CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:CPMM H284443 CKG
David Talley
DHI LLC
214 S. Austin Street
Brenham, TX 77833
RE: Revocation of NY N270588 and NY N097562; Classification of center sleeves and end rings for coupling assemblies
Dear Mr. Talley:
This is in reference to New York Ruling Letter (NY) N270588, issued to you by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on November 24, 2015, concerning classification of center sleeves and “end rings” used in coupling assemblies under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). We have reviewed NY N270588, determined that it is incorrect, and for the reasons set forth below, we are modifying that ruling.
We have additionally determined that NY N097562, issued to Inpac, Inc. (“Inpac”) on April 1, 2010, is incorrect for similar reasons. Like NY N270588, NY N097562 involves classification of center sleeves used in coupling assemblies. For the reasons set forth below, we are revoking that ruling.
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, notice proposing to revoke NY N270588 and NY N097562
was published on October 3, 2018, in Volume 52, Number 40 of the Customs Bulletin. No comments were received in response to this notice.
FACTS:
In NY N270588, CBP stated as follows with respect to the subject merchandise:
The products under consideration are described as component parts for the Style FC2A Ford Transition Coupling. The transition coupling is composed of four components which include sleeves, rings, gaskets and bolts. The two parts for which you are requesting a classification are identified as the Sleeve Wide Range Coupling Black FBE ASTM A536 GR 65-452 and the End Ring Ductile Iron Ultraflex Coupling Black FBE ASTM 536 GR 65-452. You stated that ‘These parts are not machined nor threaded but are coated.”
According to product literature reviewed by our office, “Ford Cast Couplings offer an easy and economical way of joining pipe.” Ford Meter Box Co., Section M: Ford Cast Couplings and Adapters M-4 (2017), available at http://www.fordmeterbox.com/?catalog/m/?mjpeg.pdf [hereinafter Ford Cast Couplings and Adapters]. The product literature further indicates that the couplings are “manufactured in accordance with the design, testing and performance standards of AWWA C219.” Id. The product literature also includes the following depiction of the Ford Cast Couplings, replete with labels for individual components:
Figure 1
CBP classified the subject center sleeves and end rings in heading 7326 of the 2015 HTSUS, specifically subheading 7326.90.85, HTSUS, which provided for “Other articles of iron or steel: Other: Other: Other: Other.” However, it is not clear whether the classification determination pertains to individual center sleeves and end rings or combinations of the two.
In NY N097562, which similarly involved classification of a center sleeve, CBP stated as follows with respect to the subject merchandise:
The merchandise is identified as a sleeve, item number 441. The item is also referred to in the trade as a middle ring, center ring or coupling body. The subject sleeve is the stabilizing component to create a seal between the pipe and gasket. The submitted specifications indicate that the sleeve is a ductile (malleable) iron casting. In your letter, you state that the items are not grooved or machined at the time of importation into the United States.
The following photographic depiction of the couplings with which the sleeves are used has been reproduced from Inpac’s website:
Figure 2
CBP classified the subject sleeve in heading 7325, HTSUS, specifically subheading 7325.99.10, HTSUS, which provides for “Other cast articles of iron or steel: Other: Other: Of cast iron.”
ISSUE:
Whether the subject center sleeves and end rings are classified in heading 7307, HTSUS, as pipe fittings, in heading 7325, HTSUS, as “other” cast articles or iron or steel, or in heading 7326, HTSUS, as “other” articles of iron or steel.
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 provisions 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. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the heading and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. GRI 2(a) provides, in relevant part, that “[a]ny reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or unfinished articles has the essential character of the complete or finished article.”
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) 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).
The 2018 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
7307 Tube or pipe fittings (for example, couplings, elbows, sleeves), of iron or steel
7325 Other cast articles of iron or steel
7326 Other articles of iron or steel
As a preliminary matter, the center sleeves and end rings can only be classified in heading 7325 or heading 7326, HTSUS, if they are not more specifically classifiable in heading 7307, HTSUS. See EN 73.25 (“This heading covers all cast articles of iron or steel, not elsewhere specified or included.”); see also EN 73.26 (“This heading covers all iron or steel articles…other than articles included in the preceding headings of this Chapter.”). We therefore begin our analysis with heading 7307, HTSUS.
Heading 7307 applies to pipe fittings of iron or steel, including, inter alia, couplings. Neither “pipe fitting” nor “coupling” are defined in the HTSUS. As such, they are to be construed in accordance with their common meanings, which may be ascertained by reference to “standard lexicographic and scientific authorities,” to the pertinent ENs, and to industry standards. GRK Can., Ltd. v. United States, 761 F.3d 1354, 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2014); see also Rocknel Fastener, Inc. v. United States, 267 F.3d 1354, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (“Standards promulgated by industry groups such as ANSI, ASME, and others are often used to define tariff terms.”).
To this end, EN 73.07 states, in pertinent part, as follows with respect to “pipe fittings” of heading 7307, HTSUS:
This heading covers fittings of iron or steel, mainly used for connecting the bores of two tubes together, or for connecting a tube to some other apparatus, or for closing the tube aperture. This heading does not however cover articles used for installing pipes and tubes but which do not form an integral part of the bore (e.g., hangers, stays and similar supports which merely fix or support the tubes and pipes on walls, clamping or tightening bands or collars (hose clips) used for clamping flexible tubing or hose to rigid piping, taps, connecting pieces, etc.) (heading 73.25 or 73.26).
The connection is obtained:
by screwing, when using cast iron or steel threaded fittings;
or by welding, when using butt welding or socket welding steel fittings. In the case of butt welding, the ends of the fittings and of the tubes are square cut or chamfered;
or by contact, when using removable steel fittings.
This heading therefore includes flat flanges and flanges with forged collars, elbows and bends and return bends, reducers, tees, crosses, caps and plugs, lap joint stub ends, fittings for tubular railings and structural elements, off sets, multi branch pieces, couplings or sleeves, clean out traps, nipples, unions, clamps and collars.
(emphasis added).
We have previously determined, upon consulting both the above EN description and various technical references, that pipe fittings are defined in part as articles used to connect separate pipes to each other. See Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) H282297, dated July 6, 2017 (discussing commonalities among EN 73.07 and technical definitions cited in court cases). Both the plain language of the heading and EN 73.07 make clear that articles of this type include “couplings.” The term “coupling,” like “pipe fitting,” is not defined in the HTSUS. According to AWWA C219-11, a technical source promulgated by the American Water Works Association, couplings include “transition couplings” made up of “center sleeves” or “center rings,” “end rings,” and “gaskets.” See Amer. Water Works Ass’n, AWWA Standard: Bolted, Sleeve-Type Couplings for Plain-End Pipe 4-6 (2011) [hereinafter AWWA C219-11]. Insofar as they are used to “join plain-end pipe,” we consider transition couplings to be “pipe fittings” of heading 7307, HTSUS. See id. at ix, 1.
At issue in NY N270488 are combinations of “sleeves” and “end rings” which, following entry, are conjoined with gaskets to form full transition couplings. At issue in NY N097562 are “center rings” (i.e., sleeves) that are likewise assembled into transition couplings following importation. As stated above, the types of transition couplings into which these sleeves and end rings are assembled are undisputedly pipe fittings of heading 7307, HTSUS, insofar as they are used to connect pipe. In fact, the above-cited product literature confirms that the particular couplings into which the sleeves and end rings of NY N270488 are assembled “offer a…way of joining pipe.” See Ford Cast Couplings and Adapters, supra. We therefore consider whether the merchandise can be considered “incomplete” or “unfinished” pipe fittings of the heading.
As stated above, GRI 2(a) provides that an unfinished or complete article with the essential character of a complete or finished article is to be treated as the latter for classification purposes. Applicable case law instructs that “the focus of the essential character analysis under GRI 2(a) is whether or not the identity of the article to be made from the imported good is fixed or certain at the time of importation.” See Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) H181679, dated July 17, 2015 (citing The Pomeroy Collection, Ltd. v. United States, 893 F. Supp. 2d 1269 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2013); Filmtec Corp. v. United States, 293 F. Supp. 2d 1364 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2003); and Baxter Healthcare Corp. of Puerto Rico v. United States, 22 C.I.T. 82 (1998)). Accordingly, “essential character” in this context corresponds to “the attribute which strongly marks or serves to distinguish what an article is; that which is indispensable to the structure, core or condition of the article; the aggregate of distinctive component parts that establishes the identity of an article as what it is, its very essence.” Id. (citing HQ 967975, dated March 24, 2006).
Here, the “identity” or “essence” of the transition couplings, or the attribute by which they are “strongly marked” or “distinguished,” is their capacity to join and secure separate pipe segments as a single, continuous aperture. The combinations of sleeves and end rings impart this identity, essence, or distinguishing attribute. Specifically, the sleeves provide the structure of the coupling within which the pipe segments are aligned and joined end-to-end to form the initial channel. Meanwhile, the end rings are used to stabilize and secure this connection, and need only be paired with gaskets and tightened with bolts to accomplish this end. There is no indication that either the sleeve or the end rings are suitable for any other use. In fact, the precise specifications set forth in AWWA C219-11 indicate that both are uniquely designed for integration into the coupling assembly. See, e.g., AWWA C219-11, supra, at 11 (stating, with reference to iron center sleeves, that “[g]asket-bearing areas shall be in the form of a smooth taper, cast into the sleeve.”). In light of this, we find that the identity of the sleeve and end ring combinations is indelibly fixed as that of a coupling at the time of the items’ entry. We note that this determination is consistent with at least one prior ruling involving highly similar merchandise. See NY K86336, dated June 14, 2004 (classifying combinations of center rings with end flanges or end “caps” in heading 7307, HTSUS).
We find the same with respect to the individual center rings at issue in NY N097562. As stated above, the center rings impart the structure of the transition coupling, and are even referred to in that ruling as coupling “bodies,” while housing and aligning the separate pipe ends to enable their initial connection. Given their structural and functional importance, the sleeves’ contribution to the identity of the couplings is sufficient for purposes of GRI 2(a). Moreover, we note that EN 73.07 lists “sleeves” among the types of products generally classifiable in heading 7307, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 2(a), the subject sleeves, as well as combinations of the sleeves and end rings, are classified in heading 7307, HTSUS. All merchandise is specifically classified in subheading 7307.19.3085, HTSUSA (Annotated), which provides for: “Tube or pipe fittings of iron or steel: Cast fittings: Other: Ductile fittings: Other.” The 2018 column one general rate of duty for subheading 7307.19.3085, HTSUSA, is 5.6% ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the internet at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
The merchandise in question may be subject to antidumping duties or countervailing duties (AD/CVD). We note that the International Trade Administration in the Department of Commerce is not necessarily bound by a country of origin or classification determination issued by CBP, with regard to the scope of antidumping or countervailing duty orders. Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the International Trade Administration and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by CBP. The International Trade Administration can be contacted at http://www.trade.gov/ia/. A list of current AD/CVD investigations at the United States International Trade Commission can be viewed on its website at http://www.usitc.gov. AD/CVD cash deposit and liquidation messages can be searched using ACE, the system of record for AD/CVD messages, or the AD/CVD Search tool at http://addcvd.cbp.gov/index.asp?ac=home.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
New York Ruling Letters N270588, dated November 24, 2015, and NY N097562, dated April 1, 2010, are hereby REVOKED in accordance with the above analysis.
In accordance with 19 U.S.C. § 1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Customs Bulletin.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division
CC: Erika-Lee Hickey
Inpac, Inc.
3100 NW Bucklin Hill Road, Suite 211
Silverdale, WA 98383