CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 956607 JAS
District Director of Customs
1 East Bay Street
Savannah, GA. 31401
RE: PRD 1703-94-100065; Dumper Cab Chassis and Dumper Bodies
Imported Together; Heading 8704, Heading 8707; Complete
but Unassembled Dump Trucks, GRI 2(a), HQ 950221, HQ 950431,
HQ 952850
Dear Sir:
This is our decision on Protest 1703-94-100065, filed
against your action in classifying certain dumper cab chassis and
dumper bodies from Australia. The entries were liquidated on
March 11 and 25, 1994, and this protest timely filed on June 3,
1994.
FACTS:
The merchandise is four motor chassis with enclosed cabs for
dump trucks or dumper cab chassis, and five dumper bodies.
Originally, five Euclid R50 off-highway dump trucks were
manufactured in Canada, shipped to Australia where they were used
for some time, then disassembled and the components sold to the
importer/protestant. Whether by coincidence, design or
inadvertence, the individual components were shipped aboard the
same vessel, so that they arrived and were offloaded at Savannah
at the same time.
The four cab chassis were entered separately under the
provision in heading 8704 for cab chassis, and the five dumper
bodies entered as other bodies of heading 8707. The import
specialist determined that the importation consisted of four
unassembled dump trucks and liquidated the entries under a
provision in heading 8704 for dumpers designed for off-highway
use. The fifth dumper body remained classified in the provision
for other bodies. This classification is not being protested. - 2 -
The provisions under consideration are as follows:
8704 Motor vehicles for the transport of goods:
8704.10 Dumpers designed for off-highway use:
8704.10.10 Cab Chassis...4 percent
8704.10.50 Other...25 percent under 9903.87.00
* * * *
8707 Bodies (including cabs), for the motor
vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705:
8707.90 Other:
8707.90.50 Other...4 percent
ISSUE:
Whether cab chassis and dumper bodies imported together are
complete but unassembled dumpers of heading 8704.
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 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.
The Harmonized Commodity Description And Coding System
Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the Customs Cooperation
Council's official interpretation of the Harmonized System.
While not legally binding on the contracting parties, and
therefore not dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the
scope of each heading of the Harmonized System and are thus
useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise under
the System. Customs believes the notes should always be
consulted. See T.D. 89-80. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23,
1989).
The General Explanatory Note to Rule 2(a) states in part
that complete or finished articles presented unassembled or
disassembled are to be classified in the same heading as the
assembled article. When goods are so presented, it is usually
for reasons such as requirements or convenience of packing,
handling or transport. Articles are to be considered unassembled - 3 -
for purposes of this rule provided only simple assembly
operations are involved. The EN continues by stating unassembled
components of an article that are in excess of the number
required for the article when complete are to be classified
separately.
Protestant's counsel maintains that because breakbulk
freight rates are higher than roll on-roll off (RORO) rates, it
was more expensive to ship the components separately rather than
assembled. For this reason, the manner of shipment has no
apparent relation to the requirements of packing, handling or
transport. Counsel also maintains that the dumper cab chassis
and dumper bodies are to be classified separately because they
are routinely imported this way for legitimate duty avoidance
purposes and because the components have separate commercial
identities. While dumper cab chassis are heavy-duty construction
vehicle components capable of continuous use over a long period
of time, dumper bodies wear out quickly and must be replaced on a
regular basis. New bodies are compatible with used cab chassis
and used bodies can be matched with other cab chassis for less
vigorous applications. For this reason, protestant and others in
the industry often buy and sell used cab chassis and dumper
bodies separately and customarily hold them in inventory until a
buyer can be found. Thus, individual components may be sold
separately or may be stripped down and sold as parts. However,
just as often a cab chassis may be combined with a dumper body if
a customer needs a complete dump truck.
A number of cases are cited for the proposition that the
instant components should be separately classified. In HQ
952850, dated April 14, 1993, ball point pen parts in one
shipment which at times were intermingled with parts from other
shipments to make complete pens of a desired color were held to
constitute bulk inventory and the components separately
classified. It appears that none of the components in one
shipment could be assembled into complete pens of a desired
color. HQ 952850 is clearly distinguishable because the
components in issue here are sufficient to assemble complete dump
trucks. In HQ 950221, dated November 22, 1991, bulk shipments of
numerous computer parts and components from consolidated
shipments arriving together were held to be separately
classifiable because the manner of importation was not for
convenience of packing, handling or transport. HQ 950431, dated
December 5, 1991, held that parts of hearing aids were to be
separately classified because of a lack of evidence that the
importation was anything other than bulk shipments of numerous
components or parts. HQ 950221 and HQ 950431 are likewise - 4 -
distinguishable because the evidence in those cases showed that
the importations were nothing more than bulk shipments of
numerous components and parts.
In this case protestant has not conclusively demonstrated
that at the time of importation the cab chassis and dumper bodies
were strictly bulk component parts destined for inventory. In
fact, the record here may reasonably be interpreted as supporting
the opposite conclusion. In two instances cab chassis and dumper
bodies were reassembled after importation and sold as off-highway
dumpers. Unlike the cited cases, there are only two components
involved here, with cab chassis being complete subassemblies
clearly dedicated to receiving dumper bodies. Moreover, the cab
chassis and dumper bodies at one time comprised complete and
fully functional dump trucks which were later disassembled into
their constituent component parts.
The facts of this case are consistent with the statement in
the Explanatory Note to GRI 2(a) that complete or finished
articles presented unassembled or disassembled are to be
classified in the same heading as the assembled article.
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRI 2(a), the dumper cab chassis and
dumper bodies are unassembled dumpers of heading 8704. They are
classifiable in subheading 8704.10.50, HTSUS. The extra dumper
body is classifiable in subheading 8707.90.50, HTSUS.
The protest should be DENIED. In accordance with Section
3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4,
1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you should mail this
decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no
later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any
reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the
decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision.
Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of
Regulations and Rulings will take steps to make the decision
available to Customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in
ACS and to the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, the
Freedom of Information Act and other public access channels.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director,
Commercial Rulings Division