CLA-2-85:RR:NC:1:104 C81309
Mr. Erik D. Smithweiss
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz & Silverman
245 Park Avenue, 33rd Floor
New York, NY 10167-3397
RE: The tariff classification of "furnace furniture" for
semiconductor diffusion furnaces from Japan
Dear Mr. Smithweiss:
In your letter dated November 3, 1997 on behalf of A.G.
Electronic Materials and followup letter of January 7, 1998, you
requested a tariff classification ruling.
The components, which you refer to as "furnace furniture",
are principally used in semiconductor diffusion furnaces. (The
term "furnace furniture" is not limited to the semiconductor
industry.) They are made of a substrate material consisting of
80% silicon carbide and 20% impregnated silicon (except for dummy
wafers which are 100% silicon carbide). Some of the items are
coated with silicon carbide. These items are specially designed
to withstand the high heat requirements of semiconductor
diffusion furnaces (also known as "tube" furnaces) although they
can also be used in LPCVD. All are necessary in order to properly
perform a semiconductor diffusion process on a batch of
semiconductor wafers.
The "furnace furniture" items include:
- "boats" that are slotted to hold wafers. The wafers remain
in the boats during the process. After the diffusion or LPCVD,
the boat is removed and the processed wafers are placed in
another boat for the next process. The now empty boat is refilled
with more wafers and reinserted into the furnace for processing.
- "tubes" where the processing takes place. They remain in
the furnace. The boats are inserted into the tube.
- "pedestals" and "plates" that sit under a boat. Pedestals
are only used in vertical furnaces.
- "cantilevers" used to insert and remove the boats from a
horizontal furnace, manually or mechanically. Furnaces that
operate the cantilever mechanically have a loading mechanism as a
component of the furnace.
- "dummy wafers" placed in a boat to ensure even absorption
and distribution of heat. They are generally placed at either end
of the boat. All unused slots in the boats are generally filled
with dummy wafers.
The applicable subheading for the "furnace furniture"
described above will be 8514.90.8000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States (HTS), which provides for parts of
industrial or laboratory electric furnaces and ovens. The rate
of duty will be 0.5 percent.
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 Robert
Losche at 212-466-5670.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division