CLA-2-84:OT:RR:E:NC:1:104
Mr. Douglas A. Kalvig
FTZ Director, Customs Compliance
Decatur Mold Tool & Engineering Inc.
3330 N. State Highway 7
North Vernon, IN 47265
RE: The tariff classification of Half Molds from China
Dear Mr. Kalvig:
In your letter dated August 28, 2008, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The alloy steel half dies in question are designed to be used on a plastic injection molding machine. A complete mold is used to produce a part with a defined shape and dimensions to fit the customer’s requirements. The mold is comprised of two parts or halves. The mold halves are mounted into an injection molding machine’s two platens so that once the machine closes the mold halves will fit together and make the complete mold. One mold half is moveable and the other mold half is stationary or fixed. Molten plastic is injected into the complete mold, solidifies and is then ejected in the form of a plastic part produced to the customer’s specifications. When the mold opens, the stationary side either shifts or rotates to a new position allowing the next cycle to occur more quickly. The ejector half mold and the stationary half mold will be imported in separate shipments.
The half mold cannot perform the same function as the complete or finished mold. The function of a complete mold is to hold the injected molten plastic under extreme pressure until the plastic solidifies, thereby forming the fabricated finished product. The half mold does not possess the essential character of a complete mold as it is incapable of holding the molten plastic in place until it solidifies into the desired shape. The half mold is considered a part of a mold. However, the language of heading 8480, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), provides only for molds, not molds and parts thereof. Thus, the half molds cannot be classified in heading 8480, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the half molds for injection molding machines, separately imported as described above, will be 8477.90.8501, HTSUS, which provides for Machinery for working rubber or plastics or for the manufacture of products from these materials, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, parts thereof: Parts: Other…Of injection-molding machines. The rate of duty will be 3.1%.
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 on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
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 Patricia O’Donnell at (646) 733-3011.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division