CLA-2:RR:CR:GC 962286:AML
Mr. Philip J. Sutter
Ford Motor Company
West Park Center
P.O. Box 6094
Dearborn, Michigan 48121
RE: Automotive accelerator and throttle cable assemblies; EN 87.08(O)
Dear Mr. Sutter:
This is in reference to your letter of September 25, 1998, to the Customs National Commodity Specialist Division in New York, requesting classification of automotive cable assemblies (item 1: cable-accelerator, engineering part # DA01-41-660-B, service part # E8BZ-9A758-A; item 2: cable-accelerator, engineering part # F8C6-9A758-AF, service part # F8CZ-9A758-AA; and item 3: cable assembly - throttle control, engineering part # 86GB-9C799-FE, service part # E7RY-9A758-D) pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Your letter was forwarded to this office for reply. Photocopies of the parts were provided for our examination. We regret the delay in responding.
FACTS:
The articles are control cable assemblies which consist of flexible outer casings with movable, twisted or strand steel inner cables and are equipped with special end fittings. They are manufactured to specific length and are designed specifically to connect an automobile accelerator pedal with its engine’s carburetor throttle plate in the case of item 1, or with its engine’s throttle body in the case of items 2 and 3, for engines that are fuel injected and thus have no carburetor.
ISSUE:
Whether automobile accelerator and throttle cable control assemblies consisting of a flexible outer casing and movable inner cable, are classified under subheading 8409.91.50, HTSUS, as other parts suitable for use solely or principally with spark ignition internal combustion piston engines (including rotary engines) of heading 8407 or 8408; or subheading 8708.99.80, HTSUS, as other parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705?
LAW and ANALYSIS:
Classification of imported merchandise is accomplished pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Classification under the HTSUS is guided by the General Rules of Interpretation of the Harmonized System (GRI’s). GRI 1, HTSUS, states in part that “for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes[.]”
The HTSUS headings under consideration are as follows:
8409 Parts suitable for use solely or principally with
the engines of heading 8407 or 8408:
Other:
8409.91 Suitable for use solely or principally
with spark ignition internal combustion
piston engines (including rotary engines):
Other:
For vehicles of subheading
8701.20, or heading 8702,
8703 or 8704:
8409.91.50 Other.
* * ** * * * * * * * * * *
8708 Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles
of headings 8701 to 8705:
Other parts and accessories:
8708.99 Other:
Other:
Other:
8708.99.80 Other.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally binding on the contracting parties, and therefore not dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System and are thus useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise under the System. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89 80. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).
Prior to 1996, the ENs to heading 8708, HTSUS, provided a limited number of exemplars regarding the cables of subheading 8708.99.80. In the Twelfth Session of the Harmonized System Committee (HSC) of the World Customs Organization, the ENs to heading 8708, HTSUS, were amended by document 38.270 E (HSC/12/Oct. 93), dated October 29, 1993, and an exemplar was added to EN 87.08(O) to specifically include the accelerator cables at issue. The amendment became effective in 1996. Based upon the amendment of the ENs, and the evinced intent of the Harmonized System Committee to include accelerator cables within the subheading, Customs previous position (that such cables are classified in heading 8409) has been modified or revoked (Notices in Customs Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 16, April 21, 1999; Vol 33, No. 24, June 16, 1999). The reasoning and analysis in the ruling printed as an attachment to these notices (Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 962586, dated May 28, 1999) is incorporated by reference in this ruling.
The accelerator and throttle cable assemblies connect the gas pedal of an automobile with either the carburetor or throttle assembly on the engine. The driver controls the speed of the vehicle by altering the amount of fuel delivered to the engine (that torques the drive shaft, which turns the differential which turns the axle and the wheels, creating automobility) through the use of the gas pedal and the cable assembly. The throttle and accelerator cable assemblies are not essential parts of an internal combustion piston engine. Structurally, as well as for Customs purposes, an internal combustion piston engine is complete and whole without the cables in question. The cables are not constituent component parts without which the engine would be incomplete. The cable assemblies enable an operator to increase the fuel utilized by the engine, thereby making a vehicle or other entity which is dependent upon an engine for its operation able to perform to its expected capacity.
While the ENs are not dispositive of questions concerning the interpretation of the headings within the HTSUS, they are the official interpretative aid to the tariff schedule. The accelerator and throttle cable assemblies are parts of the motor vehicle which facilitate the driver’s control of the vehicle. Given the description of the cables in EN 87.08, and the apparent intent to include the articles within subheading 8708.99, HTSUS, the articles are classifiable as other parts and accessories of motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705, in subheading 8708.99.80, HTSUS (see HQ 962586, dated May 28, 1999, referred to above).
HOLDING:
The automotive accelerator and throttle cable assemblies (item 1: cable-accelerator, engineering part # DA01-41-660-B, service part # E8BZ-9A758-A; item 2: cable-accelerator, engineering part # F8C6-9A758-AF, service part # F8CZ-9A758-AA; and item 3: cable assembly - throttle control, engineering part # 86GB-9C799-FE, service part # E7RY-9A758-D”) are classifiable under subheading 8708.99.80, HTSUS, as other parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division