CLA-2-84:RR:NC:1:103 B86198
Ms. Cheryl Ellsworth
Mr. Jeffrey S. Levin
Harris Ellsworth & Levin
The Watergate
2600 Virginia Ave., NW, Suite 1113
Washington, DC 20037-1905
RE: The tariff classification of spark arresting industrial engine silencers from Mexico
Dear Ms. Ellsworth and Mr. Levin:
In your letter dated June 9, 1997 on behalf of Beaird Industries, Inc. you requested a tariff classification ruling.
Your client intends to import industrial engine silencers with a spark arresting feature. These industrial engine silencers reduce the noise emission of a variety of compression-ignition internal combustion piston (i.e., diesel or semi-diesel) engines. The exhaust gases produced by such engines, if allowed to leave the engine directly, would produce an intolerable noise. To prevent this, a manifold directs the gases to the engine silencer, where they pass through a series of tubes which reduce the pressure of the gases so that they exit the silencer more quietly. In addition, the interior of the silencer is constructed so as to create a vortex which acts to spin any hot sparks outward where they are captured in a trap, thus preventing them from being ejected with the exhaust gases.
The industrial engine silencers covered by this ruling request will be made in Mexico of hot rolled carbon steel sheet or plate of Mexican origin. After inspection, the carbon steel is cut to the required dimensions and the silencer shells are cold formed in rolling machines. Preformed tubing (which is usually of United States origin) and drain couplings are then welded to the silencer shell, and pipe plugs are threaded into the couplings. Finally, the complete shell is welded, painted, and packed for shipment to the United States.
The spark arresting industrial engine silencers are typically used on large, stationary compression-ignition engines for driving a variety of industrial machinery such as electric generators, pumps and compressors. The engine silencers will be made and imported in a variety of models which can be used interchangeably in the various types of industrial machinery. As they are normally used on engines with a cylinder capacity in excess of 1000 cc, they are not intended for use on aircraft, motor vehicle, or tractor engines, or on wet exhaust systems.
In your ruling request, you suggest that these engine silencers are classifiable as parts of diesel engines in subheading 8409.99.9990, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). We do not agree with your conclusion. The engine silencers are not integral, constituent or component parts of diesel engines necessary to the completion of these goods. As you know, classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes. You state these engine silencers "function in much the same manner as an automobile muffler." We agree with your characterization and note that automobile mufflers are not classified as parts of engines but as vehicle parts under subheading 8708.92, HTSUSA. If they were classifiable as engine parts then they could not be classifiable in heading 8708. Section XVII, note 2 states, in part, that the expression "parts" does not apply to machines or apparatus of headings 8401 to 8479, or parts thereof. Consequently, automobile mufflers, to which these engine silencers are akin, cannot be considered to be parts of the engines of headings 8407 or 8408 and classifiable in heading 8409 because they would have otherwise been excluded from classification in heading 8708 by operation of the aforementioned section note. It is our conclusion that engine silencers are not engine parts for tariff purposes and are not classifiable in heading 8409.
Note 2 to Section XVI governs the classification of parts of the goods of chapters 84 and 85 of the HTSUSA, such as electric generators, pumps, and compressors. Spark arresting industrial engine silencers are not goods included in any of the headings of chapters 84 and 85, nor are they solely or principally used with a particular kind of machine or a number of machines of the same heading encompassed by these chapters. Thus notes 2(a) and 2(b) of Section XVI are not applicable. Note 2(c) states in pertinent part that "(a)ll other parts are to be classified in heading 8409 .... or, failing that, in heading 8485 or 8548." As stated above, the silencers are not parts of diesel engines and thus cannot be classified in heading 8409. Therefore, the applicable tariff provision for the spark arresting industrial engine silencers will be 8485.90.0080, HTSUSA, which provides for machinery parts, not containing electrical connectors, insulators, coils, contacts or other electrical features, and not specified or included elsewhere (in chapter 84): other: other. The general rate of duty will be 4.6 percent ad valorem. This conforms with Ruling Letter A80883 dated March 13, 1996, wherein we held that mufflers used as noise suppressors with all types of industrial engines and blowers are properly classifiable in subheading 8485.90.0080, HTSUSA.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 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 Alan Horowitz at 212-466-5494.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Chief, Metals & Machinery Branch
National Commodity
Specialist Division