CLA-2-84:S:N:N1:103 805163
Ms. Brenda Hinerman
Trus Joist MacMillan
Route 5, Box 50
Buckhannon, WV 26201
RE: The tariff classification of a press and pulling stations from Germany
Dear Ms. Hinerman:
In your letter dated December 6, 1994 you requested a tariff
classification ruling.
Your firm intends to import a press for the manufacture of engineered
lumber. While your inquiry does not specifically describe the press, it
appears that it will be used to agglomerate wood fibers or chips into a
continuous wood beam or similar structural wood product. It will utilize
pressure applied by endless forming bands, as well as heat, to accomplish this
task. A pulling station, according to your letter, is designed to pull
finished wood products from the press. It is constructed from two thick steel
plates, top and bottom tractor conveyor belts, and hydraulic cylinders. The
hydraulic cylinders apply pressure to the tractor conveyor supporting plates
in order to assist in pulling the finished product from the press. The press
will utilize two pulling stations so that the proper amount of pulling force
is obtained.
The applicable subheading for the press will be 8479.30.0000, Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for presses for the
manufacture of particle board or fiber building board of wood or other
ligneous materials and other machinery for treating wood or cork. The rate of
duty will be 3 percent ad valorem.
You contend that the pulling stations should be classified as material
handling devices separate from the press itself. Presumably you are referring
to heading 8428, HTS, which provides for other lifting, handling, loading or
unloading machinery.
A copy of Patent 4,410,474 which describes a pulling station in greater
detail was submitted with your inquiry. According to the patent, during the
manufacture of thick wood products the chips or other material are squeezed
out from between the forming bands, thus causing the finished product to lose
its desired configuration. In order to prevent this seals are placed at the
sides of the press. However, this produces considerable friction between the
material and the seals, and thus results in stresses in the forming band. The
patent states:
By additionally pulling the material extrusion which has been
formed itself, the band press and, in particular, its forming
bands, are relieved of supplying part of the feeding forces so
that the stresses occurring can be kept within permissible limits.
In Ruling Letter HQ 951859 dated August 4, 1993 (copy attached) the
Customs Service ruled on the classification of extrusion pullers used for
moving extruded plastic profiles. It was found that these pullers performed
two functions: (1) handling the product; and (2) maintaining the product's
speed so that the extruded profile did not deform. The ruling held that,
while the pullers moved the extruded profile from one place to another, they
were essential to maintaining the shape of the profile as it was being cooled.
Accordingly, the pullers were not classified in the heading for material
handling machinery since it was determined that their principal function was
not handling.
Likewise, the pulling stations used with the wood press serve to move
the extruded profile, as well as to relieve stresses in the press and thus
maintain the extruded lumber's configuration. Therefore, as in Ruling Letter
HQ 951859, the pulling stations are not classifiable as material handling
machinery since in our opinion their principal function is not handling.
The plastic extrusion pullers were held to be classifiable as other machinery
for molding or otherwise forming rubber or plastics. Similarly, the
applicable subheading for the pulling stations will be 8479.30.0000, HTS,
which provides for ...other machinery for treating wood or cork. The rate of
duty will be 3 percent ad valorem.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the
Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents
filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been
filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the
Customs officer handling the transaction.
Sincerely,
Jean F. Maguire
Area Director
New York Seaport