CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H273469 PF
TARIFF NO. 8479.89.94
Mr. Eric Hansel, LCB
CH Powell Company
478 Wando Park Blvd
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
RE: Tariff Classification of a Steel or Stainless Steel Pellet Press
Dear Mr. Hansel:
This letter responds to your correspondence of October 2, 2015 and August 31, 2017, submitted on behalf of your client Prodesa North America Corporation (“Prodesa”). In your letter, you seek a prospective ruling under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) regarding the tariff classification of Prodesa’s steel or stainless steel pellet press or pellet mill (“pellet press” or “subject merchandise”). Our decision is set forth below.
FACTS:
You have described the subject pellet press as a steel or stainless steel stationary machine for converting powder into pellets by means of compression. The powder enters through the upper part and flows in the chamber where it passes through holes of a rotating die forced by rotation of two rollers. The powder is compressed and its temperature is increased due to this compression. The combination of pressure and high temperature makes the pellet at the outlet of the die stay cohesive.
According to your ruling request, the pellet press can work with several agricultural-origin powder or flour, but in the present case it will work with wood for making 6 to 8 millimeter (mm) diameter wood pellets measuring up to 40 mm long. In addition, Prodesa’s website indicates that its core businesses include the design, manufacturing and supply of complete wood pellet plants, biomass dryers and biomass fueled combined heat and power (“CHP”) plants under an Engineering Procurement Construction and Operation and Maintenance model. A pellet plant brochure on Prodesa’s website indicates that pellet production includes wood, forage, and alfalfa.
ISSUE:
Whether the pellet press is properly classified in subheading 8479.30.00, HTSUS, as machinery for treating wood or in subheading 8479.89.94, HTSUS, as other machines.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of
Interpretation (GRls). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule 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 GRls 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. GRI 6 states:
For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheading 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 subheadings under consideration are as follows:
8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof:
* * *
8479.30.00 Presses for the manufacture of particle board or fiber building board of wood or other ligneous materials and other machinery for treating wood or cork
* * *
Other machines and mechanical appliances:
* * *
8479.89 Other
* * *
8479.89.94 Other
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 ENs 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, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
EN 84.79, HTSUS, provides in pertinent part:
(II) MACHINERY FOR CERTAIN INDUSTRIES
This group includes:
(C) Machinery for treating wood or similar materials, e.g.:
(2) Special presses for agglomerating wood fibre, wood chips, sawdust or cork dust.
There is no dispute that the subject pellet press meets the requirements of classification as a machine and mechanical appliance having an individual function, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, of heading 8479, HTSUS. Rather, the issue is the proper classification at the subheading level, specifically whether the subject pellet press is a machine for the manufacture of particle board or fiber building board of wood or other ligneous materials and other machinery for treating wood. Accordingly, GRI 6 applies.
You have proposed classification in subheading 8479.30, HTSUS and note that the subject “machine can work with several agricultural-origin powder or flour, but in this case it will work with wood for making 6 to 8 mm diameter wood pellets and up to 40-mm long.” This information serves as an indication that the subject machine is not solely used with wood, ligneous materials, or cork.
You have provided insufficient documentation to support a determination that the subject pellet press is principally used with wood, ligneous materials, or cork, as described in the subheading text of 8479.30, HTSUS, and as described in the EN’s. The information that you submitted, as well as certain material that appears on the Prodesa website, shows that pellet presses can be used to compress not only wood into pellets, but also to compress other materials, such as paper, biomass, and synthetics into pellets.
In addition, Prodesa’s website indicates that its core businesses include the design, manufacturing and supply of complete wood pellet plants, biomass dryers and biomass fueled CHP plants under an Engineering Procurement Construction and Operation and Maintenance model. A pellet plants brochure on Prodesa’s website discusses that the pellet production includes wood, forage, and alfalfa. Therefore, it is clear from Prodesa’s website that the pellet press is not solely marketed to pelletize wood, but is also marketed to pelletize other biomass. Therefore, although the pellet press may be imported to create wood pellets, the available documentation indicates that this type of machines is also used with agricultural waste or other biomass materials.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has considered the classification of similar devices in Headquarters Ruling HQ H249756, dated June 20, 2017 and New York Ruling Letter F89429, dated July 31, 2000. In HQ H249756, CBP determined that briquetting presses, which were capable of compacting multiple materials, were classified in subheading 8479.89.98, HTSUS (2012) because the machines were not principally used with wood and because the machines could compress other materials such as polystyrene, foam, light alloys, paper or biomass into pellets. In NY F89429, CBP classified briquetting presses that compressed metal chips, shavings, grinding dust, and spiral turnings, into metal briquettes, in subheading 8479.89.97, HTSUS (2000). Similarly, in this case, the subject pellet press is classified under subheading 8479.89.94, HTSUS, based on the fact that they do not fall under the scope of subheading 8479.30, HTSUS, or any of the other superior subheadings within heading 8479, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1 and GRI 6, the subject pellet press is classified in subheading 8479.89.94, HTSUS, which provides for “Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter: Other: Other.” The 2018 general column 1 duty rate is 2.5% ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for convenience only and are 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/tata/hts/. A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to 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,
Gregory Connor, Branch Chief
Electronics, Machinery, Automotive and International Nomenclature Branch