OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H325548 SKK
Center Director
Center of Excellence and Expertise - Machinery
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
109 Shiloh Drive, Suite 300
Laredo, TX 78045
ATTN: Jeremy Olson, Supervisory Import Specialist; Lori Vagle, Import Specialist
RE: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 1704-22-105336; Tariff classification of chainsaw guide bar
Dear Center Director:
This is our decision regarding an Application for Further Review (AFR) of Protest No. 1704-22-105336, filed by counsel on behalf of Husqvarna Professional Products (Protestant). The Protest and AFR concern the classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) of a chainsaw guide bar. The AFR was forwarded to this office for consideration. No sample was provided for examination.
The subject chainsaw guide bars were imported in two entries, dated December 10, 2020, and May 26, 2021, under heading 8467, HTSUS, specifically subheading 8467.91.01, HTSUS (2020/2021), which provides for “[T]ools for working in the hand, pneumatic, hydraulic or with self-contained electric or nonelectric motor, and parts thereof: Parts: Of chain saws.” The guide bars were liquidated, respectively, on November 19, 2021, and September 3, 2021, as a rate advance under heading 8466.10.01, HTSUS, which provides for “[P]arts and accessories suitable for use solely or principally with the machines of headings 8456 to 8465, including work or tool holders, self-opening dieheads, dividing heads and other special attachments for the machines; tool holders for any type of tool for working in the hand: Tool holders and self-opening dieheads.”
FACTS:
The article at issue is a product of China and described as a chainsaw guide bar. A chainsaw guide bar is a metal bar around which a chainsaw blade spins. The guide bar holds the chainsaw blade in place and keeps it straight while cutting. Guide bars are offered in various lengths and may have other variations. Guide bars are designed to fit specific chainsaw blades with various configurations of pitch, gauge, cutter material, cutter style and chain arrangement. Guide bars are replaceable components of chainsaws. The subject bar guide is made of base metal and features a passive nose sprocket, which is not connected to the saw’s power head and does not transfer energy to the chain. A representative image of a Husqvarna chainsaw bar is set forth below:
ISSUE:
Whether the subject chainsaw guide bar is classifiable as a holder for hand tools under subheading 8466.10.01, HTSUS, or as a chainsaw part under subheading 8467.91.01, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
A decision on classification and the rate and amount of duties chargeable is a protestable matter under 19 U.S.C. §1514(a)(2). The subject Protest was timely filed on February 28, 2022, within 180 days of liquidation, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1514(c)(3). Further Review of Protest No. 1704-22-105336 is properly accorded pursuant to 19 CFR § 174.24(b), as the Protestant has alleged that the decision against which the Protest was filed involves questions of law and fact that have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of CBP or his designee or by the Customs courts.
Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that classification is determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. If 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. GRI 6 provides that the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading is determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to GRIs 1 through 5.
The HTSUS provisions at issue are as follows:
8466: Parts and accessories suitable for use solely or principally with the machines of headings 8456 to 8465, including work or tool holders, self-opening dieheads, dividing heads and other special attachments for the machines; tool holders for any type of tool for working in the hand:
8466.10.01 Tool holders and self-opening dieheads
* * * * *
8467: Tools for working in the hand, pneumatic, hydraulic or with self-contained electric or nonelectric motor, and parts thereof:
8467.91 Parts:
8467.91.10 Of chain saws
Note 2(b) to Section XVI, HTSUS, provides:
2. Subject to note 1 to this section, note 1 to chapter 84 and to note 1 to chapter 85, parts of machines (not being parts of the articles of heading 8484, 8544, 8545, 8546 or 8547) are to be classified according to the following rules:
* * * * *
(b) Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading 8479 or 8543) are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate. However, parts which are equally suitable for use principally with the goods of headings 8517 and 8525 to 8528 are to be classified in heading 8517.
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 ENs to heading 84.66 state, in pertinent part:
The very wide range of parts and accessories classified here includes :
(1) Tool holders which hold, guide or operate the working tool and which permit the interchange of such tool-pieces. They are of very varied types, e.g. : With the exception of the tools of Chapter 82 and subject to the general provisions regarding the classification of parts (see the General Explanatory Note to Section XVI), this heading covers :
* * * * *
(C) Tool holders for any type of tool for working in the hand.
Chucks; tap and drill collets; lathe tool posts; self-opening dieheads; grinding wheel holders; honing bodies for use in honing machines; boring bars; turrets for turret lathes, etc.
This heading also includes tool holders for any type of tool designed for operation in the hand. Such holders are usually designed for the tools of heading 82.05 or 84.67, but this heading also includes tool holders for flexible shaft outfits. (See also the provisions of the Explanatory Notes to headings 84.67 and 85.01).
* * * * *
The ENs to heading 84.67 state, in pertinent part:
This heading covers tools which incorporate an electric motor, … .
* * * * *
The heading covers such tools only if for working in the hand.
* * * * *
The tools of this heading include tools for working various materials and are used in various industries.
Subject to the conditions above, the tools of this heading include, inter alia :
* * * * *
(7) Circular saws, chain saws and the like.
* * * * *
PARTS
Subject to the general provisions regarding the classification of parts (see the General Explanatory Note to Section XVI), the heading also covers parts (other than tool holders of heading 84.66) of the tools of this heading.
Counsel argues that the subject chainsaw guide bar is not covered by heading 8466, HTSUS. In this regard, Counsel notes that a chainsaw guide bar is for use with a chainsaw machine tool, which is classified under heading 8467, HTSUS, as a type of “tool for working in the hand.” As such, chainsaw guide bars are not for use with the “machines of headings 8456 to 8465.” Counsel further argues that the subject chainsaw guide bars are not described by the second clause of heading 8466, HTSUS, which covers “tool holders for any type of tool for working in the hand.” Counsel submits that a guide bar does not hold a chainsaw blade and, even if it were deemed to do so, a chainsaw chain blade is not a hand tool. Counsel considers the subject guide bar to be classified as a chainsaw part under subheading 8467.91.01, HTSUS. In support of this argument, Counsel describes the guide bar as a necessary and integral component of a chainsaw that provides structure and support for the chain blade component, without which the chain saw could not perform its cutting function.
The subject chainsaw guide bar is not covered by heading 8466, HTSUS, as it is neither used with the machines of headings 8456 to 8465 nor does it hold or guide a handheld tool. Rather, the subject chainsaw guide bar holds and guides a chainsaw blade, which is not a handheld tool but eo nomine classified under subheading 8202.40, HTSUS. A chainsaw machine tool, in its entirety, is a handheld tool classified under heading 8467, HTSUS, and its “holder” would be the handle and body to which a guide bar and chain saw blade attach. The subject guide bar is specifically shaped and dedicated for use in a chainsaw and is neither a part of general use nor provided for more specifically in another tariff provision. The guide bar is an integral component of a chainsaw, without which the chain saw could not perform its intended function of cutting. Therefore, classification is proper as a chainsaw part under subheading 8467.91.01, HTSUS, by application of Section XVI Note 2(b).
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 (Section XVI Note 2(b)) and 6, the subject chainsaw guide bar is classified under heading 8467, HTSUS, specifically subheading 8467.91.01, HTSUS, which provides for “[T]ools for working in the hand, pneumatic, hydraulic or with self-contained electric or nonelectric motor, and parts thereof: Parts: Of chain saws.” The 2020 and 2021 column one applicable rate of duty is free.
Pursuant to U.S. Note 20 to Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS, products of China classified under subheading 8467.91.01, HTSUS, unless specifically excluded, are subject to an additional 7.5 percent ad valorem rate of duty. At the time of importation, importers of goods of China classified under subheading 8467.91.01, HTSUS, must also report the Chapter 99 subheading, i.e., 9903.88.15.
As HTSUS is subject to periodic amendment, reasonable care should be exercised 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, including information on exclusions and their effective dates, you may refer to the relevant parts of the U.S. Trade Representative and CBP websites, which are respectively available at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/tariff-actions and https://www.cbp.gov/trade/remedies/301-certain-products-china.
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 on the U.S. International Trade Commission’s website at www.usitc.gov.
You are instructed to ALLOW the protest in full. In accordance with Sections IV and VI of the CBP Protest/Petition Processing Handbook (HB 3500-08A, December 2007, pp. 24 and 26), you are to mail this decision, together with the CBP Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision.
Sixty days from the date of the decision, the Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings, will make the decision available to CBP personnel and to the public on the Customs Rulings Online Search System (“CROSS”), at https://rulings.cbp.gov/, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Yuliya A. Gulis, Director Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division