CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H070916 RES
Mr. Arlen T. Epstein
Tompkins & Davidson
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036-8901
RE: Revocation of New York Ruling Letter D88860, dated March 10, 1999; classification of Light-up Magnetic Screwdriver.
Dear Mr. Epstein:
This letter is to inform you that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has reconsidered New York (“NY”) Ruling letter D88860, dated March 10, 1999, regarding the classification of a light-up magnetic screwdriver with six bits, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). The merchandise in NY D88860 was classified as interchangeable tools, under heading 8207, HTSUS. We have determined that NY D88860 was in error. Accordingly, we are revoking NY D88860, to reflect the proper classification of the light-up magnetic screwdriver with six bits.
Pursuant to section 625(c)(1), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1625(c)(1)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI, notice of the proposed action was published on November 7, 2012, in Volume 46, Number 46, of the Customs Bulletin. No comments were received in response to this notice.
FACTS:
The following facts were set forth in NY D88860:
The sample submitted (PP189453) is an interchangeable tool consisting of six bits (two flat head screwdriver bits, two Phillips head screwdriver bits and two star shaped bits) with a lighted “driver” handle. The handle incorporates a magnetized, telescoping shaft and a small battery power light to illuminate the tool. Each bit, measuring approximately one inch, is stored in a molded plastic housing located in the handle.
ISSUE:
Whether the subject merchandise is classified under heading 8205, HTSUS as a single tool or under 8207 as an interchangeable tool for handtools?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be “determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.” In the event that 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 GRI 2 through 6 may be applied in order.
The HTSUS headings under consideration in this case are as follows:
8205 Handtools (including glass cutters) not elsewhere specified or included; blow torches and similar self-contained torches; vises, clamps and the like, other than accessories for and parts of machine tools; anvils; portable forges; hand- or pedal-operated grinding wheels with frameworks; base metal parts thereof:
8207 Interchangeable tools for handtools, whether or not power-operated, or for machine-tools (for example, for pressing, stamping, punching, tapping, threading, drilling, boring, broaching, milling, turning or screwdriving), including dies for drawing or extruding metal, and rock drilling or earth boring tools; base metal parts thereof:
The Legal Notes to Chapter 82, HTSUS, provide in pertinent part:
1. Apart from blow torches and similar self-contained torches, portable forges, grinding wheels with frameworks, manicure or pedicure sets, and goods of heading 8209, this chapter covers only articles with a blade, working edge, working surface or other working part of:
(a) Base metal;
* * *
2. Parts of base metal of the articles of this chapter are to be classified with the articles of which they are parts, except parts separately specified as such and toolholders (heading 8466). However, parts of general use as defined in note 2 to section XV are in all cases excluded from this chapter.
In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (ENs) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level, may be utilized. The ENs, although not dispositive or legally binding, provide a commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).
EN 82.05 provides in pertinent part:
This heading covers all hand tools not included in other headings of this Chapter or elsewhere in the Nomenclature (see the General Explanatory Notes to this Chapter), together with certain other tools or appliances specifically mentioned in the title.
It includes a large number of hand tools (including some with simple hand-operated mechanisms such as cranks, ratchets or gearing). This group of tools includes:
* * *
(D) Screwdrivers (including ratchet types).
* * * * *
EN 82.07 provides in pertinent part:
Whereas (apart from a few exceptions such as machine saw blades) the preceding headings of this Chapter apply in the main to hand tools ready for use as they stand or after affixing handles, this heading covers an important group of tools which are unsuitable for use independently, but are design to be fitted, as the case may be, into:
(A) hand tools, whether or not power-operated (e.g., breast drills, braces and die-stocks),
* * * * *
The tools classified in this heading include:
* * *
(9) Other interchangeable tools, such as:
* * *
(c) Screwdriver bits.
* * * * *
The light-up magnetic screwdriver with six bits article was originally classified under heading 8207, HTSUS. However, upon further review, because the screwdriver bits are imported with the screwdriver shaft and screwdriver handle, are stored within the actual screwdriver handle itself, and the screwdriver bits, shaft, and handle are all sold together in retail, CBP has now determined that the article is classified as a complete article pursuant to GRI 1.
Screwdriver bits, imported by themselves, would be classifiable under heading 8207, HTSUS. However, as EN 82.07 explains, hand tools that are ready for use, such as the article at issue here, are not classifiable under heading 8207, HTSUS. Instead, articles classifiable under heading 8207, HTSUS, such as the screwdriver bits when imported and sold as separate articles, are unsuitable for use independently and must be fitted into a screwdriver shaft in order to perform the screwing function.
The tariff term “screwdriver” is not defined in the HTSUS. “When a tariff term is not defined in either the HTSUS or its legislative history, the term's correct meaning is presumed to be its common meaning in the absence of evidence to the contrary." Timber Prods. Co. v. United States, 515 F.3d 1213, 1219 (Fed. Cir. 2008). In discerning this common meaning, federal courts utilize dictionary definitions of the statute's words. See Archer Daniels v. United States, 561 F.3d 1308, 1312 (Fed. Cir. 2009). Various lexicographic resources define screwdriver as a tool for turning screws. A screwdriver consists of a handle made of various materials (e.g. plastic and rubber) attached to a narrow shank usually made of a base metal and has a tip on the end of the shank that fits into the slot of a screw.
There is nothing in the HTSUS or the ENs limiting a screwdriver to having only a fixed bit head, possessing only one type of bit, being able to function with one type of screw (e.g. Phillips, flathead, Robertson, hex, star), having a fixed handle or a ratchet type handle, having a fixed shaft or telescopic shaft, or incorporating a small battery powered light. Rather, the only requirement for a tool to be classified as a screwdriver is that it is a hand tool for turning screws (the terms of heading 8205 limit this heading to the type of tools where a person uses his/her hands to utilize the tool to perform the work). Reading heading 8205.40.00, HTSUS, and EN 82.05 broadly, it encompasses screwdrivers that not only have a fixed head, but screwdrivers that could have interchangeable heads, including screwdrivers that come with multiple bits stored within the handle. The screwdriver bits, shaft, handle, and other subsidiary features (i.e. light), when imported and sold together form a complete self-contained screwdriver.
Thus, a screwdriver with multiple bits stored in the handle or on the tool itself can be regarded as a single tool for classification purposes and, hence, eo nomine classifiable as a screwdriver under heading 8205, HTSUS. See NY F80628, dated December 13, 1999; NY J82517, dated April 17, 2003; NY N034060, dated August 4, 2008. Because we have determined that the article at issue here is a complete article properly classifiable under GRI 1, resort to an analysis under GRI 3(b) is unnecessary.
Therefore, upon reconsideration CBP has determined that the classification in NY D88860 of the light-up magnetic screwdriver with six bits under heading 8207, HTSUS, is incorrect. The light-up magnetic screwdriver with six bits is properly classified under heading 8205, HTSUS, as “[h]andtools (including glass cutters) not elsewhere specified or included; blow torches and similar self-contained torches; vises, clamps and the like, other than accessories for and parts of machine tools; anvils portable forges; hand- or pedal-operated grinding wheels with frameworks; base metal parts thereof:”
HOLDING:
Pursuant to GRI 1, the light-up magnetic screwdriver with six bits that are stored in its handle is classified under subheading 8205.40.0000, HTSUSA, as “[h]andtools (including glass cutters) not elsewhere specified or included; blow torches and similar self-contained torches; vises, clamps and the like, other than accessories for and parts of machine tools; anvils portable forges; hand- or pedal-operated grinding wheels with frameworks; base metal parts thereof: [s]crewdrivers, and parts thereof.” The general, column one, rate of duty is 6.2% ad valorem.
EFFECTS ON OTHER RULINGS:
NY D88860, dated March 10, 1999, is revoked.
In accordance with 19 U.S.C. § 1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Customs Bulletin.
.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division