CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H250151 LWF
David E. Katzman
C.H. Powell Co.
75 Shawmut Rd.
Canton, MA 02021
RE: Tariff classification of the “Coravin™ 1000 System” pressurized wine tap and pouring device
Dear Mr. Katzman:
This is in reply to your letter of May 28, 2013, to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) National Commodity Specialist Division (NCSD) in New York, on behalf of Coravin, Inc. (“Coravin”), seeking a prospective binding tariff classification ruling under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), concerning the “Coravin™ 1000 System” pressurized wine tap and pouring device (the “Coravin System”). In reaching this decision, we have considered the additional descriptions and technical drawings of the Coravin System that you provided in a subsequent letter to the NCSD, dated October 23, 2013, and additional arguments raised by Coravin in a telephone conference and electronic communications with members of my staff on May 15, 2014.
FACTS:
The Coravin System is a handheld device of metal and plastic that uses compressed argon gas to allow a user to serve and store bottled wine without removing the cork from the bottle. See Figs. 1 and 2, below. After securing the Coravin System to the top of an unopened wine bottle, the user presses the device downwards, thereby manually inserting a thin, hollow metal needle through the cork and into the wine bottle. The hollow needle, when inserted into an unopened wine bottle, facilitates the flow of argon gas from the device into the bottle and also draws wine out of the bottle for serving when the bottle is upturned.
A hand-operated trigger button at the top of the device activates a valve to regulate the flow of compressed argon gas (stored in a disposable cartridge within the device body) through a two-stage pressure regulator valve and into the wine bottle, thereby pressurizing the bottle. To pour the wine, a user tilts the bottle towards a wine glass and presses and releases the trigger button, sending argon gas into the bottle and forcing the pressurized wine to flow up the needle to the pouring spout. Releasing the trigger stops the flow of argon gas into the bottle, and the bottle is returned to an upright position to stop pouring. When the Coravin System and its needle are removed after serving, the cork reseals itself, and the argon gas within the bottle prevents the remaining wine from spoiling through oxidization.
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
ISSUE:
Whether the Coravin System is classified in heading 8205, HTSUS, as a handtool not elsewhere specified or included; heading 8414, HTSUS, as air or vacuum pumps, air or other gas compressors and fans; or heading 8481, HTSUS, as taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, vats or the like, including pressure-reducing valves and thermostatically controlled valves.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise imported into the United States is classified under the HTSUS. Tariff classification is governed by the principles set forth in the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) and, in the absence of special language or context which requires otherwise, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation. The GRIs and the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation are part of the HTSUS and are to be considered statutory provision of law for all purposes. GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRIs taken in their appropriate order.
The HTSUS headings under consideration are the following:
8205 Handtools (including glass cutters) not elsewhere specified or included; blow torches and similar self-contained torches; vises, clamps and the like, other than accessories for and parts of machine tools; anvils; portable forges; hand- or pedal-operated grinding wheels with frameworks; base metal parts thereof (con.):
8414 Air or vacuum pumps, air or other gas compressors and fans; ventilating or recycling hoods incorporating a fan, whether or not fitted with filters; parts thereof:
8481 Taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, vats or the like, including pressure-reducing valves and thermostatically controlled valves; parts thereof:
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Note 1(a) to Chapter 82, HTSUS, states, in pertinent part, that:
Apart from blow lamps, portable forges, grinding wheels with frameworks, manicure or pedicure sets, and goods of heading 82.09, this Chapter covers only articles with a blade, working edge, working surface or other working part of:
(a) Base metal;
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The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While not legally binding, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HS and are thus useful in ascertaining the proper classification of merchandise. It is CBP’s practice to follow, whenever possible, the terms of the ENs when interpreting the HTSUS. See T.D. 89-90, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
The EN to heading 84.14, HS, provides, in pertinent part, that:
This heading covers machines and appliances, hand-operated or power driven, for the compression of air or other gases, or for creating a vacuum, and also machines for circulating air or other gases.
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The EN to heading 84.81, HS, provides, in pertinent part, that:
This heading covers taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, used on or in pipes, tanks, vats or the like to regulate the flow (for supply, discharge, etc.), of fluids (liquid, viscous or gaseous), or, in certain cases, of solids (e.g., sand). The heading includes such devices designed to regulate the pressure or the flow velocity of a liquid or a gas.
The appliances regulate the flow by opening or closing an aperture (e.g., gate, disc, ball, plug, needle or diaphragm). They may be operated by hand (by means of a key, wheel, press button, etc.), or by a motor, solenoid, clock movement, etc., or by an automatic device such as a spring, counterweight, float lever, thermostatic element or pressure capsule.
…
The heading includes inter alia :
…
(16) Soda-water bottle valves.
(17) Pressure spray-can lids for cans to be filled with liquid or gaseous insecticides, disinfectants, etc., under pressure, comprising a metal head fitted with a press-button displacing a needle which opens or closes the ejection orifice.
(18) Taps and cocks for fitting in the bung holes of casks, barrels, etc.
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In its ruling request, Coravin first asserts that the Coravin System is properly classified in subheading 8414.80.20, HTSUS, as a gas compressor, and cites to New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) F89941, dated August 10, 2000, in support of its claim. Heading 8414, HTSUS, provides, in relevant part, for “Air or vacuum pumps, air or other gas compressors and fans,” and the EN to heading 84.14, HS, states that the heading, “covers machines and appliances, hand-operated or power driven, for the compression of air or other gases, or for creating a vacuum, and also machines for circulating air or other gases.” Specifically, Coravin contends that the instant merchandise’s use of compressed gas to facilitate the pouring and preservation of wine without removal of the a wine bottle’s cork is akin to a pressurization and gas handling system that CBP classified in heading 8414, HTSUS, in NY F89941.
As an initial matter, CBP finds that the Coravin System substantially differs from the merchandise at issue In NY F89941. In NY F89941, CBP classified a pressurization and gas handling system—designed as one of six major component parts of a hot isostatic pressing (HIP) machine for the densification of metal or ceramic powders—in heading 8414, HTSUS, as a gas compressor. There, CBP described the pressurization and gas handling system as, “includ[ing] a high pressure intensifier capable of pressurizing the vessel to its maximum operating pressure rating, a vacuum system to evacuate the vessel prior to filling with argon, high pressure valve, fittings and tubing to allow for pressurization and depressurization of the vessel.”
Additionally, the function and performance characteristics of the Coravin System are wholly distinct from the pressurization and gas handling system of NY F89941. Unlike the pressurization and gas handling system in NY F89941that functioned by converting power into kinetic energy by compressing and pressurizing gas, the Coravin System does not compress or pressurize gas. Instead, the Coravin System uses the existing kinetic energy stored in disposable cartridges of compressed argon gas and releases compressed argon gas into a wine bottle to pressurize the bottle. Coravin has not presented evidence that the Coravin System is an appliance for the compression of argon gas, and Coravin does not assert that the device is for compressing, circulating, or evacuating air or other gasses, as described by EN 84.14, HS. Moreover, whereas the pressurization and gas handling system in NY F89941 served as a component machine of an industrial HIP system for compressing gas to specific pressures between 10,000 and 40,000 psi, the Coravin System is a handheld device for pouring wine from a corked wine bottle. Consequently, we find that the Coravin System is not substantially similar to the pressurization and gas handling system classified in heading 8414, HTSUS, in NY F89941, and it is not akin to the pumps, compressors, and fans identified by the text of heading 8414, HTSUS. As such, the Coravin System is not described by heading 8414, HTSUS, and the analysis contained in NY F89941 is not dispositive of the instant matter.
Coravin alternatively asserts in its ruling request that the merchandise should be classified under subheading 8481.80.50, HTSUS, as a tap, valve or similar appliance, and cites to NY N034518, dated August 27, 2008. Heading 8481, HTSUS, provides for “Taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, vats or the like, including pressure-reducing valves and thermostatically controlled valves; parts thereof.” The terms “taps, cocks, valves, and similar appliances” are not defined in the Nomenclature; however, the EN to heading 84.81, HS, provides numerous examples of specific articles and the types of machines that are covered by the scope of the heading. Specifically, EN 84.81, HS, describes “soda-water bottle valves” and “taps and cocks for fitting in the bung holes of casks, barrels, etc.” as examples of articles that are classified in heading 84.81, HS. See EN 84.81, HS, exemplars (16) and (18).
Where a tariff term is not defined by the HTSUS or the legislative history, the courts have instructed that a term’s correct meaning is its common, or commercial, meaning. Rocknel Fastener, Inc. v. United States, 267 F.3d 1354, 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (“To ascertain the common meaning of a term, a court may consult ‘dictionaries, scientific authorities, and other reliable information sources’ and ‘lexicographic and other materials.” (quoting C.J. Tower & Sons of Buffalo, Inc. v. United States, 673 F.2d 1268, 1271 (Fed. Cir. 1982))).
In this case, a good indication of the commercial meaning of the term “tap” can be obtained from dictionary definitions. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term “tap,” in relevant part, as:
A cylindrical stick, long peg, or stopper, for closing and opening a hole bored in a vessel; hence, a hollow or tubular plug through which liquid may be drawn, having some device for shutting off or governing the flow; used especially in drawing liquor from a cask, or water from a pipe, and for regulating the flow of gas, steam, etc.; a cock, a faucet. Oxford English Dictionary Online, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/197642?rskey=lMrIkr&result=1 #eid.
Similarly, the Merriam-Webster dictionary specifies that taps incorporate a valve component and defines the term “tap” as:
A device consisting of a spout and valve attached to the end of a pipe to control the flow of a fluid. Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictiona ry/tap.
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Consistent with the examples provided by EN 84.81, HS, CBP classified a home beer dispenser in NY N034518 in subheading 8481.80.50, HTSUS, which provides for other, hand-operated taps, cocks, valves, and similar appliances, based on the presence of a hand-operated valve within the beer dispenser designed to be used in conjunction with a cartridge of compressed carbon dioxide gas. Akin to the operation of the instant Coravin System, CBP wrote in NY N034518 that, “When attached to a bottle of beer, the dispenser pressurizes the contents of the beer bottle by introducing the compressed CO2 gas into the bottle. Once the beer bottle is pressurized, the dispenser then serves as a tap to allow the flow of beer from the bottle to be controlled.”
Additionally, CBP has previously classified in heading 8481, HTSUS, other handheld appliances that function by regulating the flow of compressed gasses from disposable cartridges. In ruling letter NY R03947, dated June 13, 2006, CBP classified a “hand operated pump that uses disposable carbon dioxide cartridges to inflate bicycle tires” in heading 8481, HTSUS. There, CBP wrote that the device consisted of a plastic housing with metal components and was properly identified as “not a pump, but rather a hand operated valve designed to control the flow of carbon dioxide from a cartridge into a tire.” See also ruling letter NY N201500, dated February 13, 2012 (classifying a compressed carbon dioxide tire inflator multi-tool in heading 8481, HTSUS, based on the presence of a hand-operated valve designed to control the flow of carbon dioxide from a cartridge into a tire).
Similar to the beer dispenser classified in ruling letter NY N034518 under heading 8481, HTSUS, and the tire inflators of ruling letters NY R03947 and NY N201500, the instant Coravin System consists of a hand-operated valve that regulates the flow of compressed gas to pressurize a wine bottle. When attached to a wine bottle, pressing and releasing the trigger button on the Coravin System sends argon gas into the bottle and forces the pressurized wine to flow up the needle to the pouring spout. By pressurizing the wine bottle with compressed argon, wine is able to flow through the needle in the cork for serving, akin to “soda-water bottle valves” and “taps and cocks for fitting in the bung holes of casks, barrels, etc.” as provided by EN 84.81, HS. Based on the foregoing, we find that the Coravin System is described by heading 8481, HTSUS. Consequently, insomuch as the instant merchandise is described by the text of heading 8481, HTSUS, we find that the Coravin System is properly classified, by application of GRI 1, in heading 8481, HTSUS. Finally, because the merchandise is classified in heading 8481, HTSUS, it cannot be classified in heading 8205, HTSUS, which provides for, in relevant part, handtools not elsewhere specified or included.
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the Coravin System is classified in heading 8481, HTSUS, specifically, it is classified in subheading 8481.80.50, HTSUS, which provides for “Taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, vats or the like, including pressure-reducing valves and thermostatically controlled valves; parts thereof: Other appliances: Hand operated: Of other materials.” The 2014 column one, general rate of duty for merchandise of subheading 8481.80.50, HTSUS, is 3% ad valorem.
Duty rates are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov.
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time the goods are entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction.
Sincerely,
Ieva K. O’Rourke, Chief
Tariff Classification and Marking Branch