CLA-2-84:OT:RR:NC:1:104
Mr. Michael P. Donnelly
ESM Group
300 Corporate Parkway, Suite 118N
Amherst, NY 14226-1207
RE: The tariff classification of a mineral disintergration plant from Germany
Dear Mr. Donnelly:
In your letter dated March 10, 2014, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The disintegration plant is designed to reduce the size of burnt lime feedstock. Two rotors turning in opposite directions at very high speeds produce shock waves which destroy the material’s crystal lattice structure. This action results in reduced particle size. A small portion of the material collides with the unit’s profiles and rotors. This action also reduces the material’s size. The particles exit the disintegrator via the output chamber onto a trough screw conveyor to the centrifugal screen where the oversize particles are separated from the finer particles. Oversize particles are collected for future recycling. The major components of the disintegrating plant are: (1) a Disintegrator, (2) a Centrifugal Screen, (3) a Control Panel with PLC, (4) a Trough Screw Conveyor, (5) a Support Stand for Disintegrator, (6) Fine Screening Silos, (7) Lot Interconnecting Ductwork, (8) Rotary Airlock Valves and (9) a Tubular Screw Conveyor.
You state that (1) the plant will be imported, disassembled but complete, in a single shipment and (2) the manufacturer and patent holder has licensed this plant only for grinding burnt lime.
In your letter, you suggest classifying this equipment in subheading 8474.20.0070, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Machinery for sorting, screening, separating, washing, crushing, grinding, mixing or kneading earth, stone, ores or other mineral substances, in solid (including powder or paste) form; machinery for agglomerating, shaping or molding solid mineral fuels, ceramic paste, unhardened cements, plastering materials or other mineral products in powder or paste form; machines for forming foundry molds of sand; parts thereof: Crushing or grinding machines … Stationary: Other. However, it is this office’s opinion that the disintegration process using shock waves is more akin to a crushing process rather than a grinding process.
You had also proposed that the plant be classified in accordance with Legal Note 3 to Section XVI, HTSUS, as a composite machine. Legal Note 3 to Section XVI, HTSUS, states that "Composite machines consisting of two or more machines fitted together to form a whole and other machines adapted for the purpose of performing two or more complementary or alternative functions are to be classified as if consisting only of that component or as being that machine which performs the principal function." General Explanatory Note (VI) to Section XVI defines the phrase “fitted together to form a whole” for purposes of the composite machines provision of Note 3 to Section XVI as “… machines of different kinds are taken to be fitted together to form a whole when incorporated on in the other or mounted one on the other, or mounted on a common base or frame or in a common housing”. The configuration of the equipment as shown in the submitted literature does not conform to “fitted together to form a whole”. However, the equipment does meet the terms of Legal Note 4 to Section XVI, HTSUS, which states “Where a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of individual components (whether separate or interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings in chapter 84 or chapter 85, then the whole falls to be classified in the heading appropriate to that function”. In this instance, all the equipment contributes to clearly defined function of the crushing of the mineral material, i.e., lime.
In accordance with Legal Note 4 to Section XVI and General Rule of Interpretation 2(a), the applicable subheading for the disassembled disintegration plant, imported complete in a single shipment, will be 8474.20.0050, HTSUS, which provides for Machinery for sorting, screening, separating, washing, crushing, grinding, mixing or kneading earth, stone, ores or other mineral substances, in solid (including powder or paste) form; …; parts thereof: Crushing or grinding machines … Stationary: Crushing. The rate of duty will be 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 World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Patricia O’Donnell at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Acting Director
National Commodity Specialist Division