OT:RR:CTF:CPMMA H310474 AJK
TARIFF NO: 7304.31.3000; 7306.50.5030
Ms. Kim M. Caywood-Pierce
Deringer Trade Advisory Group
173 West Service Road
Champlain, NY 12919
RE: Affirmation of NY N308564; Classification of Threaded Hollow Bars
Dear Ms. Caywood-Pierce:
This letter is in response to your reconsideration request, dated April 2, 2020, on behalf of your client, SAS Stressteel, Inc. (SAS), in which you request reconsideration of two items identified as (1) 28Mn6 self-drilling hollow bar and (2) 36Mn5 self-drilling hollow bar, which are classified in New York Ruling Letter (NY) N308564, dated January 17, 2020, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reviewed NY N308564, together with the information in your request, and finds the above-mentioned items to have been correctly classified.
The subject merchandise is described in NY N308564 as follows:
Item number one (1) is actually two self-drilling hollow bars. The first is described as steel grade 28Mn6 and is a welded, hollow bar with an outside diameter of 51 mm and an inside diameter of 29.5 mm. The chemistry provided for this bar indicates this product is manufactured from alloy steel. The second self-drilling hollow bar is described as steel grade 36Mn5 and is a seamless, hollow bar with an outside diameter of 51 mm and an inside diameter of 29.5 mm. The chemistry provided for this bar indicates this product is manufactured from nonalloy steel. You indicate the thread on both bars is cold-rolled.
It is undisputed that the threaded hollow bars are utilized with SAS’s Self Drilling Hollow Bar System, which is comprised of either a seamless or welded threaded hollow bar, a coupler, and a clay bit. As described in your initial request for a binding ruling, dated September 6, 2019, the Self Drilling Hollow Bar System is designed to drill and grout into loose or collapsing soils without the need for a temporary casing. In its application, the clay bit is screwed on a threaded hollow bar to serve as a bore head, and the threaded hollow bar is inserted into the transition sleeve of the shank or into the casing of the rotary injection adaptor. The threaded hollow bar is then drilled into the ground with a hydraulic hammer and is filled with mortar or cement grout. After the hardening of the mortar or cement grout, the appropriate pile head components are installed onto the threaded hollow bars, which are permanently attached to the soil. Thus, the threaded hollow bars are not reusable once they are installed into the ground.
In your reconsideration request, you assert that both seamless and welded threaded hollow bars are properly classified in heading 8207, HTSUS, as interchangeable tools for a boring machine. Specifically, you contend that the subject merchandise is properly classified in either subheading 8207.50.8000, HTSUSA (Annotated), as tools for drilling other than rock drilling, or in subheading 8207.60.0061, HTSUSA, as tools for boring. In support of your claim, you cite to HQ H261124, dated July 19, 2016, which held that “an implement used to directly work a particular surface merits treatment as a tool for classification purposes, even if it is capable of such use only in conjunction with other items.” We disagree. First, we note that the EN 82.07 provides that “[the] heading covers an important group of tools which are unsuitable for use independently, but are designed to be fitted … into: (A) hand tools …, (B) machine-tools …, [and] (C) tools of heading 8467, for pressing, stamping, punching, tapping, threading, drilling, boring, … etc.” Thus, pursuant to the EN 82.07, the subject threaded hollow bars are excluded from heading 8207, HTSUS, because they are not reusable tools that are unsuitable for use independently. Unlike merchandise of heading 8207, HTSUS, which are unsuitable for use independently and are designed to be fitted into boring tools, the subject merchandise can be used alone and does not perform the actual function of drilling. Second, the threaded hollow bars are not used directly with the ground surface. Instead, the clay bit, which is attached to the threaded hollow bar, is the part of SAS’s Self Drilling Hollow Bar System that performs the work of drilling by coming in direct contact with the surface. Thus, the threaded hollow bars do not constitute interchangeable tools for a boring machine under heading 8207, HTSUS.
Accordingly, the threaded hollow bars, which are hollow inside, are distinct commercial articles that are more specifically provided for in heading 7228, HTSUS, which provides for hollow drill bars. Note 1(p) to Chapter 72, however, defines hollow bars as bars “of any cross section, suitable for drills, of which the greatest external dimension of the cross section exceeds 15 mm but does not exceed 52 mm, and of which the greatest internal dimension does not exceed one half of the greatest external dimension.” The note directs other hollow bars that do not fall within the prescribed measurements to heading 7304, HTSUS, which provides for seamless hollow bars of iron or steel. In light of the above, the seamless threaded hollow bars are properly classified in heading 7304, HTSUS, whereas the welded threaded hollow bars are classified in heading 7306, HTSUS, which provides for welded hollow profiles of iron or steel.
In accordance with the above analysis, we hereby affirm NY N308564. Accordingly, the 28Mn6 seamless threaded hollow bars are classified in subheading 7304.31.3000, HTSUSA, which provides for “Tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, seamless, of iron (other than cast iron) or steel: Other, of circular cross section, of iron or nonalloy steel: Cold-drawn or cold-rolled (cold-reduced): Hollow bars”. Additionally, the 36Mn5 welded threaded hollow bars are classified in subheading 7306.50.5030, HTSUSA, which provides for “Other tubes, pipes and hollow profiles (for example, open seamed or welded, riveted or similarly closed), of iron or steel: Other, welded, of circular cross section, of other alloy steel: Having a wall thickness of 1.65 mm or more: Other: Other, cold-drawn or cold-rolled (cold-reduced)”.
On March 8, 2018, Presidential proclamations 9704 and 9705 imposed additional tariffs and quotas on a number of steel and aluminum mill products.? Exemptions have been made on a temporary basis for some countries. Quantitative limitations or quotas may apply for certain exempted countries and can also be found in Chapter 99. Additional duties for steel of 25 percent and for aluminum of 10 percent are reflected in Chapter 99, subheading 9903.80.01, HTSUS, for steel and subheading 9903.85.01, HTSUS, for aluminum. Products classified under subheadings 7304.31.3000 and 7306.50.5030, HTSUSA, may be subject to additional duties or quota. ?At the time of importation, you must report the Chapter 99 subheading applicable to your product classification in addition to the Chapter 73 subheadings listed above. ?The Proclamations are subject to periodic amendment of the exclusions and thus, you should exercise reasonable care in monitoring the status of goods covered by the Proclamations and the applicable Chapter 99 subheadings.
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/tata/hts.
Sincerely, Allyson Mattanah for
Craig T. Clark, Director Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division