CLA-2 RR:CTF:TCM H166799 JPJ
Port Director
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
Lincoln Juarez Bridge
Administrative Building #2 Laredo, Texas 78040
ATTN: Rocio E. Martinez, Senior Import Specialist
RE: Internal Advice; Classification of Locking Pliers
Dear Port Director:
This is in response to your memorandum dated April 26, 2011, forwarding a request for internal advice dated May 6, 2010, filed by Barnes, Richardson and Colburn on behalf of Cooper Tools, a subsidiary of Cooper Industries LLC (“Cooper”). The internal advice request concerns the classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) of various models of locking pliers. Product photographs, technical specifications and drawings were submitted for our review. On April 4, 2013, CBP held a teleconference with the attorneys for the importer.
FACTS:
The subject articles are described as various types of locking pliers, including model numbers: C5CV (curved jaw pliers), C6NV (long nose pliers), C7CV (curved jaw pliers), C9NV (long nose pliers), C10CV (curved jaw pliers), CLP2SET (locking pliers set), C10SV (straight jaw pliers), CLP3SET (locking pliers set), C1CLP3, CLP5SET (locking pliers set), and C10SA (self adjusting pliers).
Each of these locking pliers incorporates two-part handles, one that is fixed and one that pivots to allow the jaws to open and close while applying the desired amount of pressure. The handles are equipped with an adjusting screw and a safety release mechanism. The locking pliers have the ability to apply compressive force, and may be used without the locking feature. The pliers may also be used to hold, bend, cut, or manipulate objects without engaging the locking mechanism.
In its request for internal advice, the importer argues that the various models of locking pliers are properly classified under subheading 8203.20.6030, HTSUSA, which provides for “Files, rasps, pliers (including cutting pliers), pincers, tweezers, metal cutting shears, pipe cutters, bolt cutters, perforating punches and similar handtools, and base metal parts thereof: Pliers (including cutting pliers), pincers, tweezers and similar tools, and parts thereof: Other: Other (except parts), Pliers. The Port of Laredo, citing HQ 956820, dated September 17, 1994, states that the merchandise is properly classified under subheading 8204.12.0000, HTSUSA, which provides for “Hand-operated spanners and wrenches (including torque meter wrenches but not including tap wrenches); socket wrenches, with or without handles, drives or extensions; base metal parts thereof: Hand-operated spanners and wrenches, and parts thereof: Adjustable, and parts thereof”.
ISSUE:
Whether the locking pliers are classified under heading 8203, HTSUS, as pliers, or under heading 8204, HTSUS, as wrenches.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings 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 GRI’s may then be applied.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
8203 Files, rasps, pliers (including cutting pliers),
pincers, tweezers, metal cutting shears, pipe-
cutters, bolt cutters, perforating punches and
similar handtools and base metal parts thereof:
* * *
8203.20 Pliers (including cutting pliers, pincers,
tweezers and similar tools, and parts
thereof:
* * *
Other:
* * *
8203.20.60 Other (except parts)
8204 Hand-operated spanners and wrenches (including
torque meter wrenches but not including top
wrenches); socket wrenches, with or without
handles, drives or extensions; base metal parts
thereof:
Hand-operated spanners and wrenches, and
parts thereof:
* * *
8204.12.00 Adjustable, and parts thereof . . .
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes ("EN’s") constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the EN’s provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127-28 (Aug. 23, 1989).
The importer acknowledges that the locking pliers at issue herein are similar to the locking pliers previously classified by CBP in heading 8204, subheading 8204.12, as adjustable hand operated wrenches. See NY N089837, dated January 14, 2010; HQ 956820, dated September 17, 1994; and HQ 070711, dated January 18, 1983. The importer also acknowledges that the Court of International Trade has classified substantially similar merchandise under item 648.97, TSUS, the predecessor to heading 8204, HTSUS. See Associated Consumers v. United States, 5 CIT 148, 565 F. Supp. 1044 (1983). However, the importer argues that this judicial and CBP precedent does not preclude CBP from finding that locking pliers are properly classifiable under heading 8203, HTSUS.
The importer argues that locking pliers fall within the common and commercial meaning of “pliers”. Therefore, locking pliers are correctly classified as pliers, under the eo nomine provision for pliers, in heading 8203, HTSUS, rather than as wrenches, under heading 8204, HTSUS.
The importer argues that the Court’s decision in Associated Consumers to classify locking pliers under heading 8204, HTSUS, improperly limited the scope of the eo nomine provision for pliers in heading 8203, HTSUS, to pliers that do not have the ability to torque. The importer argues that the Court’s decision produces the absurd result that large non-locking pliers that are fully capable of turning a nut or bolt are excluded from the eo nomine provision for pliers. Instead, the importer argues that heading 8203, HTSUS, should not be construed to exclude locking pliers capable of turning a nut, bolt, or pipe. According to the importer, this would be inconsistent with the principle that an eo nomine provision includes all forms of the named article.
In Associated Consumers, the Court addressed the classification of merchandise invoiced as "vise grips" under the Tariff Schedule of the United States (TSUS), the predecessor tariff act of the HTSUS. We agree with the importer that the merchandise involved in that case is substantially similar to the locking pliers at issue.
In Associated Consumers, plaintiff claimed that "vise grips" were properly classifiable under item 648.85, TSUS, as pliers, nippers, and pincers, and hinged tools for holding and splicing wire and parts of the foregoing, other, or alternatively, under item 649.37, TSUS, as clamps However, Customs classified the merchandise under item 648.97, TSUS, as “pipe tools (except cutters), wrenches, and parts thereof”.
In Associated Consumers, the Court found it necessary “to ascertain the common meanings of the tariff provisions in question and analyze this tool in their light.” (citations omitted) The Court found that the identifying characteristic of a wrench “is its special ability to fixedly grasp an object and allow the user to exert a twisting or wrenching force." (citations omitted). Further, in describing the scope of the term “pliers”, the Court found that:
pliers are tools of a more generally manipulative nature, not specifically designed to exert a twisting force. They are usually described as pincers, whose grasp is dependent upon hand pressure, and whose jaws are adapted to handling small objects and bending or shaping wire. (citations omitted).
We note that the Court, in arriving at its decision to classify the "vise grips" as wrenches under item 648.97, TSUS, articulated the line of distinction between the terms “pliers” and “wrenches” as they related to the subject vise grips as follows:
The imported tool does have a superficial resemblance to pliers, in that it possesses two handles. But the presence of two handles is not inconsistent with classification as wrenches, United States v. Ritter Carlton Co., supra. The most significant fact in evidence is that the tool is designed to lock its jaws in position in order to maximize wrenching power. An adjustment screw on one handle allows the jaws to be closed to the approximate size of an object, and the complex levering action of the other handle locks the jaws into the object with great pressure. This dominant feature allows the user to concentrate muscular force completely on a wrenching movement. (emphasis added).
The importer argues that since the Court’s decision in Associated Consumers, the common and commercial meaning of the term “pliers” has changed, and that Associated Consumers is not binding on CBP. The importer provides copies of the technical specifications for the various models of locking pliers at issue herein, and provides copies of the relevant industry standards for locking pliers that the importer notes were published after the Associated Consumers decision. The technical specifications provided by the importer in its Exhibit 1, describe model numbers C5CV, C7CV, C10CV, C10SV, C6NV, C9NV, CLP2SET, CLP3SET, CLP5SET, and C10SA as having a “compound action for powerful non-slip locking grip”. The importer has also provided the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) B107.24-2002 Standard for “locking pliers” issued April 30, 2003. The Standard states that it covers the “dimensions and functional characteristics of locking pliers that are suitable for gripping and wrenching operations”. The Standard describes some of the locking pliers as “locking wrench pliers”. According to paragraph 6.1 of the Standard, locking pliers shall be capable of withstanding specified locking tests, and be capable of withstanding specified grip tests.
It is our view that the specifications and ASME Standard provided are consistent with the common and commercial meaning of the term “wrenches” articulated by the Court in Associated Consumers, supra. The common meaning of the terms “pliers” and “wrenches” has not changed since Associated Consumers was decided. Accordingly, Associated Consumers controls the scopes of headings 8203 and 8204, HTSUS, as they relate to the classification of locking pliers.
Finally, the importer argues that the Court’s decision in Associated Consumers relates to the interpretation of the TSUS, and that judicial and CBP interpretations of TSUS provisions are not dispositive, but merely instructive in interpreting HTSUS provisions. We note that Congress has indicated that earlier rulings must not be disregarded in applying the Harmonized Code. The conference report to the Omnibus Trade Bill states that on a case by case basis prior decisions should be considered instructive in interpreting the HTSUS, particularly where the nomenclature previously interpreted in those decisions remains unchanged and no dissimilar interpretation is required by the text of the HTSUS. H.Rep No.576, 100 Cong., 2d Sess. 548 (1988) at 550. The provisions for pliers and wrenches under the TSUS have not been significantly changed in the HTSUS. Therefore, Associated Consumers controls the classification of the locking pliers, which fall under the scope of heading 8204, HTSUS. Despite any superficial resemblance to pliers, the instant locking pliers feature jaws that are designed to be locked into position to maximize wrenching power. This finding is also consistent with NY N089837, dated January 14, 2010; HQ 956820, dated September 17, 1994; and HQ 070711, dated January 18, 1983.
We also do not agree with the importer’s arguments that heading 8203 is ambiguous, or that resort to GRI 3 is necessary in this case. GRI 3 does not apply in cases where classification is decided by GRI 1.
HOLDING:
Pursuant to GRI 1, the locking pliers are classifiable in heading 8204, HTSUS, specifically subheading 8204.12.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Hand-operated spanners and wrenches (including torque meter wrenches but not including tap wrenches); socket wrenches, with or without handles, drives or extensions; base metal
parts thereof: Hand-operated spanners and wrenches, and parts thereof: Adjustable, and parts thereof”.
Sixty days from the date of the decision, the Office International Trade, Regulations and Rulings, will make this 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 & Trade Facilitation Division