CLA–2 OT:RR:CTF:CPM H268654 CKG
RE: Request for Internal Advice; classification of negative brakes
Port Director
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Port of Charleston 200 East Bay Street
Charleston, SC 29401
Attn: Dionne Durham
Dear Port Director,
This is in regard to a request for Internal Advice, dated June 24, 2015, filed on behalf of Comer Inc., regarding the classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) of negative brakes. Pictures, graphs and other illustrations were provided with the ruling request.
FACTS:
The items under consideration have been identified as Negative Brake RB 160 (Part Number 5705.006.0004), Negative Brake FSD 30/38 (Part Number 4747.002.500), and Negative Brake RA35 CAT V (Part Number 5706.023.0003). The Negative Brakes at issue are all described as brake assemblies. Comer states that each of the items at issue is designed as a spring applied, hydraulic release brake assembly that prevents the crane or compactor that the negative brakes are used with from moving once all of the machine’s hydraulics are turned off and parked. To release the brake, hydraulic pressure is added to the brake port, moving the piston to collapse the springs inside, which allows the brake discs to separate. Once the brake discs are able to move freely, the internal shaft rotates to allow movement of the crane or compactor.
In essence, the Negative Brakes at issue function as parking brakes—i.e., they do not appear to be designed for stopping a machine or vehicle in motion, but rather to prevent further motion once the machine has already come to a complete stop.
Negative Brake RB 160 (Part Number 5705.006.0004) is described as a travel brake gearbox used with a Manitowoc crane, connected to a drive shaft which turns a right angle travel drive to allow the tracks of the crane to move. It consists of a machined housing with a brake port, flange, shaft, steel disks, friction disks, piston, springs, o-rings, lip seal, retaining ring, bearings, plugs, and bolts. The RB 160, due to its mounting shape and size, is stated to be specifically designed for and exclusively used with a Manitowoc crane. The RB 160 is capable of operating independently.
Negative Brake RA 35 CAT V (Part 5706.023.0003) is described as a travel brake gearbox used on a Caterpillar tire compactor. It is connected to a drive coupling which turns individual axles with wheels left and right. It consists of a machined housing with a brake port, flange, shaft, steel disks, friction disks, piston, springs, o-rings, lip seal, retaining ring, bearings, plugs, and bolts. The RA 35 is designed for use only with a Caterpillar tire compactor, and is capable of operating independently.
Negative Brake FSD 30/38 (Part 4747.002.500) is a component of a complete swing gearbox, which is used as the brake assembly for the boom on a Manitowoc crane. The FSD 30/38 consists of a machined housing with a brake port, flange, steel disks, friction disks, pistons, springs, o-rings, lip seal, retaining ring, bearings, plugs, bolts, and a shaft. The FSD 30/38 is unable to operate independently. It is not designed specifically for any vehicle or machine.
ISSUE:
Whether the subject merchandise is classified in heading 8708, HTSUS, as parts and accessories of motor vehicles of heading 8701 to 8706, HTSUS; heading 8483, HTSUS, as gearboxes; heading 8431, HTSUS, as parts of machinery of headings 8425 to 8430; or heading 8487, HTSUS, as other machinery parts.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that classification is determined first in accordance with the terms of the headings of the tariff and any relative section or chapter notes. The Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the
The HTSUS provisions at issue are as follows:
8431: Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430:
8483: Transmission shafts (including camshafts and crankshafts) and cranks; bearing
housings, housed bearings and plain shaft bearings; gears and gearing; ball or roller screws; gear boxes and other speed changers, including torque converters; flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks; clutches and shaft couplings (including universal joints); parts thereof:
8487: Machinery parts, not containing electrical connectors, insulators, coils, contacts or other electrical features, and not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter:
8708: Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705:
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Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c) provides in pertinent part as follows:
In the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires: … (c) a provision for parts of an article covers products solely or principally used as a part of such articles but a provision for "parts" or "parts and accessories" shall not prevail over a specific provision for such part or accessory;
Note 2 to Section XVI provides as follows:
Subject to note 1 to this section, note 1 to chapter 84 and to note 1 to chapter 85, parts of machines (not being parts of the articles of heading 8484, 8544, 8545, 8546 or 8547) are to be classified according to the following rules:
(a) Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of chapters 84 and 85 (other than headings 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8487, 8503, 8522, 8529, 8538 and 8548) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings;
(b) Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading 8479 or 8543) are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate ...
(c) All other parts are to be classified in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate, or failing that, in heading 8487 or 8548.
Note 2 to Section XVII provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
2.- The expressions “parts” and “parts and accessories” do not apply to the following
articles, whether or not they are identifiable as for the goods of this Section :
…
(e) Machines or apparatus of headings 84.01 to 84.79, or parts thereof, other than
the radiators for the articles of this Section; articles of heading 84.81 or 84.82 or, provided they constitute integral parts of engines or motors, articles of heading 84.83;
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The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate classification under the HTSUS by offering guidance in understanding the scope of the headings and the GRIs.
The General EN to Note 2 to Section XVI, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent part:
In general, parts which are suitable for use solely or principally with particular machines or apparatus… or with a group of machines or apparatus falling in the same heading, are classified in the same heading as those machines or apparatus…
…
(B) Parts of machinery of headings 84.25 to 84.30 (heading 84.31)
…
The above rules do not apply to parts which in themselves constitute an article covered by a heading of this Section…; these are in all cases classified in their own appropriate heading even if they are specifically designed to work as part of a specific machine. This applies in particular to:
…
(6) Transmission shafts… gears and gearing (including friction gears and gear-boxes and other speed changers)… (heading 84.83)… (Emphasis in original)
The EN to heading 8426, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
The heading covers :
(8) Jib or derrick cranes (but see the introduction to this Explanatory Note regarding railway breakdown cranes, crane lorries, floating cranes, etc.). Jib or derrick cranes are used for lifting loads and sometimes also moving them laterally. They consist essentially of a boom or jib which may be jointed to provide adjustable reach and to facilitate working. The hoisting cable passes over pulleys at the top of the boom and is driven by a winch. The jib or boom may be supported by a vertical support, sometimes of considerable height.
(9) Cableways and cable cranes, which are installations for transporting suspended loads. They consist of one or more bearer cables supported on fixed or movable towers, and a trolley running on the cables and fitted with a mechanism for hoisting and lowering the loads. They are used for handling materials on large construction sites, dams, bridges, quarries, etc.
The EN to heading 8705 provides, in pertinent part:
The heading includes :
Motor breakdown lorries (trucks) consisting of a lorry (truck) chassis, with or without
a floor, equipped with lifting gear such as non rotating cranes, trestles, pulleys or winches, designed for lifting and towing broken down vehicles.
(7) Crane lorries (trucks), not for the transport of goods, consisting of a motor vehicle
chassis on which a cab and a rotating crane are permanently mounted. However,
lorries (trucks) with self loading devices are excluded (heading 87.04).
EN 84.29 provides, in pertinent part:
The provisions of Explanatory Note to heading 84.30 relating to self propelled and multi function machines apply, mutatis mutandis, to the self propelled machinery of this heading, which includes the following:
(D) Tamping machines as used in road making, for packing rail road ballast, etc. (but
see paragraph (a) of the introduction to Explanatory Note to heading 84.30 regarding machines mounted on vehicles of Chapter 86).
(E) Self propelled road rollers as used in road building or other public works (e.g.,
for levelling the ground or rolling the road surface).
These machines are fitted with heavy cast iron or steel cylinders of large diameter, smooth or studded with metal feet which press into the soil (“sheep’s foot” rollers), or with wheels and heavy grade solid or pneumatic tyres.
The EN to heading 8483, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
(E) GEAR BOXES AND OTHER SPEED CHANGERS, INCLUDING TORQUE CONVERTERS
These provide a range of speeds which can be varied, either by hand or automatically, according to the requirements of the machine. They include, inter alia :
Gear boxes consisting of assemblies of gears which can be selected in
alternative arrangements; the speed of transmission can thus be varied according to the arrangement of gears set.
Friction disc or friction cone couplings and couplings with chains or driving
belts, in which a disc, a cone, a chain or a belt is in contact with a friction wheel whose position, relative to the centre of the disc or the ends of the cone, can be varied automatically (or as required), and so controls the speed of rotation transmitted.
Variable speed fluid couplings, including hydraulic torque converters.
Variations are obtained by the rotation of vanes of the driving element in a fluid (generally oil) against fixed or movable vanes of the driven element. Power is transmitted either by pressure (hydrostatic changers) or by flux (hydrodynamic changers or torque converters).
The heading does not cover gear boxes or other variable speed changers combined with a motor; these are classified in the same heading as the motor.
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The requestor suggests that negative brakes RB 160 and RA35 CAT V be classified in subheading 8708.40.5000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705: Gear boxes and parts thereof: Gear boxes.” Additionally, the importer suggests that negative brake FSD 30/38 be classified in subheading 8483.40.5050, HTSUS, which provides for gear boxes and other speed changers.
Heading 8708 provides for parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705. EN 87.08 clarifies that such parts and accessories must be must be identifiable as being suitable for use solely or principally with the above mentioned vehicles.
The items under consideration are said to be used with Manitowoc cranes and Caterpillar “tire compactors” (i.e., pneumatic/road rollers). Heading 8705, HTSUS, provides for, inter alia, “crane lorries”, which are described in EN 87.05 as “Crane lorries (trucks), not for the transport of goods, consisting of a motor vehicle chassis on which a cab and a rotating crane are permanently mounted.” The cranes identified in your submission as “Reference 39” and “Reference 45” however, are not of the type classifiable in heading 8705, HTSUS; they are not fitted to a truck or lorry, but rather, they resemble cable cranes or derricks of the type classifiable in heading 8426, HTSUS, which provides for “Ships’ derricks; cranes, including cable cranes; mobile lifting frames, straddle carriers and works trucks fitted with a crane”. The tire compactor presented in your submission as “Reference 46” is of the type classifiable in heading 8429, HTSUS, which provides for “Self-propelled bulldozers, angledozers, graders, levelers, scrapers, mechanical shovels, excavators, shovel loaders, tamping machines and road rollers.” Since the negative brakes at issue are not solely or principally used with vehicles of heading 8701 to heading 8705, HTSUS, they are not classified in heading 8708, HTSUS.
Negative Brakes RB 160 and RA 35 CAT V are gearboxes designed to function as spring applied release brake assemblies that prevent, respectively, a crane and a crane boom from moving. Both gearboxes are described as connecting to, but not incorporating, a drive shaft or coupling.
Gearboxes of heading 8483, HTSUS, are designed to transmit power from a rotating power source—e.g., a vehicle engine—to an output source such as a driveshaft. More specifically, gearboxes used in vehicles and similar machines adapt the engine’s higher rotational output to the slower wheel speed.
Gearboxes that are designed to transmit power thus fall under the purview of heading 8483, HTSUS. However, in this case, a hydraulically operated emergency parking brake system is integrated into a power transmitting device. The negative brakes themselves do not rotate the drive shaft or coupling; they only release the brake discs holding the shaft in place. Thus they do not function to transmit power the driveshaft or to convert the speed and torque of the engine to match the slower wheel rotation. CBP has previously determined that a hydraulically operated braking system integrated in the same structure as a gearbox is not classified as a good of heading 8483, HTSUS. See Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 963850, dated November 16, 2000 (“the integration of these power-transmitting components with a hydraulically-operated emergency/parking brake system, all within the same structural axle housing, results in an article that, in terms of functionality, goes beyond the mere transmission of power”). By contrast, in HQ 950930, dated April 22, 1992, CBP noted that while the gearbox subject to that ruling was imported with disc brake rotors, the merchandise in its condition as imported served only the purpose of transmitting power, and therefore remained classified in heading 8483, HTSUS. Thus, because negative brakes RB 160 and RA 35 CAT V incorporate a complete braking system, their function is more than just the transmission of power. These items are thus advanced beyond the scope of heading 8483, HTSUS, and are not classified therein.
Similarly, the FSD 30/38 appears to be a component of a spring applied release brake assembly that contributes to the hydraulic release action, rather than the transmission of the torque. Based on this information, negative brake FSD 30/38 also falls outside the scope of heading 8483, HTSUS, because it does not function in the manner of devices of heading 8483, HTSUS—i.e., to transmit power from a vehicle engine.
As the articles have been determined not to be goods included in headings 8483, HTSUS, classification in accordance with Note 2(a) to Section XVI would not be appropriate.
Comer states that, due to the shape and size of the mounting mechanism, the RB 160 can only be used with a Manitowoc Crane, and the RA 35 CAT V is exclusively designed for use on a Caterpillar tire compactor. The Manitowoc crane illustrated by Comer in its submission is a product of heading 8426, HTSUS. The tire compactor, in turn, is classified in heading 8429, HTSUS. Negative Brakes RB 160 and RA 35 CAT V are therefore designed as parts solely or principally used with machines of Section XVI, They are therefore classified pursuant to Note 2(b) to Section XVI. In accordance with Note 2(b) to Section XVI, the applicable heading for Negative Brakes RB 160 and RA35 CAT V is heading 8431, HTSUS, which provides for “Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430.”
The FSD 30/38, however, is an internal section of a gearbox, and not specific to any particular vehicle or machine. As it is not solely or principally used with machines of headings 8425 to 8430, it cannot be classified in heading 8431, HTSUS. Heading 8487 provides for machinery parts, not containing electrical connectors, insulators, coils, contacts or other electrical features, not specified or included elsewhere in Chapter 84.
As the FSD 30/38 is not solely or principally used in any specific vehicle or machine, and it is not elsewhere specified or included in the tariff, it is classified in heading 8487, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1 and GRI 6, Negative Brake RB 160 (Part Number 5705.006.0004) is classified in heading 8431, HTSUS, specifically subheading 8431.49.10, HTSUS, which provides for “Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430: Other: Of machinery of heading 8426, 8429 or 8430: Of machinery of heading 8426”. The 2017 column one, general rate of duty is Free.
Negative Brake RA35 CAT V (Part Number 5706.023.0003) is classified in heading 8431, HTSUSD, specifically subheading 8431.49.90, HTSUS, which provides for “Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430: Other: Of machinery of heading 8426, 8429 or 8430: Other.” The 2017 column one, general rate of duty is Free.
Negative Brake FSD 30/38 (Part Number 4747.002.500) is classified in heading 8487, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 8487.90.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Machinery parts, not containing electrical connectors, insulators, coils, contacts or other electrical features, and not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter: Other.” The 2017 column one, general rate of duty is 3.9% ad valorem.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
Duty rates are provided for the internal advice applicant’s convenience and are
subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided online at www.usitc.gov.
You are directed to mail this decision to the internal advice applicant, no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. On that date the Office of Regulations and Rulings will make the public version of the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public on the CBP Home Page online at www.CBP.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other public methods of distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division