CLA-2-85:RR:NC:1:104 K82442
8464.90.9090; 6903.20.0000
Mrs. Arlene Carsten
Carsten Systems and Machine, Ltd.
RR#2 Malaspina Road, C-71
Powell River, BC. V8A 4Z3, Canada
RE: The tariff classification of furnaces and other equipment from Canada
Dear Mrs. Carsten:
In your letter dated January 13, 2004 you requested a tariff classification ruling.
You indicate that you previously obtained a ruling, NY 883163 of March 19, 1993, for most of the merchandise at issue here under the name A.J. Carsten Co. Ltd. You now wish a ruling for your new company. Literature has been provided with your fax of January 26, 2004 since the original literature provided in 1993 has been lost. The machines are primarily used in the multi-layer ceramic capacitor industry.
As pointed out in this earlier ruling, the dielectric tape casting machine, endless belt and the alumina casting machines in 40 and 60 feet lengths are essentially electric furnaces despite their name. (The former is used to produce a ceramic dielectric tape; the furnace itself does not operate by dielectric loss.) Ceramic slurry is pressure fed from a pressure vessel into a hopper immediately adjacent to the machine’s doctor blade assembly, which is adjustable to within 0.0001 inch of dried tape thickness. A 10 inch wide carbon steel belt carries the slurry into the oven chamber which is constructed of double-walled, fiberglass insulated sheetmetal. The tape is baked at 300 degrees F by reflecting infrared heaters located above the belt.
The laboratory bench caster is a pusher type machine. It will accept customer supplied plate glass substrate casting surfaces ¼” thick by 8” wide by 68” long.
It does not include a furnace or oven. The unit is especially suited for use in research and development, quality control and prototype manufacturing. It is an alternative to the production sized dielectric tape casting machine described above.
In addition to the alumina and tape casting machines, the 9 foot conveyor oven/return system and the model B solder fusion conveyor are also essentially ovens which employ infrared heaters. The former has a 60 inch long heated zone with a maximum operating temperature of 120 degrees C while the latter has two zones, a twelve inch preheat zone and a six inch spike zone. Both units are heated from above and below the conveyor belt by infrared quartz tube/tungsten filament heaters. The model B has a maximum operating temperature of 550 degrees C.
The other furnaces at issue here are all resistance heated. The small volume, force air recirculated bake-out and bisque firing conveyor oven use an open wire heating element assembly. It’s a three zone furnace with a maximum operating temperature of 370 degrees C.
The three zone atmosphere belt furnace is an electric metal muffle belt furnace operating at a maximum temperature of 1200 degrees C. The ceramic muffle belt furnace also has three zones and a maximum operating temperature of 1200 degrees C. Both of these furnaces utilize silicon carbide rod type elements above and below the muffle in all heat zones.
The 12 x 5 high temperature three zone pusher kiln has a maximum operating temperature of 600 degrees C in the preheat zone and 1520 degrees C in the high heat zones. The calcining pusher kiln is a six zone tunnel kiln with a maximum continuous temperature of 1430 degrees C, 550 C in the preheat zone. Finally there is a high temperature front loading batch kiln which has a maximum temperature of 1520 degrees C. The pusher and batch kilns also employ silicon carbide resistance heating elements.
The two tier, jar roller mill is used to grind ceramic materials. The materials to be ground are placed in a porcelain jar with a gasketed lid along with porcelain balls, a solvent , water and organic materials. The porcelain balls, not included, do the grinding. The machine features a 1 HP motor with rollers consisting of one inch diameter precision ground steel rods jacketed with ¼ inch thick vinyl plastic and supported with ball bearing pillow blocks. Assuming a jar diameter of 13 inches, jars will turn at 30 rpm’s fixed speed although other speeds can be supplied. The machine measure 68” L x 36”W x 36” H and weighs approximately 600 pounds. Although generally used for grinding purposes, the unit is also capable of simple wet process mixing.
The MLC chip cutter has a Guillotine cutting head mounted on a crankshaft driven micro-slide. The cutting blade is 6 inches long and the machine will accept bars up to 6 inches square. “X” and “Y” cuts are set by thumbwheel switches. The machine features a TV camera with close-up lenses and a TV monitor. The machine is used to cut multi-layer ceramic capacitors.
The ceramic (high alumina) muffles or slabs are high temperature refractories. Their composition is 90% alumina and 10% silica. They are designed for temperatures of 1550 degrees C. They are used as conveyor linings in belt furnaces and high temperature pusher kilns as well as structural supports in high temperature chambers.
The applicable subheading for the small volume, bake-out and bisque firing conveyor oven, the muffle belt furnaces, the pusher kilns and the front loading batch kilns will be 8514.10.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for industrial or laboratory electric furnaces and ovens …: resistance heated furnaces and ovens. The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the casting machines, the model B infrared solder fusion conveyor and the 9 foot conveyor/return system will be 8514.30.8000, HTS, which provides for industrial or laboratory electric furnaces and ovens …: other furnaces and ovens: other: other. The rate of duty will be 1.3 percent.
The applicable subheading for the laboratory bench caster will be 8474.80.0010, HTS, which provides for other machinery for agglomerating, shaping or molding solid mineral fuels, ceramic paste, unhardened cements, plastering materials or other mineral products in powder or paste form: designed for use with ceramic paste, unhardened cements and plastering materials. The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the two tier, jar roller mill will be 8474.20.0070, HTS, which provides for machinery for sorting, screening, separating, washing, crushing, grinding, mixing or kneading earth, stone, ores or other mineral substances, in solid (including powder or paste) form …: crushing or grinding machines. The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the MLC chip cutter will be 8464.90.9090, HTS, which provides for machine tools for working stone, ceramic, concrete, asbestos-cement or like mineral materials or for cold working glass: other: other. The rate of duty will be 2 percent.
The applicable subheading for the ceramic (high alumina) muffles or slabs will be 6903.20.0000, HTS which provides for other refractory ceramic goods (for example, retorts, crucibles, muffles, nozzles, plugs, supports, cupels, tubes, pipes, sheaths and rods), other than those of siliceous fossil meals or of similar siliceous earths: containing by weight more than 50 percent of alumina (Al2O3) or of a mixture or compound of alumina and of silica (SiO2). The rate of duty will be free.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Robert Losche at 646-733-3011.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division