CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 960562 JAS
Port Director of Customs
33 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
RE: PRD 2809-96-101249; Cluster Tool Ion Beam Deposition System,
Ion Beam Deposition Machine; Machine for Applying Aluminum Oxide Film Onto Silicon Wafer Substrate for Later Processing
into Read/Write Heads for Computer Disk Drives; Machines for
Production of Semiconductor Devices and Electrical Integrated Circuits, Class or Kind, Principal Use, Group Italglass U.S.A. v. U.S.; Electrical Machines and Apparatus, Subheading 8543.30.00
Dear Port Director:
This is our decision on Protest 2809-96-101249, filed
against your classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States (HTSUS), of an ion beam deposition machine,
a product of the UK. The entry was liquidated on July 26, 1996,
and this protest timely filed on September 18, 1996.
FACTS:
The merchandise under protest is invoiced as the Discovery
3000 Cluster Tool Ion Beam Deposition Unit, with spare parts. It
consists of a wafer handling mechanism, a vacuum chamber designed
to accommodate 4, 6 or 8-inch wafers, and electronic controls
that correlate the handling and deposition processes.
Submitted literature describes a machine that utilizes
physical vapor deposition technology to physically deposit thin
layers of aluminum oxide onto silicon, aluminum or glass wafer
substrates, among others. However, the instant machine utilizes
aluminum wafers. Successive layering of thin films form
inductive coils, poles, and connectors on the wafers which result
in specific, measurable micro levels of semiconductivity. These
wafers are later sliced, lapped, diced, then assembled into thin-film read/write heads for computer disk drives which offer higher - 2 -
data density. The literature indicates that in addition to
making magnetic thin film heads, machines that utilize physical
vapor deposition technology are also used in the manufacture of
electronic integrated circuits. Machines of this type may also
be used for ion etching, but information in the file indicates
the Discovery 3000 under protest has been modified so as to
perform only physical vapor deposition.
The Discovery 3000 was entered under a provision in HTS
heading 8479 for machines for the production of semiconductor
devices and electronic integrated circuits. The local import
specialist concedes that this is a physical deposition machine,
but not for the integrated circuit industry. The entry was
liquidated under a provision in HTS heading 8543, as electrical
machines and apparatus, n.s.i.e.
The provisions under consideration are as follows:
8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in [chapter 84]:
Other machines and mechanical appliances:
8479.89 Other:
8479.89.85 [M]achines for...production of...semiconductor devices and electronic integrated circuits
* * * *
8543 Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in [chapter 85]; parts thereof:
8543.30.00 Machines and apparatus for electroplating, electrolysis or
electrophoresis
ISSUE:
Whether the Discovery 3000 belongs to a class or kind of
physical vapor deposition machines principally used for the
production of semiconductor devices and electronic integrated
circuits. - 3 -
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.
Goods of heading 8543 operate wholly electrically, but may
incorporate mechanical features, provided those features are
subsidiary to the electrical function of the good. In ion
deposition, a substrate is placed in the vacuum chamber filled
with a pure inert gas. An electric field ionizes the gas and
forms an ion beam that bombards the material to be deposited,
knocking off molecules which then form the thin coating layers on
the surface of the substrate. While the process takes place in
an electrical field, the impact of the ionizing beam that knocks
molecules off the material to be deposited is a physical
phenomenon which, in our opinion, is not subsidiary to any
electrical function the good may perform. For this reason, the
Discovery 3000 is not provided for in heading 8543.
Machinery of heading 8479 must have individual functions,
that is, a function or functions which can be performed
distinctly from or independently of any other machine or
appliance, and also must not be described more specifically in
another heading in any other Chapter in the HTSUS. The Discovery
3000 performs the function of physical vapor deposition
independently of any other machine, and it is not described in
any other Chapter in the HTSUS. It is provided for in heading
8479. The provisions of subheading 8479.89.85 are governed by
use. It is the principal use of the class or kind of machines to
which the Discovery 3000 belongs that controls. See Group
Italglass U.S.A., Inc. v. United States, 17 CIT 1177, 839 F.
Supp. 866, 867 (1993). Available information indicates that
semiconductors and integrated circuits are not produced by means
of physical vapor deposition technology utilizing aluminum wafer
substrates. However, the protestant's literature indicates that
the Discovery 3000 also processes silicon wafers typically used
in the semiconductor industry, and that thin film deposition
techniques are used in the production of integrated circuits. In
addition to producing thin film heads for computer disk drives,
the literature lists "integrated circuits," microwave integrated
circuits," "Ga As (gallium arsenide) Opto Electronics," and "Ga
As Integrated Circuits" under other application areas. From this - 4 -
we conclude that the Discovery 3000 ion beam deposition machine
belongs to a class or kind of machine whole principal use is for
the production of semiconductor devices and electronic integrated
circuits.
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRI 1, the Discovery 3000 ion beam
deposition machine is provided for in heading 8479. It is
classifiable in subheading 8479.89.85, HTSUS. The protest should
be ALLOWED as to this machine. However, this subheading does not
include parts. Goods that are identifiable as parts of machines
or apparatus of Chapters 84 and 85 are to be classifiable in
accordance with Section XVI, Note 2, HTSUS. The spare parts in
issue should be reclassified accordingly and the protest ALLOWED
or DENIED as appropriate.
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