CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:CPM H236276 CkG
TARIFF NO: 3926.90.25
Port Director
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Port of Chicago
5600 Pearl Street
Rosemont, IL 60018
ATTN: Mary Lou Belfiore
Supervisory Entry Specialist
Re: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 3901-12-101067; classification
of control knobs for gas stoves
Dear Port Director,
This is in response to the Application for Further Review of Protest 3901-12-101067, dated September 26, 2012. The Protest and AFR were filed on behalf of KI Industries, Inc. (‘Protestant”), contesting Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) classification and liquidation of two entries of control knobs for gas stoves in heading 3926 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
Protestant entered the control knobs on April 23, 2009, and May 21, 2009, in heading 7321, HTSUS, as parts of iron or steel, of stoves, ranges, grates, cookers (including those with subsidiary boilers for central heating), barbecues, braziers, gas-rings, plate warmers and similar non-electric domestic appliances. The entries were liquidated on March 30, 2012, in heading 3926, HTSUS, as other articles of plastic. Protestant asserts that the subject merchandise should be classified, as entered, in heading 7321, HTSUS.
FACTS:
The merchandise under protest consists of knobs for gas stoves and ranges, composed of molded plastic dials with steel spring inserts. One side of the plastic dial has a protruding handle that the user grasps to turn the knob. The other side contains a thin shaft, between 1 and three inches in length, into which the metal spring is inserted. The steel spring insert measures between .25” and .5” in length, and is affixed to the gas valve stem. The spring allows the valve stem to turn when the plastic dial is turned. The valve stem is in turn connected to an igniter switch, which opens the valve and allows gas to move through a small tube to the pilot light. The light ignites the gas. The plastic dials are imprinted with an indicator line that allows the user to determine the heat setting.
The protestant further provides the cost breakdown for the various components, as follows: $0.03 for the plastic dial, and $0.02 each for the metal spring insert and the spring assembly.
ISSUE:
Whether the instant control knobs are classified as parts of stoves or ranges, of iron or steel, in heading 7321, HTSUS, or in heading 3926, HTSUS, as other articles of plastic.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The matter protested 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 of the first entry for entries made on or after December 18, 2004. (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. 3901-12-101067 was properly accorded to protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because it is alleged to involve questions of law or fact which have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of CBP or his designee or by the Customs courts.
Merchandise is classifiable under the HTSUS in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). 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 or notes do not require otherwise, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may be applied.
The 2012 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
3926: Other articles of plastics and articles of other materials of headings 3901 to 3914:
3926.90: Other: 3926.90.25: Handles and knobs, not elsewhere specified or included, of plastics…
7321: Stoves, ranges, grates, cookers (including those with subsidiary boilers for central heating), barbecues, braziers, gas-rings, plate warmers and similar non-electric domestic appliances, and parts thereof, of iron or steel:
7321.90: Parts:
Of articles in subheading 7321.11.30:
7321.90.50: Other…
* * * *
Note 2 to Section XV provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
2.- Throughout the Nomenclature, the expression “parts of general use” means :
Articles of heading 73.07, 73.12, 73.15, 73.17 or 73.18 and similar articles of other
base metal;
Springs and leaves for springs, of base metal, other than clock or watch springs
(heading 91.14); and
Articles of headings 83.01, 83.02, 83.08, 83.10 and frames and mirrors, of base
metal, of heading 83.06.
In Chapters 73 to 76 and 78 to 82 (but not in heading 73.15) references to parts of goods do not include references to parts of general use as defined above.
Subject to the preceding paragraph and to Note 1 to Chapter 83, the articles of Chapter 82 or 83 are excluded from Chapters 72 to 76 and 78 to 81
* * * *
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUS. While not legally binding or dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings at the international level. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).
The EN to heading 8302 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
…
The heading covers:
…
(E) Mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture
This group includes :
Protective studs (with one or more points) for legs of furniture, etc.; metal
decorative fittings; shelf adjusters for book cases, etc.; fittings for cupboards, bedsteads, etc.; keyhole plates.
Corner braces, reinforcing plates, angles, etc.
(3) Catches (including ball spring catches), bolts, fasteners, latches, etc. (other
than key operated bolts of heading 83.01).
(4) Hasps and staples for chests, etc.
(5) Handles and knobs, including those for locks or latches.
* * * *
Protestant contests the classification by CBP of the instant control knobs in heading 3926, HTSUS, and claims instead that they should be classified in heading 7321, HTSUS, as iron or steel parts of stoves, ranges, grates, cookers (including those with subsidiary boilers for central heating), barbecues, braziers, gas-rings, plate warmers and similar non-electric domestic appliances.
The courts have considered the nature of “parts” under the HTSUS and two distinct though not inconsistent tests have resulted. See Bauerhin Techs. Ltd. v. United States (“Bauerhin”), 110 F. 3d 774 (Fed. Cir. 1997). The first, articulated in United States v. Willoughby Camera Stores, Inc. (“Willoughby”), 21 C.C.P.A. 322, 324 (1933), requires a determination of whether the imported item is an “integral, constituent, or component part, without which the article to which it is to be joined, could not function as such article.” Bauerhin, 110 F.3d at 778 (quoting Willoughby, 21 C.C.P.A. 322 at 324). The second, set forth in United States v. Pompeo (“Pompeo”), 43 C.C.P.A. 9, 14 (1955), states that an “imported item dedicated solely for use with another article is a ‘part’ of that article within the meaning of the HTSUS.” Id. at 779 (citing Pompeo, 43 C.C.P.A. 9 at 13). Under either line of cases, an imported item is not a part if it is “a separate and distinct commercial entity.” Bauherin, 110 F. 3d at 779.
The imported articles are integral parts of gas range stoves, without which the user would be unable to turn on the gas and set the desired temperature level. The knobs are also molded and shaped for use with specific stoves, and are not sold as separate or distinct articles of commerce. As such, they are parts of gas stoves and ranges.
Pursuant to Note 2 to Section XV, however, articles of Chapter 83 and parts of general use as defined in the above-referenced note are excluded from classification in Chapter 72. The expression "parts of general use" is defined in Note 2 to Section XV, and includes, among other things, articles of heading 8302, which provides for “Base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture, doors, staircases, windows, blinds, coachwork, saddlery, trunks, chests, caskets or the like; base metal hat racks, hat-pegs, brackets and similar fixtures; castors with mountings of base metal; automatic door closers of base metal; and base metal parts thereof.” The EN to heading 8302 further elaborates that the heading covers, inter alia, mountings and similar articles suitable for furniture, such as handles and knobs.
In view of Note 2 to Section XV, we must consider whether the instant control knobs are similar articles to base metal mountings and fittings of heading 8302, and whether such plastic knobs are "suitable" for furniture, doors, staircases, windows, blinds, coachwork, saddlery, trunks, chests, caskets or the like. The instant knobs are integral working parts of gas range stoves and, by design or function, have no practical or commercial relationship to the articles listed in heading 8302. Stoves of heading 7321 do not have the characteristics of and are not similar or akin to furniture, doors, staircases, windows, blinds, coachwork, saddlery, trunks, chests, and caskets. The subject knobs, therefore, are not suitable for these articles and are not articles of heading 8302, HTSUS. Accordingly, they are not excluded from Chapter 72 by virtue of Note 2 to Section XV. See e.g., HQ H007106, dated May 8, 2007 and HQ 950630, dated March 13, 1992, in which CBP determined that plastic knobs for washer/dryers were not parts of general use within the meaning of Note 1(g) to Section XVI, which similarly excludes "[p]arts of general use, as defined in note 2 to Section XV” from classification in Section XVI. Additionally, HQ 082334, dated October 23, 1989, and HQ 083984, dated October 26, 1989, both held knobs similar to the ones in issue here to be classifiable in Chapter 84 as parts of the machine with which they were solely or principally used.
By the terms of heading 7321, HTSUS, parts of stoves are included when made of iron or steel. The instant knobs are composite articles of plastic and steel. At GRI 1, they are not classifiable as articles or parts of iron or steel, or as parts or articles of plastic. We must therefore turn to the remaining GRIs.
GRI 3 states, in pertinent part:
When by application of [GRI] 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are, prima facie, classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows: (a) The heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods . . . , those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods. (b) Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components . . . which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.
Headings 3926 and 7321 each describe only part of the instant control knobs; therefore, neither heading is more specific for the purposes of GRI 3(a). We thus turn to GRI 3(b). EN VIII to GRI 3(b) explains that "[t]he factor which determines essential character will vary as between different kinds of goods. It may, for example, be determined by the nature of the material or component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of the constituent material in relation to the use of the goods." Recent court decisions on the essential character for GRI 3(b) purposes have looked primarily to the role of the each material or component in relation to the use of the goods. See Structural Industries, 360 F. Supp. 2d 1330 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2005); Conair Corp. v. United States, 29 C.I.T. 888 (2005); Home Depot USA, Inc. v. United States, 427 F. Supp. 2d 1278 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2006), aff’d 491 F.3d 1334 (Fed. Cir. 2007). The “essential character” of an article is “that which is indispensable to the structure, core or condition of the article, i.e., what it is.” Structural Industries v. United States, 360 F. Supp. 2d 1336.
Protestant claims that the steel inner spring imparts the essential character to the subject control knobs, and that the knobs thus meet the terms of heading 7321, HTSUS, as parts of iron or steel. We disagree. We find the essential character of the subject articles is imparted by the plastic dial. Both the plastic dial and the steel insert contribute equally to the ultimate use of the good—that is, to control the burner settings. The metal springs allow the knobs to be affixed to the gas valve stem, but the plastic provides a grip for the user to actually rotate the metal spring and choose the desired setting, as marked on the plastic dial. The knobs would be unable to function as intended without either component. The cost of the molded plastic and the steel spring, at $.03 and $.02, respectively, with an additional $.02 for the spring assembly, weighs slightly in favor of the steel components. However, the plastic dial is the component that prevails by quantity, bulk, and weight. The shape, appearance and feel of the plastic dial are also key factors in the overall aesthetic of a stove, whereas the steel spring, as a completely invisible component, has no impact on the ultimate purchaser’s expectation of the product or the decision to purchase the stove. The plastic dial is therefore both functional and decorative, whereas the metal spring is a hidden functional component that does not contribute to the appearance of the good. Accordingly, we find that the plastic dial imparts the essential character to the subject control knobs, which were correctly liquidated by the Port in heading 3926, HTSUS.
In Home Depot USA, Inc. v. United States, 427 F. Supp. 2d 1278, 1295-1356 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2006), aff’d 491 F.3d 1334 (Fed. Cir. 2007), the CIT came to a similar conclusion in classifying lighting fixtures partly of metal and glass, wood or plastic according to their glass component. In so doing, the court held that the glass component imparted a lighting fixture with its essential character because the component, among other attributes, had greater visible area, weight, contributed to the decorative appearance and structure, and gave the structure its name, whereas the metal fixture, which served a functional purpose of housing the electrical components, contributed less to the appearance and use of the good.
HOLDING:
The instant knobs for gas stoves and ranges are classified in heading 3926, HTSUS, specifically subheading 3926.90.25, HTSUS, which provides for “Other articles of plastics and articles of other materials of headings 3901 to 3914: Handles and knobs, not elsewhere specified or included, of plastics.” The 2012 column one, general rate of duty is 6.5% ad valorem.
You are instructed to deny the protest.
In accordance with Sections IV and VI of the CBP Protest/Petition Processing Handbook (HB 3500-08A, December 2007, pp. 24 and 26), you are to mail this decision, together with 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 Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to CBP personnel and to the public online at http://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