CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 960939 JAS
Thomas J. O'Donnell, Esq.
O'Donnell, Byrne, Basham & Williams
20 North Wacker Drive, Suite 1416
Chicago, ILL 60606
RE: HQ 959626 Affirmed; Container Handling Machines; Reachstacker, Works Truck Fitted With a Crane; Heading 8427,
Other Works Trucks Fitted With Lifting or Handling Equipment; Crane, Eo Nomine, Common and Commercial Meaning;
NY 881418
Dear Mr. O'Donnell:
In a letter, dated September 12, 1997, on behalf of Mi-Jack
Products, you ask that we reconsider a previous ruling to you on
the classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS) of the Fantuzzi Reachstackers.
In HQ 959626, dated July 16, 1997, we held that the
constacker, railstacker and transtacker, all models of the
Reachstacker, were classifiable in subheading 8426.41.00, HTSUS,
as works trucks fitted with a crane. In so ruling, we rejected
your claim under subheading 8427.20.80, HTSUS, a duty-free
provision for other self-propelled works trucks, fitted with
lifting or handling equipment.
You now advance two additional arguments in support of the
subheading 8427.20.80, HTSUS, classification: an American Society
of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Standard you maintain does not
describe the lifting mechanism of the Reachstacker as a crane,
and a Court of International Trade ruling that subheading 8427.20
includes works trucks fitted with any type of lifting or handling
equipment without limitation, which brings the Reachstacker
within the terms of this provision. This decision will be
limited to these new arguments and will incorporate by reference
the factual descriptions and legal arguments of HQ 959626.
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FACTS:
HQ 959626 contained a comprehensive description of the
Reachstacker, which is a mobile, self-propelled machine used to
stack, load and unload shipping containers in railroad depots,
dockyards and similar transportation terminals. Each consists of
a diesel-powered wheeled chassis with enclosed operator's cab in
the middle which the parties agree is a works truck. A
hydraulically operated telescoping boom with a 0-60 degree angle
is mounted at the rear of the machine to which either a spreader
or a winch and hook may be attached. The spreader rotates,
typically in a range of -95 degrees/+185 degrees, and consists of
jaws on each end that compress hydraulically to grip containers
by their ends. Reachstackers have a maximum unladen speed of 24-25 kilometers per hour (km/hr) and 23-24.5 km/hr laden. Their
turning radius is less than their length.
ISSUE:
Whether the Reachstacker's hydraulically operated
telescoping boom, with attachments, is a crane 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.
The term crane is not defined in the text of the HTSUS, nor
is it described in the Harmonized Commodity Description and
Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) which Customs routinely
consults for guidance in interpreting the scope of the HTSUS. In
such cases, tariff terms are to be construed in accordance with
their common and commercial meanings which are presumed to be the
same. The decision in HQ 959626 relied, in part, on the
definition of crane appearing in Webster's Third New
International Dictionary, 1986, which you cited in your ruling
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request of July 3, 1996. That definition provides, in relevant
part:
3a: a machine for raising and lowering heavy weights and
transporting them through a limited horizontal distance while
holding them suspended and usu. having a jib of timber or steel
sometimes affixed to a rotating post held by guys or having a
hoisting apparatus supported by a trolley running on an overhead
track. 3h a boom of considerable size used in the motion picture
and television industry for holding a camera and sometimes a
cameraman.
The first additional argument raised in your September 12,
1997, letter, to support the subheading 8427.20.80, HTSUS,
classification is that ASME Standard B30.5 (1994), Mobile and
Locomotive Cranes - among the lexicons that merit consideration
in determining a term's common meaning - requires that wheel-mounted cranes and variations thereof have rotating
superstructures, a vertical axis around which the superstructure
rotates, and function to lift, lower, and swing loads at various
radii. You conclude the Reachstacker does not have a
superstructure which rotates about a vertical axis and, thus,
cannot be a wheel-mounted crane. We do not agree. Submitted
literature indicates the Reachstacker's spreader mechanism
rotates at a range of -95 degrees/+185 degrees, presumably
through the hydraulic mechanism by which it and the winch and
hook attach to the boom. This permits a slewing or horizontally
rotating motion. This, combined with the boom's "luffing" or
derricking motion, i.e., it can be raised or lowered by varying
the angle of inclination, enables the spreader or hook to be
brought into position at any desired point within a certain
radius.
The second additional argument is the statement in Thomas
Equipment Ltd. v. United States, 19 CIT 316 (1995), that heading
8427 covers works trucks fitted with lifting or handling
equipment without limitation as to type. You state this comports
with the heading 84.27 ENs concerning the rather broad scope of
the heading and supports classification of the Reachstacker in
subheading 8427.20.80. We should point out that the 84.27 ENs
list two specific exceptions, one of which is for works trucks
fitted with a crane, the issue previously addressed. For this
reason, Thomas Equipment does not apply here.
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Your initial position was based on the fact that despite the
fact the Reachstacker was a machine for raising and lowering
heavy weights while holding them suspended and transporting them
through a limited horizontal distance, it lacks the drawworks,
pulleys and cables associated with most cranes. We responded by
pointing out the lexicons state cranes are "usually" equipped
with such features. This clearly implies that some cranes may
not be so equipped. The heading 84.26 ENs support this
distinction, at p. 1293, where it is stated the heading covers
lifting or handling machines usually based on pulley, winch or
jacking systems. The distinction is further exemplified by the
ASME Standard B30.5 you cite because nowhere under the Section 5-0.2 Definitions in that Standard is there any mention of
drawworks, pulleys or cables as necessary components of cranes.
It is clear that there exists machinery which bears the
commercial designation crane which does not incorporate guys,
hoisting tackle or a rotating boom: the camera crane, referenced
on p. 6 of HQ 960939; the JET hydraulic crane, a hand-operated
material handling device on a frame with casters. In 3/4 and 2-ton models, it features a boom and adjustable legs, hydraulic ram
jack, with hook and chain; and, the Timberjack tree harvester on
which is mounted a telescopic, tiltable crane with 236 degree
slewing angle that operates entirely by means of hydraulic
cylinders.
For heading 8426 purposes, the term crane designates a
commodity eo nomine, by specific name, usually one well known to
commerce. Such a designation, without limitation or a shown
contrary legislative intent, judicial decision or administrative
practice, and without proof of commercial designation, will
include all forms of the named article.
For the reasons stated above, we remain of the opinion that
the term crane is not necessarily limited to those lifting
machines with guys, hoisting tackle, pulleys, or by a rotating
superstructure, or any combination thereof. Rather, the term
includes all forms of the named article. The lifting machine
mounted atop the wheeled chassis, the subject of this request for
reconsideration, is within the common and commercial meaning of
the term crane, which makes the Reachstacker a good of heading
8426. NY 881418, dated January 11, 1993, classified a nearly
identical article, identified as the Superstacker Crane, in
subheading 8426.41.00, HTSUS.
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HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRI 1, the Reachstacker models
constacker, railstacker and transtacker are provided for in
heading 8426. They are classifiable in subheading 8426.41.00,
HTSUS. HQ 959626, dated July 16, 1997, is affirmed.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division