CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H243595 ALS
Ivan P. Koves, Esq.
Holland & Hart, LLP
555 17th Street, Suite 3200
Denver, Colorado 80202
RE: Modification of CBP Ruling NY K81790 (February 3, 2004), CBP Ruling NY K80388 (November 13, 2003), and CBP Ruling HQ 083052 (April 21, 1989); Tariff Classification of Bicycle Chainrings and Cranks; Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States subheading 8714.96.50
Dear Mr. Koves:
This letter responds to your June 3, 2013 request for reconsideration of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Ruling NY K81790 (February 3, 2004) on behalf of SRM Service Center. The request concerns the legal tariff classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) of SRM’s chainrings and cranks that are part of its cycling power meter system. The other components considered under NY K81790 are not affected in this ruling. In addition to NY K81790, we find that CBP Ruling NY K80388 warrants reconsideration for reasons discussed below in the FACTS section, and CBP Ruling HQ 083052 warrants reconsideration for reasons discussed below in the LAW AND ANALYSIS section. Our decision is set forth below.
Pursuant to section 625(c)(1), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1625(c)(1)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI, a notice of proposed modification was published on July 16, 2016, in the Customs Bulletin, Vol. 50, No. 27. No comments were received in response to this notice.
FACTS:
The facts as stated in NY K81790 are as follows:
You import separately five items, PowerMeters, PowerControls, Chainrings, Cranks, and Cables. The PowerMeter and the Chainring are joined together in the sample you submitted, but we understand from your letter that they will be imported separately. You will resell these either together as elements of the SRM system "for use on a bicycle in scientific testing and research and to promote health and fitness" or individually as replacement parts. The metal Chainrings and Cranks replace the ones already on any standard bicycle and continue to perform the standard function for each. The replacement is made so the PowerMeter can be readily integrated into the bicycle. You state that the PowerControl is "a small portable computer that receives and processes data transmitted from the PowerMeter." It does not perform a control function, but keeps time, calculates the desired parameters from the raw data received, and displays that information. We assume it will be attached to the bicycle’s handle bars. Since it displays Heartrate as well as Power, Time, Speed, Distance, and Cadence, we assume it actually receives data also from another device, since we see no way the PowerMeter attached to the Chainring could transmit heartbeat data.
The specific items at issue here are the chainrings and cranks of various SRM cranksets. The article at issue in HQ 083052 was a crank (described as a “crank arm blank” in that ruling) imported separately from the crankset with which it is used.
You request reconsideration of NY K81790 because you argue that “the chainrings and cranks are part of an SRM crankset which is cotterless.” For that reason, you contend that [HTSUS subheading] “8714.96.5000 is the more specific and better classification” than both HTSUS subheading 8714.96.9000, the tariff classification under which the chainrings were classified in NY K81790, and HTSUS subheading 8714.99.8000, the tariff classification under which the cranks were classified in NY K81790. CBP issued NY K81790 to correct a clerical error in CBP Ruling NY K80388 (November 17, 2003). The substance of NY K80388 was not changed as a result. Consequently, both NY K81790 and NY K80388 are being reconsidered herein. All subsequent references herein to NY K81790 apply equally to NY K80388.
ISSUES:
Are certain SRM chainrings as described above properly classified under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.90 as “Part and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Other crank-gear and parts thereof,” or under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.50 as “Part and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof”?
Are certain SRM cranks as described above properly classified under HTSUS subheading 8714.99.80 as “Part and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Other,” or under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.50 as “Part and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof”?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is determined in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation and, in the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation (“ARI”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods 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, GRIs 2 through 6 may be applied in order. GRI 6 states that [f]or legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.
The HTSUS provisions at issue are as follows:
8714 Parts and accessories of vehicles of headings 8711 to 8713:
Other:
8714.96 Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof:
8714.96.50 Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof...
* * *
8714.96.90 Other crank-gear and parts thereof...
* * *
8714.99 Other:
8714.99.80 Other…
********************************************************************
There is no question that the articles at issue are parts of a vehicle of headings 8711to 8713, specifically a bicycle of HTSUS heading 8712, which provides for “Bicycles and other cycles (including delivery tricycles), not motorized”. The distinction between the two HTSUS subheadings that CBP ruled to be applicable in this case is the 8714.96 specifically refers to pedals, crank-gear, and parts thereof, while 8714.99 more generally refers to other parts and accessories of vehicles of headings 8711 to 8713 and as such is a residual provision. See, e.g., E.M. Industries, Inc. v. United States, 999 F. Supp. 1473, 1480 (CIT 1998). (“’Basket’ or residual provisions of HTSUS headings... are intended as a broad catch-all to encompass the classification of articles for which there is no more specifically applicable subheading.”) Thus, the primary issue is whether the SRM chainrings and cranks fall under the scope of subheading 8714.96 as parts of crank gear. If yes, then the follow-up question to be answered is whether the SRM chainrings and cranks are parts of a cotterless-type crankset of subheading 8714.96.50.
The SRM crankset, as mentioned in the FACTS section above, consists of chainrings, crank, a spider, pinch bolts (in some iterations), washers, screws, bolts, and end caps. This is typical of most bicycle cranksets. The spider is a multi-pronged piece upon which the chainrings are affixed with bolts and screws on one side and to which one of the two cranks is affixed with the pinch bolts and nuts. An example of an unassembled complete crankset appears as follows in Image 1:
Image 1
Image 1b below shows a side view of a crankset with each part identified:
Image 1b
The following (Image 1c) is a more simplified blown up view of an unassembled crankset:
Image 1c
In Images 1 and 1b, the three large circular pieces with “teeth” lining their entire outer edges are chainrings. The subject chainrings are of the same design and have the same dimensions as the chainrings they are designed to replace on stock bicycles. In Image 1c, the long cylinder-like pieces that are fitted onto the spindle and then protrude out are the crank arms, or simply, cranks. The pedals of the bicycle are screwed into the holes at the outer end of the cranks. Note the spindle in relation to the chainrings and cranks in Image 1c. The subject cranks are similar in design and have the same longitudinal dimensions as the cranks they are designed to replace on stock bicycles. Thus, it is without question that the subject chainrings and cranks are parts of crank gear, as specifically covered under subheading 8714.96. Therefore, subheading 8714.99 is not applicable, as a basket provision for articles not specifically covered elsewhere in HTSUS, to either article at issue in this case.
We must now determine if the SRM chainrings and cranks are, as parts of crank gear of subheading 8714.96, parts of cottered cranksets or cotterless cranksets. To do so, we will discuss the differences between cottered cranksets and cotterless cranksets.
Cottered cranksets
The following photograph (Image 2) is of a typical cotter for a bicycle cottered crankset assembly. Note the flat face of one side and the nut and washer affixed to one end but not the other end:
Image 2
An illustration of how the cotter fits into a crank and onto the spindle is as follows in Image 3:
Image 3
In Image 3, the cotter is secured to the crank with the nut and washer after it is inserted into the crank and thereby fitted onto the spindle. The flat face of the cotter fits snugly onto the flat side of the spindle in this assembly. The following Image 4 is a photograph of a cotter inserted into a crank without the securing nut and washer:
Image 4
The following Image 5 is a photograph of flat-faced spindles onto which the crank and cotter is fitted:
Image 5
The following Image 5b is a photograph of a fully-assembled cottered crankset:
Image 5b
Cotterless cranksets
In a cotterless crankset assembly, the cranks are fitted onto the spindle by inserting the end of the spindle in the corresponding hole of the crank. The following photograph (Image 6) shows four different types of cotterless spindles:
Image 6
As shown, cotterless spindles come in different shapes and the hole of the corresponding crank is, of course, shaped accordingly. Upon being fitted onto the spindle, the cotterless crank is secured to the spindle either exclusively with an end cap/bolt or a combination of the end cap/bolt and pinch bolts screwed into the end of the crank. The following (Image 7) is a photograph of a crank secured exclusively via an end bolt, with a cross-section cut out for illustration purposes:
Image 7
The following (Image 8) is an illustration of a crank with pinch bolts at the end and an end cap. This is similar to the SRM cranks at issue. Note the ridges on the inside of the hole in the crank:
Image 8
The following (Image 9) is a photograph of the same type of crank fitted onto the spindle. Note the end cap secured in place:
Image 9
Analysis
You assert that the method of attaching the subject crank to the axle by means of a splined spindle from the axle inserted into a matched hole in the crank and then secured by pinch bolts at the end of the crank is descriptive of a cotterless crank. You specifically disagree with HQ 083052, supra, in which CBP determined that the pinch bolt in this type of crankset assembly “fits very comfortably within [the definition]” of a cotter. HQ 083052 cited the Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (1986) for guidance on the definition of a cotter, which that dictionary defined as “a wedge shaped or tapered piece used to fasten together parts of a machine or structure by being driven into a tapered opening through one or all of the parts.” The ruling also cited another dictionary that defined a cotter as “a pin, wedge, key or the like, fitted or driven into an opening to secure something or hold parts together.” Random House Dictionary of the English Language, The Unabridged Edition (1973).
The latter definition is also stated verbatim in the online dictionary Dictionary.com (2016). A more recent definition of a cotter defines it as “a wedge-shaped or tapered piece used to fasten together parts of a structure.” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cotter (2016).
Engineering-dictionary.org defines cotterless crankset as “a bicycle crankset in which the crankarms are fastened to the axle by means of nuts or bolts instead of cotter pins.” http://www.engineering-dictionary.org/Cotterless_crank. The same definition is offered verbatim on an automotive website. See http://www.automotivedictionary.org/Dictionary-of-Automotive-Terms/H/6/N/2/P/A/9/I/3/Cotterless_crank.
In the HOLDING section of HQ 083052, CBP concluded that “the term ‘cotterless’ was not used in the common sense of ‘absence of a cotter’ but in a commercial sense and ‘cotterless’ referred to the attachment of the crank to the axle piece by mounting bolts and crank arm caps.” In reaching that conclusion, CBP cited CBP Letter HQ 069847 (June 11, 1982), which was circulated as C.I.E. N36/75. Upon review of the present case, we find the conclusion reached in HQ 083052 to be in error.
Our reading of the general definition of a cotter pin is that its pertinent defining characteristic is that it is tapered or wedge-shaped, as shown in Image 2. This is true no matter the source of the definition, even the definition cited in HQ 083052. In this context, that shape is critical to how the various pieces of the cottered crankset are fitted together. As noted above, a cottered crank spindle is flat on one side (see Image 5) so that the flat side of the cotter can fit snugly together, as shown in Images 3 and 4. This is basically how a cottered crankset is fitted together. The nut and washer that screw onto the end of the cotter that protrudes out of one end of the crank after insertion are what secures the cotter pin in place.
In contrast to how a cottered crankset is designed, a cotterless crankset has splines notched into the outer diameter of the end(s) of the spindle, as shown on the last three spindles in Image 6 from left to right, and the crank(s) (in some cases, the spindle is integrated onto the spider and/or the opposite crank, as shown in Image 1c) have corresponding splines notched into the inside of the spindle hole at the end of the crank, as shown in Image 8. (In earlier designs, the spindle has a rectangular knob at its end and the crank has a corresponding rectangular hole at its end, as shown in the first spindle in Image 6 from left to right.) The spindle and crank are fitted together by inserting the splined end of the spindle into the splined spindle hole of the crank. As noted above, the crank is secured to the spindle either exclusively with an end cap or bolt cap or with pinch bolts in conjunction with an end cap or bolt cap, as shown in Images 8 and 9.
While HQ 083052 finds that the pinch bolts fit within the definition of a cotter, we disagree with that finding. We find that the pinch bolts are more akin to the nut and washer of the cotter pin of cottered cranksets in that the pinch bolts secure the assembly in place after the principal parts, the spindle and crank(s), along with the spider, have been fitted together. There is no corresponding part for the cotter pin on cotterless cranksets as a cotter is not needed to fit the principal parts together. Furthermore, the pinch bolts are not tapered or wedge-shaped, rather they are shaped like conventional bolts with a head that is shaped for a corresponding wrench and a cylinder-shaped body with winding grooves running along its length. In short, the pinch bolts are not designed to and do not perform the equivalent function of a cotter pin in a cottered crankset.
Given the foregoing, we find that the pinch bolts are not cotters. We also find that cranksets that utilize such pinch bolts but do not utilize a cotter pin are not cottered cranksets, but are in fact cotterless cranksets. It also follows that the parts of cranksets that utilize pinch bolts but not a cotter pin, including chainrings, are parts of a cotterless crankset, not a cottered crankset. Consequently, the subject chainrings and cranks are identified as parts of cranksets that are cotterless. Therefore, in accordance with GRI 6, the subject chainrings and cranks and other SRM chainrings and cranks that are parts of SRM cranksets that do not utilize a cotter pin to be fitted together are properly classified under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.50 as “Parts and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof...” Thus, NY K81790 and NY K80388 are to be modified accordingly.
We note again that CBP Ruling HQ 083052 (April 21, 1989) held that pinch bolts that are used as described above are parts of a cottered crankset, not a cotterless crankset. Based on the foregoing, the crank at issue in HQ 083052 is a part of a cotterless crankset and as such is properly classified under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.50 as “Parts and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof...” Consistent with our findings and conclusion here, we now find the holding in HQ 083052 to be incorrect and therefore HQ 083052 is to be modified accordingly.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 6, the subject chainrings and cranks that are parts SRM cranksets that do not utilize a cotter pin to be fitted together are properly classified under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.50 as “Parts and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof...” The general column one rate of duty, for merchandise classified under this subheading is free.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at www.usitc.gov.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
CBP Ruling NY K81790 (February 3, 2004) is hereby MODIFIED only with respect to the tariff classification of Chainrings and Cranks.
CBP Ruling NY K80388 (November 17, 2003) is hereby MODIFIED only with respect to the tariff classification of Chainrings and Cranks.
CBP Ruling HQ 083052 (April 21, 1989) is hereby MODIFIED only with respect to the tariff classification of Cranks (referred to as “Crank Arm Blanks” in that ruling).
In accordance with 19 U.S.C. §1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after publication in the Customs Bulletin.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division