CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H249994 DSR
Area Port Director, Port of Champlain
237 West Service Road
Champlain, NY 12919-4478
Re: Request for Internal Advice on tariff classification of a part of fluid filtration apparatus
Dear Port Director:
The following is in response to your memorandum dated December 23, 2013,
requesting Internal Advice in accordance with 19 CFR 177.11 (b)(4), concerning the
proper classification of an article used in apparatus for fluid filtration, under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) initiated by letter dated
November 22, 2013, by counsel, on behalf of its client, Donaldson Canada, Inc.
("Donaldson").
FACTS:
The article under consideration is described as a "finished industrial hydraulic
filter" that is placed into a receiving receptacle or housing of a fluid filtration apparatus
through which hydraulic fluid will flow. It is designated with the model number
"P566412." The filtering media of the article is a glass fiber composite layer made up of
85% fiberglass and 15% epoxy binder. That glass fiber composite layer is combined
with two polyester support layers. Finally, the combined glass fiber composite layer and
polyester support layers are combined with two layers of stainless steel support mesh
and folded multiple times forming "pleat pack". The pleat pack is then positioned around
a perforated steel support tube. Metal endcaps are adhered to each end of the pleat
pack and steel support tube combination.
Counsel claims that the glass fiber composite layer (the 85% fiberglass/15%
epoxy binder portion, supra) accounts for approximately 6% of the finished product's
total material cost. The steel support tube accounts for approximately 21 % of the total
cost and the stainless steel mesh accounts for approximately 20% of the total cost. The
metal endcaps account for approximately 46% of the total cost. No other information
regarding the proportions of the materials in the article was submitted.
ISSUE:
Is the article under consideration classified in heading 7019, HTSUS, as an article of glass fiber; in subheading 8421.29.00, HTSUS, as filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids; or in subheading 8421.99.00, HTSUS, as a part of filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids?
ANALYSIS:
The following 2013 HTSUS provisions are under consideration:
7019 Glass fibers (including glass wool) and articles thereof (for example, yarn, woven fabrics):
* * *
7019.90 Other:
* * *
7019.90.50 Other:
* * *
7019.90.5040 Glass fiber filters.
* * *
8421 Centrifuges, including centrifugal dryers; filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus, for liquids or gases; parts thereof:
* * *
Filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids:
* * *
8421.29.00 Other.
* * *
Parts:
* * *
8421.99.00 Other.
* * * *
Under General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 1, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), goods are to be classified according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While not legally binding, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are thus useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise under the Harmonized System. CBP believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).
Note 1(c) to Chapter 84, HTSUS, excludes “machinery, appliances or other articles for technical uses or parts thereof, of glass (heading 7019 or 7020)” from Chapter 84. The General EN to Chapter 84, Section (A) General Content of the Chapter, states, in pertinent part, the following:
Since machinery or appliances (for example, pumps) of ceramic material and ceramic parts of machinery or appliances of any material (Chapter 69), laboratory glassware (heading 70.17) and machinery and appliances and parts thereof, of glass (heading 70.19 or 70.20) are excluded from this Chapter, it follows that even if a machine or mechanical appliance is covered, because of its description or nature, by a heading of this Chapter it is not to be classified therein if it has the character of an article of ceramic materials or of glass.
This applies, for example, to articles of ceramic material or of glass, incorporating components of minor importance of other materials, such as stoppers, joints, taps, etc., clamping or tightening bands or collars or other fixing or supporting devices (stands, tripods, etc.).
On the other hand, the following are, as a rule, to be taken to have lost the character of ceramic articles, laboratory glassware, or machinery or appliances and parts thereof, of ceramic material or of glass:
(i) Combinations of ceramic or glass components with a high proportion of components of other materials (e.g., of metal); also articles consisting of a high proportion of ceramic or glass components incorporated or permanently mounted in frames, cases or the like, of other materials.
(ii) Combinations of static components of ceramic material or glass with mechanical components such as motors, pumps, etc., of other materials (e.g., of metal).
The EN to heading 8421 states in relevant part:
The liquid filters of this group separate solid, fatty, colloidal, etc., particles from a liquid, for example, by passing it through a sheet, membrane or mass of porous material (e.g., cloth, felt, wire cloth, skin, stoneware, porcelain, kieselguhr, sintered metallic powders, asbestos, paper pulp, cellulose, charcoal, animal black, sand)….The heading covers liquid filters whether of the gravity, suction (or vacuum) or pressure types.
….
Subject to the general provisions regarding the classification of parts (see the General Explanatory Note to Section XVI), the heading covers parts for the above-mentioned types of filters and purifiers….
Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c) provides:
In the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires: a provision for parts of an article covers products solely or principally used as a part of such articles but a provision for “parts” or “parts and accessories” shall not prevail over a specific provision for such part or accessory.
Thus, if the subject article is classifiable under heading 7019, HTSUS, as an article of glass, it is excluded from heading 8421, HTSUS. According to the legal language and to the relevant portions of the ENs of Chapter 84, to be excluded as such, the article must meet the following requirements: (1) it must be for technical use, (2) any non-glass materials incorporated into the article must be of minor importance, such as stoppers, clamps, stands and other fixing or supportive devices; (3) any other components must be of low proportion and (4) the glass components cannot be permanently mounted in frames, cases or the like, of other materials.
The HTSUS does not define the term “technical uses” as it pertains to articles of glass. However, in HQ 964556, dated March 12, 2001, CBP defined “technical uses” as it pertains to ceramics of heading 6909, HTSUS, by stating that:
“Technical” is defined as follows by Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1986): “1 a: having special usu. practical knowledge esp. of a mechanical or scientific subject ... b: marked by or characteristic of specialization.” “Technical” is defined by the Random House Unabridged Dictionary (1993) as follows: “1. Belonging or pertaining to an art, science, or the like: technical skill. 2. Peculiar to or characteristic of a particular art, science, profession, trade, etc.: technical details.”
Thus, an article designed for technical uses is an article designed for a specialized use, typically in an artistic, scientific, mechanical, trade or professional application. With regard to glass, CBP has found that certain glass filter media are classifiable as glass articles designed for technical uses in Chapter 70. See NY 851546, dated April 27, 1990 (solid glass filter classifiable under heading 7020, HTSUS) and NY E85995, dated October 21, 1999 (woven glass fiber filter classifiable under heading 7019, HTSUS).
The subject article’s mostly fiberglass filtering media is specifically designed to filter hydraulic fluids after it is placed into a receiving receptacle or housing unit of filtration apparatus. That is a technical use that is contemplated by Note 1(c) to Chapter 84, HTSUS.
However, our analysis does not end there. As noted above, a glass article loses its glass character and is no longer excluded from Chapter 84 by operation of Note 1(c) to Chapter 84, if any materials incorporated into the article are of more than minor importance (such as stoppers, clamps, stands and other fixing or supportive devices); if the glass article consists of a high proportion of components other than ceramic or glass; or if the glass component is incorporated or permanently mounted in frames, cases or the like, of other materials.
The pleat pack portion of the subject article is permanently mounted onto a perforated steel support tube and metal endcaps are permanently adhered to each end of the pleat pack and support tube structure. The essential structure of the article is provided by the shape and structure of the frame formed by the steel support tube and metal end caps. That sort of frame composed of non-glass components is squarely contemplated by the ENs to Chapter 84, HTSUS, as a configuration that would cause an article to lose its glass character. Additionally, we do not have information on the proportional weight, mass or surface area of the material components, the amount of non-glass material in the article appears substantial. Furthermore, counsel claims that the glass fiber composite material (the 85% fiberglass/15% epoxy binder portion of the article) accounts for a mere 6% of the complete finished products’ material cost. Moreover, the subject article is dissimilar to other articles that contained components that merely supported the filtering media of the articles and remained in heading 7019, HTSUS. See NY N238899 (May 24, 2013); NY N238900 (May 24, 2013); NY N243917 (December 5, 2013); NY N101906 (July 23, 2010); NY N018781 (November 16, 2007).
Donaldson cites to HQ 957854 (August 11, 1995) in support its position that the subject article should be classified in heading 8421, HTSUS. In that ruling, CBP considered filtering modules made of metal and containing ceramic filtering membranes, gaskets, thermometers, valves and manometers. The modules were classified in heading 8421, HTSUS, as filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids. The subject article does not rise to the level of “machinery or apparatus” of heading 8421, HTSUS, because although the steel support tube and end gaskets are substantial, they are passive components that are dissimilar to the active components found in the article of HQ 957854. Instead, the subject article is an integral, constituent component that is placed inside of a receptacle or housing of a fluid filtration apparatus, and without which the fluid filtration apparatus cannot operate. See HQ H007677 (Dec. 22, 2008), citing United States v. Cody Manufacturing Co., 44 C.C.P.A. 67 (1956) (A “part” is defined as an article that is “an integral, constituent component [of another article], necessary to the completion of the article with which it is used, and which enables that article to function in the matter for which it was designed, without which the article to which the [part] is joined could not function.”); see also HQ 968009, dated April 6, 2006. We therefore find that the subject article is a part of machinery or apparatus of heading 8421, HTSUS, and classified in subheading 8421.99.00, HTSUS.
With regard to the decision from the Canadian International Trade Tribunal,
Appeal No. AP-92-091 (September 19, 1994) that Donaldson puts forth in support of its
position, we recognize that rulings or case law issued by foreign judicial bodies may be
instructive but they are not binding upon CBP and CBP is not required to assign any
precedential value to such rulings or case law, especially given that the article under
consideration in the cited Canadian ruling is not the same article being considered here.
Finally, with regard to the two WCO Classification Opinions (one from 1960, the
other from 1961) cited by Donaldson, the 1961 WCO Classification Opinion classified
"Replacement oil filter cartridges consisting of perforated metal or paper casing
(whatever the material used as filtering medium)" in heading 8421.99 as a part of
filtering machinery or apparatus for fluids or gases. The 1960 WCO Classification
Opinion classified "Air purifying filters, ready for use in the inlet or outlet of heating
pipes, consisting of a layer of glass fiber sandwiched between two perforated thin metal
sheets and mounted in a square paperboard frame ... " in subheading 7019.90 as "glass
fibers ... and articles thereof ... " The instant article is more similar to that of the former
opinion than to that of the latter opinion. It is a replacement filter cartridge classifiable
as a part of a filter.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, the subject article is classified under heading 8421, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 8421.99.00, HTSUS, as a part of filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids. The 2013 column one, general rate of duty is “Free.”
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided at http://hts.usitc.gov/current.
You are to mail this decision to counsel for the internal advice requester no later than sixty days from the date of this decision. At that time, the Office of International Trade, Regulations and Rulings, will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public, on the CBP Home Page at http://www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of publication.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division