CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H303737 PF
Port Director U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chicago Service Port
5600 Pearl Street
Rosemont, IL 60018
Attn: Jeffrey Kiekenbush, Senior Import Specialist
Re: Protest and Application for Further Review No: 3901-2016-100700; Classification Idlers, Idler Assemblies, and Bushings
Dear Port Director:
The following is our decision as to Protest and Application for Further Review
No. 3901-2016-100700, which was filed on September 7, 2016 on behalf of Intertractor America Corp. (“Protestant” or “Intertractor”). The protest pertains to the classification of idlers, idler assemblies, and bronze bushings (“bushings”) under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”).
The subject merchandise was entered by protestant on July 24, 2015 at the Port of Chicago. On March 11, 2016, CBP liquidated the entry for the idlers and idler assemblies under subheading 8483.50.90, HTSUS, which provides for “Transmission shafts . . . bearing housings, housed bearings and plain shaft bearings; gears and gearing; ball or roller screws; gear boxes and other speed changers, including torque converters; flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks; clutches and shaft couplings (including universal joints); parts thereof: Flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks: Other: Other.” In addition, CBP liquidated the entry for the bushings under subheading 8483.30.80, HTSUS, which provides for “Transmission shafts . . . bearing housings, housed bearings and plain shaft bearings; gears and gearing; ball or roller screws; gear boxes and other speed changers, including torque converters; flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks; clutches and shaft couplings (including universal joints); parts thereof: Bearing housings; plain shaft bearings: Other:”
On September 7, 2016, protestant filed a protest and AFR regarding the tariff classification of the idlers, idler assemblies, and bushings and claiming that the correct classification for this merchandise should be in subheading 8431.49.90, HTSUS, which provides for “Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430: Of machinery of heading 8426, 8429, or 8430: Other: Other.”
FACTS:
The idlers are rotation guides for a chain installed on the front of a bulldozer and similar track-type dozers. The idlers are not connected to a final drive, but engage with a track chain to propel the bulldozer forward and are attached to suspension units that are part of the undercarriage of the bulldozer. The idlers can move to accommodate uneven ground and maintain tension on the track so that the track remains engaged with the track drive sprockets, which are part of the bulldozer’s final drive. The idlers also absorb shock loads. The idler assembly consists of idlers and slide bars. The slide bars secure one or two idlers in place and apply tension against the track chain. The idlers and idler assemblies are designed for fitting together with other components to form the undercarriage of a bulldozer.
The bushings are also designed for the undercarriage of a bulldozer. They are metal cylinders that cover the track pin, which provides a rotational surface between track links. A track pin rotates the bushing, enabling the track chain to pivot. The track pins and bushings work together to form the hinges in the track chain that allow the chain links to form around the sprockets and idlers. The bushings are a contact area between the track chain and the sprocket. The bushings, along with the idlers and idler assemblies, work along with the other components of the undercarriage of a bulldozer and its track chain assembly to enable the machine to move along the ground.
ISSUE:
Whether the idlers and idler assemblies are classified as pulleys of heading 8483 or as parts suitable for use solely or principally with machinery of headings 8425 to 8430 and whether the bushings are classified as plain shaft bearings of headings 8483 or as parts suitable for use solely or principally with machinery of headings 8425 to 8430.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Initially, we note that the matters protested are protestable under 19 U.S.C. §1514(a) (2) as decisions on classification. The protest was timely filed, within 180 days of liquidation of the first entry. (Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub.L. 108-429, § 2103(2) (B) (ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c) (3) (2006)). Further Review of Protests No. 3004-17-100339 is properly accorded to Protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(a) because the decision against which the protest was filed is alleged to be inconsistent with a ruling of the Commissioner of CBP or his designee, or with a decision made by CBP with respect to the same or substantially similar merchandise.
Merchandise imported into the United States is classified under the HTSUS. Tariff classification is governed by the principles set forth in the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”) and, in the absence of special language or context which requires otherwise, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation. The GRIs and the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation are part of the HTSUS and are to be considered statutory provisions of law for all purposes.
GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first 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 heading and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
The 2016 HTSUS headings under consideration are as follows:
8431 Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430: Of machinery of heading 8426, 8429, or 8430:
Of machinery of heading 8426, 8429 or 8430:
8431.49 Other:
8431.49.90 Other.
8483 Transmission shafts . . . bearing housings, housed bearings and plain shaft bearings; gears and gearing; ball or roller screws; gear boxes and other speed changers, including torque converters; flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks; clutches and shaft couplings (including universal joints); parts thereof:
8483.30 Bearing housings; plain shaft bearings:
8483.30.80 Other.
8483.50 Flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks:
Other:
8483.50.90 Other.
Note 2 to Section XVI, HTSUS, provides as follows:
Subject to note 1 to this section, note 1 to chapter 84 and to note 1 to chapter 85, parts of machines (not being parts of the articles of heading 8484, 8544, 8545, 8546 or 8547) are to be classified according to the following rules:
(a) Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of chapter 84 or 85 (other than headings 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8487, 8503, 8522, 8529, 8538 and 8548) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings;
(b) Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading 8479 or 8543) are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate. However, parts which are equally suitable for use principally with the goods of headings 8517 and 8525 to 8528 are to be classified in heading 8517;
Note 2 to Section XVII provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
2.- The expressions “parts” and “parts and accessories” do not apply to the following
articles, whether or not they are identifiable as for the goods of this Section :
. . .
(e) Machines or apparatus of headings 84.01 to 84.79, or parts thereof, other than
the radiators for the articles of this Section; articles of heading 84.81 or 84.82 or, provided they constitute integral parts of engines or motors, articles of heading 84.83;
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 HTSUS 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 General EN to Note 2 to Section XVI, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent part:
In general, parts which are suitable for use solely or principally with particular machines or apparatus . . . or with a group of machines or apparatus falling in the same heading, are classified in the same heading as those machines or apparatus. . .
(B) Parts of machinery of headings 84.25 to 84.30 (heading 84.31)
. . .
As an initial matter, it is necessary to determine whether the idlers, idler assemblies, and bushings are considered “parts” for the purposes of tariff classification. 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 Headquarters Ruling (“HQ”) H007677 (Dec. 22, 2008). The idlers are a large wheel at the front of the track frame of a bulldozer that guides the track chain and absorbs shock loads. The idler assemblies consist of idlers and slide bars. The bushings are metal cylinders that cover the track pin, which provides a rotational surface between track links. The idlers, idler assemblies, and bushings are components of a bulldozer undercarriage which enable the machine to move along the ground. Based on the functions of the idlers, idler assemblies, and bushings, we find that they are integral constituent components and are in fact “parts.” Consequently, they are to be classified in accordance with Note 2 to Section XVI.
Under Section XVI, Note 2(a), parts which are also goods, are in all cases to be classified in their own respective heading. As the ENs to Section XVI explain, the rules governing parts suitable solely or principally with a particular machine or apparatus are inapplicable where a good is covered by a heading of this Section. The ENs to Section XVI, Note 2 provide that:
The above rules do not apply to parts which in themselves constitute an article covered by a heading of this Section . . . these are in all cases classified in their own appropriate heading even if they are specifically designed to work as part of a specific machine. This applies in particular to:
. . .
(6) Transmission shafts . . . plain shaft bearings . . . pulleys . . . (heading 84.83).
Even where an article is designed to work solely or principally as a part of a machine, a provision for parts does not prevail over a specific provision for such parts. See Nidec Corp. v. United States, 18 CIT 821, 861 F. Supp. 136 (1994), aff'd, 68 F.3d 1333 (Fed. Cir. 1995) (holding that a part, which in itself constitutes an article covered by a heading of Section XVI, HTSUS, is in all cases classified as such even though it also could be classified as part of a specific machine).
Applying Note 2(a) to Section XVI, HTSUS, a good that is described as a good of a subheading under heading 8483, HTSUS would be classified in that subheading and not as a part of a subheading of heading 8431 providing for parts. Therefore, if the idlers, idler assemblies, and bushings are considered a good of heading 8483, HTSUS, they are not classifiable as parts of machinery under heading 8431 by application of Section XVI, Note 2(a).
Heading 8483, provides for “[t]ransmission shafts . . . plain shaft bearings . . . flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks; parts thereof.” EN 84.83(B), clarifies that plain shaft bearings “may be in one piece or in several pieces clamped together, and form a smooth bearing in which a shaft or axle turns.” EN 84.83(G), explains that “[p]ulleys consist of wheels . . . which transmit rotary movement from one to another by means of an endless belt or rope revolving in contact between them.”
With respect to whether the bushings are a plain shaft bearing, in HQ ruling H127797, dated November 29, 2011, CBP defined the term “bearing” as:
[A]n “object, surface, or point that supports: supporting power: point of support: … a machine part in which a journal, gudgeon, pivot, pin or other part revolves, oscillates, or slides – see ball bearing, needle bearing, roller bearing, thrust bearing.”
A plain shaft bearing functions as an anti-friction or anti-wear mechanism and has no rolling elements. In this case, the bushings function as a rotation surface for the track links and are a component used to from the hinges in the track chain. In addition, the subject bushings are not designed to act as a “smooth bearing in which a shaft or axle turns.” See EN 84.83(B). As a result, the function of the bushings do not meet the terms of heading 8483, HTSUS.
With regard to the idlers and idler assemblies, they do not transmit power, nor do they transmit power to another pulley wheel or in this instance, the chain sprocket. The function of the idlers and idler assemblies is to maintain the tension on the track chain so that the track remains engaged to the track drive sprockets so that the bulldozer can propel itself forward. The idlers and idler assemblies also accommodate uneven ground and absorb shock. Based on the functions of the idlers and idler assemblies, they are not classified in heading 8483, HTSUS.
Since the idlers, idler assemblies, and bushings are not classified in heading 8483, HTSUS, pursuant to Note 2(a), we apply Note 2(b). Pursuant to Note 2(b), if the parts are suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine then “they are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate.” (Emphasis added). The idlers, idler assemblies, and bushings are said to be used with solely or principally with bulldozers and similar track-type dozers of heading 8429, HTSUS. Specifically, the idlers, idler assemblies, and bushings are designed for the undercarriage of a bulldozer and enable the bulldozer to move along the ground. Machines of heading 8429, HTSUS, include bulldozers as well as other track-type dozers. Heading 8431, HTSUS, applies to “parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430.” There is no evidence that the idler, idler assemblies, and bushings are generic components capable of being used interchangeably in a variety of machines of Chapter 84 or in vehicles and trucks of Chapter 87.
Accordingly and pursuant to Note 2(b) to Section XVI, we find that the subject idlers, idler assemblies, and bushings are classified in heading 8431, HTSUS, and specifically subheading 8431.49.90, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1 (Note 2(b) to Section XVI, the idlers are classified in heading 8431. By application of GRI 6, the idlers are classified in subheading 8431.49.90 of the 2016, HTSUS, which provides for “Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430: Of machinery of heading 8426, 8429, or 8430: Other: Other.” The 2016 general column one, rate of duty is free.
By application of GRI 1 (Note 2(b) to Section XVI), the bushings are classified in heading 8431. By application of GRI 6, the idlers are classified in subheading 8431.49.90 of the 2016, HTSUS, which provides for “Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430: Of machinery of heading 8426, 8429, or 8430: Other: Other.” The 2016 general column one, rate of duty is free.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the internet at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
You are instructed to ALLOW the Protest.
In accordance with Sections IV and VI of the CBP Protest/Petition Processing Handbook (HB 3500-08A, December 2007, pp. 24 and 26), you are to mail this decision, together with the CBP Form 19, to the Protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision.
Sixty days from the date of the decision, the Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings, will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public on the CBP website 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