CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H270402 EMS
Solomon Sarang, Trade Compliance Specialist
Central Purchasing LLC (dba Harbor Freight Tools)
26541 Agoura Road
Calabasas, CA 91302
RE: Revocation of NY N021177; Classification of a Cable Cutter (Item Number 40507)
Dear Mr. Sarang:
This letter is to inform you that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has reconsidered New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N021177, dated December 28, 2007, in response to your request, dated September 3, 2015, on behalf of Central Purchasing LLC (dba Harbor Freight Tools). In NY N021177, CBP classified a cable cutter (item number 40507) under subheading 8203.20.6030 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), which provides for “Files, rasps, pliers (including cutting pliers), pincers, tweezers, metal cutting shears, pipe cutters, bolt cutters, perforating punches and similar handtools, and base metal parts thereof: Pliers (including cutting pliers), pincers, tweezers and similar tools, and parts thereof: Other: Other (except parts): Pliers.”
We have reviewed NY N021177 and found it to be in error based on the revised facts set forth in your request for reconsideration and your supplemental submission, dated June 3, 2016. Accordingly, for the reasons set forth below, CBP is revoking NY N021177.
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 July 6, 2016, in Volume 50, Number 27, of the Customs Bulletin. No comments were received in response to the notice.
FACTS:
In NY N021177, CBP provided the following description of the cable cutter:
You describe Item number 40507 as a 10" cable cutter. The item is said to be made of rugged heat-treated drop forged steel. You state that it is capable of cutting through cable up to 7/8" in diameter but it is not suitable for cutting steel. The picture you supplied indicates that this item has dipped handles connected to two cutting jaws that pivot at the joint.
The request for reconsideration indicates that the factual description provided in the original ruling request did not take into account that the cable cutter was capable of cutting through copper and aluminum cable. According to the request for reconsideration, “item 40507 is capable of cutting through copper or aluminum cable.” The Harbor Freight Tools website describes the cable cutter, in part, as follows: “Cable cutter cuts copper and aluminum cable [to 7/8 in. diameter] with ease.” It has been confirmed in a supplemental submission by Harbor Freight Tools that the cable cutter has always had this capability, including at the time of issuance of NY N021177. Moreover, the images of the product that we reviewed demonstrate that the two cutting jaws that pivot at the joint actually slide past each other when cutting cables made of the aforementioned metals.
ISSUE:
Whether the cable cutter (item number 40507) is classified as “pliers” of subheading 8203.20, HTSUS, or as “metal cutting shears” of subheading 8203.30, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule 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 GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
Heading 8203, HTSUS, provides for: “Files, rasps, pliers (including cutting pliers), pincers, tweezers, metal cutting shears, pipe cutters, bolt cutters, perforating punches and similar handtools, and base metal parts thereof: Pliers (including cutting pliers), pincers, tweezers and similar tools, and parts thereof.” The HTSUS subheadings under consideration in this case are as follows:
8203.20 Pliers (including cutting pliers), pincers, tweezers and similar tools, and parts thereof
8203.30 Metal cutting shears and similar tools and similar tools, and parts thereof
The applicable legal note is Note 3 to Section XV, HTSUS, which states as follows:
Throughout the schedule, the expression “base metals” means: iron and steel, copper, nickel, aluminum, lead, zinc, tin, tungsten (wolfram), molybdenum, tantalum, magnesium, cobalt, bismuth, cadmium, titanium, zirconium, antimony, manganese, beryllium, chromium, germanium, vanadium, gallium, hafnium, indium, niobium (columbium), rhenium and thallium.
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).
The ENs to heading 8203 address the types of hand tools covered in this heading and the ENs provide, in relevant part, as follows:
(B) Pliers (including cutting pliers), pincers, tweezers and similar tools, including:
(1) Pliers (e.g., seal closers and pliers, sheep ear and other animal marking pliers, gas pipe pliers, pliers for inserting or extracting cotter pins, eyelet and eyelet closing pliers; plier type saw sets).
(2) Pincers (e.g., farriers’ tongs and smiths’ tongs).
(3) Tweezers (e.g., watchmakers’, florists’, philatelists’, depilating).
(4) Nail pullers (jaw type, working on the pincer principle).
(C) Metal cutting shears and similar tools, including tinmen’s snips, and other sheet metal or wire cutting shears.
(emphasis in original).
As is evident from the ENs above, both pliers of subheading 8203.20, HTSUS, and shears of heading 8203.30, HTSUS, are capable of performing a cutting function. A critical difference is that while both tools work around a pivot, “the cutting blades of shears slide past each other to perform their cutting function.” See NY N026888, dated May 2, 2008 (classifying “Oval Head Cutters” and “Flush Cutting Shears” as pliers of subheading 8203.20 because “[t]he cutting edges of these blades are not similar to shears since they do not slide past each other.”). The cutting blades of the subject cable cutter do slide past each other when cutting cable. The kinds of cable that can be cut include both copper and aluminum, which are base metals, as defined in Note 3 to Section XV, HTSUS.
In light of the above, the subject cable cutter is classifiable as “metal cutting shears” of subheading 8203.30, HTSUS, as described EN (C) to heading 8203. See NY N231636, dated September 6, 2012 (classifying a “Cable Cutter … for cutting copper and aluminum cable” that “consist of two handles that operate to shear-type blades around a pivot” under subheading 8302.30, HTSUS).
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the cable cutter (item number 40507) is classified under subheading 8203.30, HTSUS, and specifically under subheading 8203.30.0000, HTSUS, which provides for “Files, rasps, pliers (including cutting pliers), pincers, tweezers, metal cutting shears, pipe cutters, bolt cutters, perforating punches and similar handtools, and base metal parts thereof: Metal cutting shears and similar tools and similar tools, and parts thereof.” The column one, general rate of duty 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 at www.usitc.gov.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
NY N021177, dated December 28, 2007, is hereby 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