OT:RR:CTF:CPMMA H304801 AJK
TARIFF NO: 8462.29.0050
Mr. Ryan Supek
TE Connectivity
2800 Fulling Mill Road
Middletown, PA 17057
RE: Request for Reconsideration of NY N298688; Classification of Applicator
Dear Mr. Supek:
This letter is in response to your letter, dated June 24, 2019, in which you requested a reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (NY) N298688, issued to you by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on July 31, 2018, concerning the classification of an applicator under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). We have reviewed NY N298688 and found it to be correct with respect to the classification of the applicator.
In your letter, you also requested a binding ruling on the classification of a terminator, an anvil and a wire crimper. In accordance with 19 C.F.R. § 177.2, however, you may resubmit your request for a binding ruling to: Director, National Commodity Specialist Division, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, One Penn Plaza, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10119.
FACTS:
The applicator was described in NY N298688 as follows:
You are importing a universal crimping tool that provides a method of applying a wide range of feed terminals to prestripped discrete wire and cable. The Ocean 2.0 Crimping Applicator works in an [sic] universal press and in most industry standard presses. The applicator is available in two versions, i.e., mechanical and pneumatic. In order to handle multiple press styles, it is also available in two formats, i.e., Atlantic (with male adapter) and Pacific (with female adapter). The applicator has been designed for mid- to high volume in semi- or fully automatic operations.
ISSUE:
Whether the applicator is classified in subheading 8207.30.6062, HTSUS, as metal forming dies, or subheading 8462.29.0005, HTSUS, as metal bending machines.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that classification 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 GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
* * * * * *
The HTSUS provisions at issue are as follows:
8207: Interchangeable tools for handtools, whether or not power operated, or
for machine-tools (for example, for pressing, stamping, punching, tapping, threading, drilling, boring, broaching, milling, turning or screwdriving), including dies for drawing or extruding metal, and rock drilling or earth boring tools; base metal parts thereof:
8207.30: Tools for pressing, stamping or punching, and parts thereof:
8207.30.60: Not suitable for cutting metal, and parts thereof:
8207.30.6062: Metal forming dies, including thread-rolling dies
8462: Machine tools (including presses) for working metal by forging,
hammering or die-stamping; machine tools (including presses) for
working metal by bending, folding, straightening, flattening, shearing, punching or notching; presses for working metal or metal carbides, not specified above:
Bending, folding, straightening or flattening machines (including presses):
8462.29.00: Other:
Other:
8462.29.0050: Other
Note 1 to Section XV, which includes Chapter 82, states in pertinent part:
This section does not cover:
…
(f) Articles of section XVI (machinery, mechanical appliances and electrical goods);
Note 2 to Section XVI, which includes Chapter 84, provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
This section does not cover:
…
(k) Articles of chapter 82 or 83; ….
* * * * * *
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the HS. While not legally binding or dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HS at the international level, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).
EN 82.07 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
[T]his heading covers an important group of tools which are unsuitable for use independently, but are designed to be fitted, as the case may be, into:
…
(B) machine-tools, of headings 84.57 to 84.65, or of heading 84.79 by reason of Note 7 to Chapter 84, …
for pressing, stamping, punching, tapping, threading, drilling, boring, reaming, broaching, milling, gear-cutting, turning, cutting, morticing or drawing, etc., metals, metal carbides, wood, stone, ebonite, certain plastics or other materials, or for screwdriving….
EN 84.62 provides, in pertinent part:
The heading covers certain machine tools, listed in the heading text, which work by changing the shape or form of metal or metal carbides.
In general machine tools are power driven but similar machines, worked by hand or pedal, are also covered by this heading. These latter types can be distinguished from the hand tools of heading 82.05 and from the tools for working in the hand of heading 84.67, by the fact that they are usually designed to be mounted on the floor, on a bench, on a wall or on another machine, and are thus usually provided with a base plate, mounting frame, stand, etc.
The heading includes:
(2) Bending machines. These include machines for working flat products (sheets, plates
and strips) which, by passing the products through three or four sets of rollers, give
them a cylindrical curve (for this the rollers are parallel as with tube forming machines) or else a conical shape (in which the rollers are not parallel); machines for working non flat products (bars, rods, angles, shapes, sections, tubes). These machines work either by means of forming rollers, by press bending, or, for tubes (and, in particular, oil pipes), by drawing their ends while the main section is held by a fixed cylinder.
* * * * * *
The subject applicator is a universal crimping tool that is inserted into a terminator to press and bend metal terminals around wires. Although the applicator sits on and is powered through the terminator, the applicator is a machine in-and-of itself. As the applicator contains the crimping and cutting attachments, it is capable of performing the actual function of press bending by itself. The fact that the applicator is powered through a terminator does not affect this classification, because EN 84.62 states that machine tools are generally power driven without limiting the source of the power. Thus, under GRI 1, the applicator is classifiable in heading 8462, HTSUS, as machine tools.
Furthermore, the subject applicator is not a tool that is “unsuitable for use independently” under heading 8207, HTSUS as described in EN 82.07. Moreover, as the merchandise is fully described by the terms of heading 8462, HTSUS, it cannot be classified in Section XV, under heading 8207, in accordance with note 1(f) to that section.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, the applicator is classified in heading 8462, HTSUS, specifically subheading 8462.29.0050, HTSUS, which provides for “Machine tools (including presses) for working metal by forging, hammering or die-stamping; machine tools (including presses) for working metal by bending, folding, straightening, flattening, shearing, punching or notching; presses for working metal or metal carbides, not specified above: Bending, folding, straightening or flattening machines (including presses): Other: Other: Other”. The 2021 column one, general rate of duty is 4.4 percent ad valorem.
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 at www.usitc.gov.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
NY N298688, dated July 31, 2018, is hereby affirmed.
Sincerely,
for
Craig T. Clark, Director Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division
CC: NIS Anthony Grossi
NIS Denise Hopkins