OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H337726 LAW
Petroleum, Natural Gas & Minerals Center
Port of Memphis
2813 Business Park Dr., Bldg. 1
Memphis, TN 38118
Re: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 2006-23-107693; Classification of certain pneumatic power clamp cores
Dear Center Director:
The following is our decision on the Application for Further Review (AFR) of Protest No. 2006-23-107693, which was filed on December 26, 2023, on behalf of Dover Pumps and Process Solutions, d/b/a Destaco (Protestant or "Destaco"). The Protest pertains to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) of certain pneumatic power clamps. In drafting this ruling, we took into consideration the substance of our teleconference with Destaco and counsel, as well as a supplemental submission of relevant information, both dated May 3, 2024.
FACTS:
Based on the information provided by the Protestant at the time of its initial filing and in the aforementioned subsequent communications, the subject pneumatic power clamp cores[1] are imported from Thailand and are intended to be secured after importation via fasteners and dowels to a type of stable clamping fixture, foundation, or clamping machine, which in turn is generally used in various industries, from aerospace and automotive fields to food and packaging industries.
The power clamp cores may be used on welding fixtures and "CNC machining."[2] And as stated and confirmed during our conference with Destaco and counsel, the subject power clamp cores are imported solely for post-importation incorporation into certain end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) machines[3] that are used in the automotive manufacturing process. Specifically, the power clamp cores provide a conduit through which air needs to flow in order to operate a pneumatic clamp. While the clamp cores, as imported, lack clamp arms that hold the work piece in place, they do feature a pivoting mechanism that allows the customer to adjust the position of the clamp arms once incorporated after importation. To reiterate, the subject power clamp cores do not independently perform any clamping function until they are fully incorporated into the EOAT machines.
The subject merchandise was entered between August 8, 2022, and August 12, 2022. CBP issued a Notice of Action ("CF-29") dated June 22, 2023, to Destaco notifying Protestant that it was rate advancing the power clamps from subheading 8479.90.95, HTSUS, which provides for "[m]achines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Parts: Other," to subheading 8479.89.95, HTSUS, which provides for "[m]achines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and mechanical appliances: Other: Other." The entries were subsequently liquidated on June 30, 2023.
ISSUE:
Whether the subject pneumatic power clamps are classified under subheading under 8479.89, HTSUS, as other machines and mechanical appliances, or subheading 8479.90, HTSUS, as parts of other machines and mechanical appliances.
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 December 26, 2023, within 180 days of liquidation, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1514(c)(3). Further Review of Protest No. 2006-23-107693 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 under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods will be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. If 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 will then be applied in order.
As our analysis involves a dispute at the 6-digit level of the HTSUS, GRI 6 is implicated. GRI 6 states:
For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheading of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes, and mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter, and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.
The HTSUS headings and subheadings under consideration are as follows[4]:
8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof:
Other machines and mechanical appliances:
8479.89 Other:
* * * * *
8479.90 Parts:
Note 2 to Section XVI states, in relevant part, the following:
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:
a) Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of chapter 84 or 85 (other than headings 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8487, 8503, 8522, 8529, 8538 and 8548) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings;
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, and parts which are suitable for use solely or principally with the goods of heading 8524 are to be classified in heading 8529....
Based on the information provided, the clamping machine into which the instant power clamping core is stated to be incorporated is similar to the merchandise classified in New York Ruling Letter (NY) F82323, dated March 20, 2000. The machine at issue in NY F82323, in relevant part, featured several arms that extended from the machine and clamp the body panels of a vehicle (in this case a Toyota Sequoia) for welding by another machine. The question before us, then, is whether the instant power clamping cores are a part of a machine of heading 8479, HTSUS.
The term "part" is not defined in the HTSUS. The courts have considered the nature of "parts" under the HTSUS, and two distinct though not inconsistent tests have resulted.[5] The first, articulated in United States v. Willoughby Camera Stores, Inc., 21 C.C.P.A. 332, 324 (1933), requires a determination of whether the imported item is an "integral, constituent, or component part, without which the article to which it is to be joined, could not function as such article."[6] The second, set forth in United States v. Pompeo, 43 C.C.P.A. 9, 14 (1955), states that an "imported item dedicated solely for use with another article is a 'part' of that article within the meaning of the HTSUS."[7] Pompeo also requires that "the claimed part, when applied to its intended use with that article, meets the definition of a 'part' established in Willoughby."[8] Under either line of cases, an imported item is not a part if it is "a separate and distinct commercial entity."[9]
Here, the power clamp cores at issue are dedicated for use with pneumatic clamping machines. Moreover, they are integral to the operation of such pneumatic clamping machines inasmuch as they provide the air supply to the pneumatic clamp and they also feature a pivoting mechanism that allows the user to ensure that the clamp is properly positioned once installed after importation. As such, they meet the above definition of "parts" as articulated by the above caselaw. While the power clamp cores are integral to the operation of the pneumatic clamping machines, they do not constitute machines of heading 8479 in and of themselves per Note 2(a) to Section XVI, supra, because, as Destaco established, they do not feature the clamping mechanism nor do they possess the essential character of a finishing automated clamping machine in their condition as imported. Accordingly, we find that the pneumatic power clamps at issue, as imported, are "parts" of machines and mechanical appliances of subheading 8479.90, HTSUS, per Note 2(b) to Section XVI.
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 (Note 2(b) to Section XVI) and 6, the subject pneumatic power clamp cores are classified under heading 8479, HTSUS, and are specifically provided for under subheading 8479.90.95, HTSUS, which provides for, "[m]achines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Parts: Other: Other." The general column one rate of duty is free.
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 online at: https://hts.usitc.gov.
You are instructed to GRANT the Protest.
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 CBP website at www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Yuliya A. Gulis, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division
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[1] Part nos. 82M-3ND0006NL8, 81L25-10100, and 82L-3E23H040B7.
[2] Welding fixtures are devices or tools used to position, hold, and locate a workpiece during the welding process, while "CNC machining" refers to "computer numerical control," a method of computerized control of tools during an industrial manufacturing process.
[3] EOAT machines are automated systems designed to present and stabilize work pieces through welding and other fabrication operations, according to the Protestant.
[4] For the version of the HTSUS in effect as of the date the subject merchandise was liquidated. See 8th Revision of the 2022 Edition of the HTSUS (July 26, 2022).
[5] See Bauerhin Tech's Ltd. P'ship v. United States, 110 F. 3d 774 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
[6] Id. at 778 (quoting Willoughby, 21 C.C.P.A. 322, 324).
[7] Id. at 779 (citing Pompeo, 43 C.C.P.A. at 13).
[8] See Pompeo, 43 C.C.P.A. at 14.
[9] See Pomeroy Collection, Ltd. v. United States, 783 F. Supp. 2d 1257, No. 11-78 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2011).