CLA-2 OT: RR: CTF: TCM: H015231 RM
Port Director
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
301 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA 90802
RE: Pedestals for Washing Machines and Dryers; Protest No. 2704-06-102003
Dear Port Director:
The following is our decision regarding the Application for Further Review (“AFR”) of Protest No. 2704-06-102003, timely filed by JPMorgan Chase Vastera Professional Services, Inc., on behalf of GEA Products, L.P., concerning the classification of pedestals for washing machines and dryers under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”).
FACTS:
The subject imports are steel pedestals designed for placement beneath front-loading General Electric washers and dryers. The pedestals raise the appliances by 12 inches, thus reducing bending and reaching by the user when loading and unloading the machines. Each pedestal has a drawer in which laundry supplies can be stored. The pedestals can be used with either the washer or dryer; the only difference is that mounting pads must be installed when used with the dryer. The pedestals are bolted into the appliances.
The pedestals were entered on September 21, 2005, under subheading 8450.90.4000, HTSUS, which provides for “[h]ousehold - or laundry-type washing machines, including machines which both wash and dry; parts thereof:…[p]arts: [f]urniture designed to receive the machines of subheadings 8450.11 through 8450.20, inclusive.” The pedestals were liquidated as entered on August 4, 2006. Protestant filed the instant protest and AFR on September 12, 2006.
Protestant argues that the goods are classifiable under subheading 9403.20.0015, HTSUS, which provides for “[o]ther furniture and parts thereof: [o]ther metal furniture … [h]ousehold: [o]ther.”
ISSUE:
What is the proper tariff classification of the pedestals under the HTSUS?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Initially, we note that the matter is protestable under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2) as a decision on classification. The protest was timely filed, within 180 days of liquidation for all involved entries (Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub.L.108-429, §2103(2)(B)(ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3) (2006)).
Further Review of Protest No. 2704-06-102003 was properly accorded to protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because the protest involves a question of fact or law which has not been ruled upon. We have been unable to locate any rulings or court decisions on substantially similar merchandise.
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
Household – or laundry-type washing machines, including machines which both wash and dry; parts thereof:
8450.90 Parts:
8450.90.40 Furniture designed to receive the machines of subheadings 8450.11 through 8450.20, inclusive.
Machinery (other than machines of heading 8450) for washing, cleaning,
wringing, drying, ironing, pressing, bleaching, dyeing, dressing, finishing,
coating or impregnating textile yarns, fabrics or made up textile articles and machines for applying the paste to the base fabric or other support used in the manufacture of floor coverings such as linoleum; machines for reeling, unreeling, folding, cutting or pinking textile fabrics; parts thereof:
8451.90 Parts:
8451. 90.60 Furniture designed to receive the drying machines of subheading 8451.21 or 8451.29, and other parts of drying machines incorporating drying chambers.
9403 Other furniture and parts thereof:
9403.20 Other metal furniture …
Household:
9403.20.15 Other …
When interpreting and implementing the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System may be utilized. The ENs, while neither legally binding nor dispositive, provide a guiding commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. CBP believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
Headings 8450 and 8451, HTSUS, provide for “parts” of washers and dryers, respectively. Thus, to be covered by one of these headings, the pedestals must constitute a “part” of a household or laundry-type washing or drying machine. We conclude that they do not.
The term “parts” is not defined in the HTSUS or its legislative history. It is also not defined in any of the chapters or section notes at issue. When a tariff term is not defined, the term's correct meaning is presumed to be its common meaning in the absence of evidence to the contrary. See Rohm & Haas Co. v. United States, 727 F.2d 1095 (CAFC 1984). To determine the common meaning of a tariff term, "[a] court may rely upon its own understanding of terms used, and may consult standard lexicographic and scientific authorities[.]" Brookside Veneers, Ltd. v. United States, 847 F.2d 786, 789 (Fed. Cir. 1988)). "Additionally, a court may refer to the Explanatory Notes of a tariff subheading . . . ." Id.
The courts have considered the common meaning of "parts" under the HTSUS and two distinct though not inconsistent tests have resulted. (See Bauerhin Technologies Limited v. United States, 914 F. Supp. 554 (Ct. Int’l. Trade 1995), aff’d 110 F.3d 774 (Fed. Cir. 1997) ("We conclude that these cases are not inconsistent and must be read together."). Starting with U.S. v. Willoughby Camera Stores, Inc., 21 CCPA 322, 324, (1933) T.D. 46075 (1933), cert. denied, 292 U.S. 640 (1934), this line of cases holds that a part of an article is “an integral, constituent, or component part, without which the article to which it is to be joined could not function as such article.” Another line of cases, which evolved from United States v. Antonio Pompeo, 43 CCPA 9, C.D. 1669 (1955), hold that a device may be a part of an article even though its use is optional and the article will function without it, if the device is dedicated for use upon the article, and, once installed, the article will not operate without it.
In applying this analysis, CBP generally will consider an article to be a part if:
[I]t is combined with other articles to be used; or it is an integral, constituent or component part, without which the article to which it is joined could not function; or it aids in the safe and efficient operation of the main article; or it is identifiable by shape or other characteristics as an article solely or principally used as a part. See HQ 962634, dated October 25, 2001.
The pedestals at issue facilitate the use and handling of the washers and dryers by elevating them and providing storage space. They do not aid, or affect in any way, the functioning of the appliances that they support. Furthermore, once installed, the pedestals are not dedicated irrevocably for use upon those appliances; the machines are fully operational without them. Accordingly, we are of the opinion that the pedestals are not “parts” of the washers and dryers.
In a similar case, Rollerblade, Inc. v. United States, 116 F. Supp. 2d 1247 (Ct. Int’l. Trade 2000); aff’d, 282 F.3d 1349 (Fed. Cir. 2002), the Court, citing Bauherin, held that certain in-line roller skating protective gear (e.g., knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards) did not constitute “parts” of the roller skates because “the gear [did] not … act directly on the skates.” The Court noted that “the roller skates work in the same manner whether the skater wears the protective gear or not.” See also HQ 953508, dated June 21, 1993 (speaker stands not “parts” of loudspeakers because they do not aid in the functioning of the speaker, but rather, only support it). The same is true with the instant pedestals in relation to the washers and dryers that they support.
Moreover, Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c), HTSUS, states, in part, that “in the absence of special language or context that otherwise requires, a provision for parts of an article covers products solely or principally used as part of such article.” The pedestals in question can be used with either washers or dryers, and their intended use cannot be determined at the time of importation. As such, classification of the pedestals as parts of washers, under 8450.90.40, HTSUS, or as parts of dryers, under 8451.90.60, HTSUS, is precluded.
We next consider classification under heading 9403, HTSUS, which provides for “[o]ther furniture and parts thereof.” Legal Note 2 to Chapter 94 states that “the articles (other than parts) referred to in headings 9401 to 9403 are to be classified in those headings only if they are designed for placing on the floor or ground.” General EN 4(A) to Chapter 94 defines furniture as: “[a]ny ‘movable’ articles … which have the essential characteristic that they are constructed for placing on the floor or ground, and which are used, mainly with a utilitarian purpose, to equip private dwellings and other places.” The ENs further indicate that, for the purposes of [Chapter 94], articles are considered “movable” furniture even if they are designed for bolting, etc., to the floor, e.g., chairs for use on ships. (Emphasis added).
In New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) M81423, dated March 20, 2006, CBP considered the classification of a floor-standing Plasma/LCD flat-panel television pedestal. The pedestal included a steel bracket for mounting the television (using molded plastic knobs) to an aluminum column. CBP classified the pedestal in subheading 9403.20.0015, HTSUS, as “[o]ther metal household furniture.” Likewise, the instant washer/dryer pedestals are floor-standing, moveable, and are used primarily as articles of convenience in private dwellings. Based on the foregoing, we find the pedestals to be “furniture” of heading 9403, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, the pedestals for washers and dryers are classifiable under subheading 9403.20.0015, HTSUS, which provides for: “[o]ther metal furniture … [h]ousehold: [o]ther.” The 2006 duty rate associated with the tariff item is: Free.
The protest should be GRANTED. In accordance with the Protest/Petition Processing Handbook (HB 3500-08A, December 2007, pp. 24 and 26), you are to 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 in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision.
Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of International Trade will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public on the CBP Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division