CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H251040 ALS
Mr. Marc A. Hurteau
Area Port Director
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
6747 Engle Road
Middleburg Heights, Ohio 44130
RE: Internal Advice Request concerning the tariff classification of Bicycle “Spider” Crankset Part; Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States subheading 8714.96.50
Dear Mr. Hurteau:
This letter responds to the June 3, 2013 request for Internal Advice submitted on behalf of SRM Service Center, Inc. that you forwarded to this office on October 29, 2013. The request concerns the legal tariff classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) of SRM’s Power Meter “Spider” that is part of its cycling power meter system. Our decision is set forth below.
FACTS:
SRM imports bicycle parts, specifically in this case a “spider,” which is a part of the bicycle crankset. A bicycle crankset consists of chainrings, crank, a spider, pinch bolts (in some iterations), washers, screws, bolts, and end caps. The spider is the part upon which the chainrings are affixed with bolts and screws on one side and to which one of the two cranks is affixed with the pinch bolts and nuts. An example of an unassembled complete crankset appears as follows in Image 1:
Image 1a
Image 1b below shows a side view of a crankset with each part identified:
Image 1b
In Images 1a and 1b, note the position of the spider relative to the chainrings and other parts of the crankset, which is in the middle of the chainrings that are bolted to the prongs of the spider. The following images are examples of SRM spiders. In each instance, the image of the spider is immediately followed by an image of the SRM crankset that the particular spider is a part of:
Image 1c- Image 1d-
SRM Cannondale Power Meter Spider SRM Cannondale Power Meter Crankset
Image 1e- Image 1f-
SRM SRAM Power Meter Spider SRM SRAM Power Meter Crankset
Image 1g- Image 1h-
SRM Shimano Power Meter Spider SRM Shimano Power Meter Crankset
The subject spiders have the same longitudinal dimensions as the spiders they are designed to replace on stock cranksets. In some cases, as with the SRM Shimano Power Meter Spider shown in Image 1g, the SRM spider is installed along with the stock spider as shown in Image 1h. SRM also imports Power Meter Spiders for replacement of the stock spiders of several other manufacturers of cranksets. All the SRM Power Meter Spiders are of similar construction and dimensions.
Whether the SRM spider replaces a stock spider or is installed alongside it, the SRM spider performs the same function as the stock spider. As noted above, the SRM spider also contains the SRM Power Meter technology, which consists of strain gauges that measure the force applied to the crankset during the pedaling motion. The SRM Power Meter measures the power output of the rider and transmits that data to a dedicated computer mounted on the bicycle, usually the handlebars so that the rider can read the data in real time if desired, or a compatible fitness wristband.
Louisville CBP Port issued a Notice of Action to SRM, dated April 1, 2013, to notify SRM that CBP proposed to classify certain entries of the SRM Power Meter Spiders (referred to as “power meter chassis” in the Notice) under subheading 8714.96.90, HTSUS, instead of the entered classification of subheading 8714.96.50, HTSUS. This request for Internal Advice was filed on behalf of SRM in response.
ISSUE:
Are SRM Power Meter Spiders as described above properly classified under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.90 as “Part and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Other crank-gear and parts thereof,” or under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.50 as “Part and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof”?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is determined in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation and, in the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation (“ARI”). 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, GRIs 2 through 6 may be applied in order.
GRI 6 states the following:
For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.
The HTSUS provisions at issue are as follows:
8714 Parts and accessories of vehicles of headings 8711 to 8713:
Other:
8714.96 Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof:
8714.96.50 Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof...
* * *
8714.96.90 Other crank-gear and parts thereof...
* * * * * * * * *
There is no question that the articles at issue are parts of a vehicle of headings 8711 to 8713, specifically a bicycle of HTSUS heading 8712, which provides for “Bicycles and other cycles (including delivery tricycles), not motorized”. Whether the SRM spider is meant to replace the stock spider or be installed along with the stock spider, it is also without question that the subject SRM spiders function as parts of a bicycle crank gear. Crank gear is specifically covered under subheading 8714.96. Thus, the primary issue is whether the SRM Power Meter Spiders are parts of cottered cranksets or cotterless cranksets. To do so, we will discuss the differences between cottered cranksets and cotterless cranksets.
Cottered cranksets
The following photograph (Image 2) is of a typical cotter for a bicycle cottered crankset assembly. Note the flat face of one side and the nut and washer affixed to one end but not the other end:
Image 2
An illustration of how the cotter fits into a crank and onto the spindle is as follows in Image 3:
Image 3
In Image 3, the cotter is secured to the crank with the nut and washer after it is inserted into the crank and thereby fitted onto the spindle. The flat face of the cotter fits snugly onto the flat side of the spindle in this assembly. The following Image 4 is a photograph of a cotter inserted into a crank without the securing nut and washer:
Image 4
The following Image 5 is a photograph of flat-faced spindles onto which the crank and cotter is fitted:
Image 5
The following Image 5b is a photograph of a fully-assembled cottered crankset:
Image 5b
Cotterless cranksets
In a cotterless crankset assembly, the cranks are fitted onto the spindle by inserting the end of the spindle in the corresponding hole of the crank. The following photograph (Image 6) shows four different types of cotterless spindles:
Image 6
As shown, cotterless spindles come in different shapes and the hole of the corresponding crank is, of course, shaped accordingly. Upon being fitted onto the spindle, the cotterless crank is secured to the spindle either exclusively with an end cap/bolt or a combination of the end cap/bolt and pinch bolts screwed into the end of the crank. The following (Image 7) is a photograph of a crank secured exclusively via an end bolt, with a cross-section cut out for illustration purposes:
Image 7
The following (Image 8) is an illustration of a crank with pinch bolts at the end and an end cap. This is similar to cranks with which the SRM Power Meter Spiders are used. Note the ridges on the inside of the hole in the crank:
Image 8
The following (Image 9) is a photograph of the same type of crank fitted onto the spindle. Note the end cap secured in place:
Image 9
Analysis
In CBP Ruling HQ H243595 (August 17, 2016), we found that the method of attaching a bicycle crank to the axle by means of a splined spindle from the axle inserted into a matched hole in the crank and then secured by pinch bolts at the end of the crank is descriptive of a cotterless crank. In doing so, we concluded that CBP Ruling HQ 083052 (April 21, 1989), which found such method to be descriptive of a cottered crank, to be in error. We stated the following in HQ H243595:
Our reading of the general definition of a cotter pin is that its pertinent defining characteristic is that it is tapered or wedge-shaped... This is true no matter the source of the definition [of a “cotter”], even the definition cited in HQ 083052. In this context, that shape is critical to how the various pieces of the cottered crankset are fitted together. As noted above, a cottered crank spindle is flat on one side (see Image 5) so that the flat side of the cotter can fit snugly together, as shown in Images 3 and 4. This is basically how a cottered crankset is fitted together. The nut and washer that screw onto the end of the cotter that protrudes out of one end of the crank after insertion are what secures the cotter pin in place.
In contrast to how a cottered crankset is designed, a cotterless crankset has splines notched into the outer diameter of the end(s) of the spindle, as shown on the last three spindles in Image 6 from left to right, and the crank(s) (in some cases, the spindle is integrated onto the spider and/or the opposite crank, as shown in Image 1c) have corresponding splines notched into the inside of the spindle hole at the end of the crank, as shown in Image 8. (In earlier designs, the spindle has a rectangular knob at its end and the crank has a corresponding rectangular hole at its end, as shown in the first spindle in Image 6 from left to right.) The spindle and crank are fitted together by inserting the splined end of the spindle into the splined spindle hole of the crank. As noted above, the crank is secured to the spindle either exclusively with an end cap or bolt cap or with pinch bolts in conjunction with an end cap or bolt cap, as shown in Images 8 and 9.
While HQ 083052 finds that the pinch bolts fit within the definition of a cotter, we disagree with that finding. We find that the pinch bolts are more akin to the nut and washer of the cotter pin of cottered cranksets in that the pinch bolts secure the assembly in place after the principal parts, the spindle and crank(s), along with the spider, have been fitted together. There is no corresponding part for the cotter pin on cotterless cranksets as a cotter is not needed to fit the principal parts together. Furthermore, the pinch bolts are not tapered or wedge-shaped, rather they are shaped like conventional bolts with a head that is shaped for a corresponding wrench and a cylinder-shaped body with winding grooves running along its length. In short, the pinch bolts are not designed to and do not perform the equivalent function of a cotter pin in a cottered crankset.
Given the foregoing, we find that the pinch bolts are not cotters. We also find that cranksets that utilize such pinch bolts but do not utilize a cotter pin are not cottered cranksets, but are in fact cotterless cranksets. It also follows that the parts of cranksets that utilize pinch bolts but not a cotter pin, including chainrings, are parts of a cotterless crankset, not a cottered crankset. Consequently, the subject chainrings and cranks are identified as parts of cranksets that are cotterless. Therefore, in accordance with GRI 6, the subject chainrings and cranks and other SRM chainrings and cranks that are parts of SRM cranksets that do not utilize a cotter pin to be fitted together are properly classified under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.50 as “Parts and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof...”
Thus, as we found with the SRM chainrings and cranks in HQ 083052, we also find that the subject SRM Power Meter Spiders to be parts of cotterless cranksets and as such are properly classified under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.50 as “Parts and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof...”
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the subject SRM Power Meter Spiders that are parts cranksets that do not utilize a cotter pin to be fitted together are properly classified under HTSUS subheading 8714.96.50 as “Parts and accessories of vehicles of heading 8711 to 8713: Other: Pedals and crank-gear, and parts thereof: Cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof...” The general column one rate of duty, for merchandise classified under this subheading is free.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at www.usitc.gov.
You are to mail this decision to the internal advice requester no later than 60 days from the date of the 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 on the World Wide Web at www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division