CLA-2 RR:TC:MM 959350 JAS
Port Director of Customs
300 S. Ferry Street
Terminal Island, CA 90731
RE: PRD 2704-96-10 1010; Bicycle Shift Levers; Parts and Accessories, Derailleur Control Lever for Bicycles, Handlebar-Mounted Device for Changing Derailleur Gears on a Bicycle; Click Stick Control Levers, Subheading 8714.99.10, Non-Click Control Levers, Parts of Derailleurs, Subheading 8714.99.50; GRI 3(a), GRI 6; HQ 087303, HQ 955882
Dear Port Director:
This is our decision on Protest 2704-96-101010, filed
against your classification of control levers for changing gears
on a bicycle derailleur. The entry under protest was liquidated
on February 23, 1996, and this protest timely filed on March 29,
1996.
FACTS:
The bicycle shift levers, designated RH Shifter and Grip
Shifter on submitted blueprints, are the models 50473, 50234PA,
50236PA, 50474, 51238 and 51239, from Taiwan. They are thumb-actuated control levers mounted on the handlebars of a bicycle
and designed to convert the rider's thumb torque to linear
push/pull force which is transmitted through an attached cable to
the derailleur gears of 5-10-12 speed bicycles. The force is
transmitted to a gear-change mechanism in the derailleur which
alters the line of the chain and causes it to jump from one
sprocket to another according to the gear ratio selected. The
shift levers or control levers are of two types, continuous and
discrete. Continuous or so-called non-click control levers
contain no ratchets or other mechanisms that permit the rider to
know when a particular gear ratio has been reached. The rider
gains a feel for the gear change by the tension exerted on the - 2 -
pedals. Discrete control levers are manufactured to preset gear
ratio settings ("L" to "H") which the rider can select and which
initiate an audible or tactile "clicking" as the chain moves from
one sprocket to another.
The merchandise was entered free of duty under subheading
8714.99.50, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS), as parts of derailleurs. The protestant maintains that
these control levers are used in a bicycle derailleur system, and
that, unlike the handlebar-mounted levers in issue here, click
stick levers were designed for mounting on the frame of a bicycle
and are no longer manufactured. Your office determined that
control levers represented by models 50473 and 50234PA are
classifiable as parts of derailleurs, as protestant claims.
However, you also found that activating the control levers
represented by the remaining four models resulted in an audible
or tactile "click" and reclassified these models under subheading
8714.99.10, HTSUS, which provides for click twist grips and click
stick levers.
ISSUE:
Whether the four (4) bicycle shifter levers in issue are
click stick levers for tariff purposes.
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. Under GRI
3(a), where goods are prima facie classifiable under two or more
headings, the heading which provides the most specific
description shall be preferred to headings providing a more
general description. GRI 6 states in part that for legal
purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a
heading shall be determined according to the terms of those
subheadings and any related subheading notes and, by appropriate
substitution of terms, to GRIs 1 through 5, on the understanding
that only subheadings at the same level are comparable.
It is agreed that the control levers under protest are parts
or accessories which are solely or principally used with bicycles
of heading 8712. The appropriate heading, therefore, is 8714. - 3 -
See Section XIII, Note 3, HTSUS. Absent a clearly expressed
Congressional intent to the contrary, words used in a tariff
provision will be presumed to be used in their normal sense. The
articles in question control a bicycle's derailleur gear system
and, when activated, initiate an audible or tactile clicking.
These control levers are described by the terms of subheading
8714.99.10. But, the control levers are also integral,
constituent and component parts necessary to activate the gear-change mechanism in the derailleur gear system. They are also
described by the terms of subheading 8714.99.50. Applying GRI
3(a) at the subheading level through GRI 6, we find that
subheading 8714.99.10, HTSUS, provides the most specific
description for the four control lever models in issue. See
HQ 087303, dated August 17, 1990, and HQ 955882, dated May 17,
1994, on combination brake levers/click twist levers.
HOLDING:
As agreed, bicycle control levers represented by models
50473 and 50234PA should be reclassified in subheading
8714.99.50, HTSUS and the protest ALLOWED as to these models.
Under the authority of GRI 3(a), HTSUS, applied at the subheading
level through GRI 6, bicycle control levers represented by models
50236PA, 50474, 51238 and 51239 are classifiable in subheading
8714.99.10, HTSUS. The protest should be DENIED as to these
models.
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
Tariff Classification
Appeals Division