plant or laboratory equipment, whether or not
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electrically heated, for the treatment of materials by a process
involving a change in temperature such as drying, is the
appropriate classification. The rate of duty is 4.2 percent ad
valorem. You cite a 1986 ruling on the same oven system issued
under the HTSUSA predecessor code, the Tariff Schedules of the
United States (TSUS). This ruling confirmed classification in
item 661.68, TSUS, the TSUS equivalent of subheading 8419.39.00.
ISSUE:
Whether heading 8417 or heading 8419 is relatively more
specific with regard to the drying oven in issue.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) 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. GRI 3(a)
states with respect to goods prima facie classifiable under two
or more headings, that the heading which provides the most
specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a
more general description.
Initially, it must be noted that TSUS rulings are not
binding under the HTSUS; rather, they are considered instructive
in interpreting parallel HTSUS provisions where the nomenclature
remains unchanged, but on a case-by-case basis only.
The Harmonized Commodity Description And Coding System
Explanatory Notes (ENs) provide a commentary on the scope of each
heading of the Harmonized System and, though not binding, are
considered useful in ascertaining the classification of
merchandise under the System. Heading 8417 covers a variety of
non-electrical industrial or laboratory furnaces that produce
heat at fairly high temperatures by the combustion of fuel and
are used for the treatment of various kinds of products. ENs at
p. 1168 specifically exclude apparatus of heading 8419 from
heading 8417, including steamers and drying plant, among others.
Other ENs at (g) on p. 1173, however, exclude industrial furnaces
and ovens from heading 8419. Additional notes at p. 1176
indicate that evaporating or drying plant of heading 8419 is
limited only to such plant operating at a relatively low
temperature, and is not to be confused with the industrial
furnaces or ovens of heading 8417, in which much higher
temperatures are developed. The notes do not establish
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ranges of temperature for either heading. We must therefore
conclude that the ENs do not clarify the scope of the competing
HTS provisions.
Heading 8417 designates certain articles eo nomine, by name.
Heading 8419 designates a class or kind of articles by use. Both
provisions describe the merchandise in issue here. However,
classification by use is a rule of construction only and is
designed to ascertain the intent of Congress. It has no
application where the intent of Congress is otherwise manifest.
A specific eo nomine provision is clear evidence of what Congress
intends to be classified therein and will be held to prevail over
a broader provision governed by use where the former is a
provision less easily satisfied. Moreover, the ENs indicate that
for purposes of Rule 3(a) a description by name is more specific
than a description by class.
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRI 3(a), HTSUS, heading 8417
provides the most specific description for the LTG continuous
drying oven. Actual classification is in subheading 8417.80.00,
HTSUS, other industrial or laboratory nonelectric furnaces and
ovens. New York ruling 861416, dated March 25, 1991, is
therefore affirmed.
The submitted diagram depicts stacking and pile turning
mechanisms, sheet ejection unit, as well as an in-line, motor
driven roller conveyor, all fully integrated with the other
components to form an oven system. The heading 8417 ENs suggest,
at p. 1168, that this material handling equipment is to be
classified with the oven.
If imported separately, the conveyor would be classifiable
in subheading 8428.39.00, HTSUS, other continuous-action
conveyors, and the remaining units in subheading 8428.90.00,
HTSUS, other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery.
The rate of duty under these provisions is 2 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division