CLA- 2 CO:R:C:G 084863 BPM
Mr. Robert A. Decamp
F.W. Myers & Co., Inc.
Myers Building
Rouses Point, New York 12879-1091
RE: Steel Anode Pins for Soderberg Reduction Cells
Dear Mr. DeCamp:
By letter dated August 29, 1988, you requested a ruling
on the appropriate tariff classification for steel anode pins
for Soderberg reduction cells under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States, HTSUS.
FACTS:
The Soderberg reduction cell ("cell") is a device used
for extraction of aluminum from ore. The process of reduction
is summarized as follows:
[A]lumina is dissolved in cells (pots)--
rectangular steel shells lined with carbon--containing a
molten electrolyte (bath) consisting mostly of cryolite.
. . .Carbon anodes are hung from above the cells with
their lower ends extending to within about 1.5 in. (3.8
cm) of the molten metal, which forms a layer under the
molten bath. The heat required to keep the bath molten
is supplied by the electrical resistance of the bath as
current passes through it.... A crust of frozen bath, 1-
3 in. . . .thick, forms on the top surface of the bath,
and on the walls of the cell. Alumina is added to the
bath or on the crust, where its absorbed moisture is
driven off by heat from the cell. While preheating on
the crust, the alumina charge serves as thermal
insulation. Periodically, the crust is broken and the
alumina is stirred into the bath to maintain proper
concentration. . . .
The passage of direct current through the
electrolyte decomposes the dissolved alumina. Metal is
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deposited on the cathode, and oxygen on the gradually
consumed anode. . . . The smelting process is
continuous. Alumina is added, anodes replaced, and
molten aluminum is periodically siphoned off without
interrupting current to the cells.
* * *
. . . [This type of] electrode is termed a
prebaked anode to distinguish it from the Soderberg
anode, in which the electrode (single large anode to a
cell) is formed in place from a carbonaceous paste which
is baked by heat from the pot as it gradually descends
into the electrolyte.
1 McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, pp. 418-
19 (1987).
The pins at issue are used as part of the type of cell
described at the end of the above quote, the Soderberg
reduction cell, serving to support the carbon anode mass, and
for hoisting and lowering it into the bath. They also serve as
conductors for the electric current, which melts the alumina by
dielectric heating and decomposes the molten alumina by
electrolysis.
ISSUE:
Whether steel anode pins used in Soderberg reduction
cells are machines and apparatus for electroplating,
electrolysis or electrophoresis classified in subheading
8543.30.0000, HTSUS, or parts of other industrial or laboratory
induction or dielectric heating equipment classified in
subheading 8514.90.0000, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), the legal
principles by which merchandise is classified, govern
classification under the HTSUS. GRI 1 states, in part, that
classification shall be determined according to the terms of
the headings and to any relative section or chapter notes.
Note 3 to Section XVI states that "machines...
performing two or more... complimentary... functions are to be
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classified as if ... being that machine which performs the
principal function." Reduction of aluminum requires that both
functions of the pins, electrolysis and dielectric heating, be
performed. Neither function can be said to be the principal
function.
Under GRI 3(a), classification shall be made in the
heading, which provides the most specific description of the
goods. The steel anode pins perform two functions,
electrolysis and dielectric heating. Electrolysis is described
in subheading 8543.30.0000, and dielectric heating in heading
8514.
Rule 3(a) requires comparison of headings (and by virtue
of Rule 6, subheadings within a heading) for specificity. It
does not allow comparison of a subheading with a heading.
Because 8514, covering, inter alia, other industrial or
laboratory induction or dielectric heating equipment, is more
specific than 8543, covering electrical machines not specified
or included elsewhere (assuming this heading were applicable),
classification would be appropriate under 8514.
Although subheading 8543.30.0000, HTSUS, covers parts of
machines and apparatus for electroplating, electrolysis or
electrophoresis, a subheading cannot broaden the application of
a heading, and the language of heading 8543 requires that the
goods not be specified or included elsewhere in the chapter to
be classifiable in 8543.
Subheading 8514.90.0000 covers parts of industrial
dielectric heating equipment. The language of the four digit
heading under which subheading 8514.90.0000 is found, covers
equipment performing one of the functions performed by the pins
being classified (electrolysis), and does not contain any
limiting language such as that found in 8543.
HOLDING
The steel anode pins used in Soderberg reduction cells
are parts of industrial dielectric heating equipment classified
in subheading 8514.90.0000, HTSUS.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division