OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN: H306351 PF
TARIFF NOs.: 8479.89.65, 9903.88.15
Adrienne Braumiller
Braumiller Law Group, PLLC
5220 Spring Valley Road, Suite 200
Dallas, Texas 75254
RE: Request for Reconsideration of NY N305729; Tariff Classification of a Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum
Dear Ms. Braumiller:
This is in response to your letter, requesting reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N305729, dated September 4, 2019 (“reconsideration request”) on behalf of MTD Consumer Group Inc. NY N305729 involved the classification of two items: (1) the engine designed to be used with a Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum and (2) the Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). The classification of the engine is not in dispute. However, you disagree with our classification of the Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum. Upon review of NY N305729, we have determined the ruling to be correct. We are accordingly affirming the ruling.
NY N305729 provides the following description of the Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum:
You state that the function of the Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum is to roll across a lawn like a lawn mower, sucking up and shredding leaves as they go. They [sic] also feature a chipper intake, which can chip branches into mulch.
In your reconsideration request, the Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum is identified in the supporting documentation as a Troy-Bilt CSV 060 Chipper Shredder Vacuum. It is stated in the requester’s advertising material that the machine can “[s]weep up leaves and debris quickly . . . then use the on-board vacuum hose for tight spots under shrubs . . . . Ideal for spring yard cleanup or picking up fall leaves!” The Operator’s Manual lists various controls that are used to vacuum up yard waste and debris. In your submission, you state that the Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum is a “machine designed for use in the lawn care industry”, and you also state that:
Its principal purpose is to clear or remove stray branches, leaves, and twigs from lawns and gardens. Accordingly, the machine has three functions - shredding, chipping, and vacuuming. The Walk Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum is able to roll across a lawn (like a lawn mower), sucking up and shredding leaves as it goes. The machine also features a chipper intake that can chip small branches into mulch and a removeable [sic] hose attachment that vacuums leaves from beneath bushes and other hard to reach places.
In NY N305729, CBP classified the Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum in subheading 8479.89.65, HTSUS, which provides for “Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and mechanical appliances: Other: Electromechanical appliances with self-contained electric motor: Other.
In your reconsideration request, you maintain that the Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum is classified in subheading 8436.80.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Other agricultural, horticultural, forestry, poultry-keeping or bee-keeping machinery, including germination plant fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment; poultry incubators and brooders; parts thereof: Other machinery. Other: Other: Other.” In support of your claim, you cite to various CBP rulings, including NY N114998, dated August 5, 2010, where CBP classified chipper/shredders in subheading 8436.80.00, HTSUS. The chipper/shredders in NY N114998 were described as electrically powered machines designed to chip and shred small pieces of garden debris and cuttings. However, the chipper/shredders in NY N114998 did not incorporate a vacuuming function and therefore is not analogous to the subject Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum.
In NY N296839, dated June 5, 2018, CBP classified a Walk-Behind Vacuum/Blower/Mulcher Unit which was designed to remove leaves, dirt and debris from a lawn/garden, in subheading 8479.89.65, HTSUS. The Walk-Behind Vacuum/Blower/Mulcher Unit performed three functions, which were vacuuming, blowing, and mulching leaves, dirt and debris from a lawn/garden. NY N296839 determined that, per Note 3 to Section XVI, the item was a composite machine and therefore, was classifiable in accordance with General Rule of Interpretation (“GRI”) 3. CBP further determined that among the article’s three functions, no function could be said to constitute the principal function under GRI 3(b). Therefore, the machine was classified in accordance with GRI 3(c) (which looks to the heading that occurs last in numerical order among those which merit equal consideration), within heading 8479, HTSUS.
The subject Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum is a composite machine because it chips, shreds and vacuums. The chipper/shredder function would fall in heading 8436, HTSUS and the vacuum functionality would fall in heading 8479, HTSUS. Like the Walk-Behind Vacuum/Blower/Mulcher Unit in NY N296839, no one function predominates. As a result, the subject Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum is classifiable under subheading 8479.89.65, HTSUS, pursuant to Note 3 to Section XVI, GRI 3(c). For all of the aforementioned reasons, the Walk-Behind Chipper Shredder Vacuum is correctly classified in heading 8479, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 8479.89.65, HTSUS. The general, column one rate of duty for goods of subheading 8479.89.65 is 2.8 percent ad valorem.
Pursuant to U.S. Note 20 to Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS, products of China classified under subheading 8479.89.65, HTSUS, unless specifically excluded, are subject to an additional 7.5 percent ad valorem rate of duty. At the time of importation, you must report the Chapter 99 subheading, i.e., 9903.88.15, in addition to subheading 8479.89.65, HTSUS, listed above.
The HTSUS is subject to periodic amendment so you should exercise reasonable care in monitoring the status of goods covered by the Note cited above and the applicable Chapter 99 subheading. For background information regarding the trade remedy initiated pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, you may refer to the relevant parts of the USTR and CBP websites, which are available at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/tariff-actions and https://www.cbp.gov/trade/remedies/301-certain-products-china respectively.
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 World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
Based on the above, we hereby affirm NY N305729, dated September 4, 2019.
Sincerely,
Craig T. Clark, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division