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HQ 086211


March 24, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 086211 JMH

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8481.80.30, 9817.00.50

Mr. P. Kimball
Valve & Filter Corporation
8041 West 1-70 Frontage Road, #9
Arvada, Colorado 80002

RE: Butterfly valves from France

Dear Mr. Kimball:

This is in response to your November 2, 1989 letter regarding the dutiable status of certain butterfly valves imported from France.

FACTS:

The articles in question are rubber encapsulated iron butterfly valves to be imported from France. The valves are to be used in agricultural irrigation systems. The items are manually operated only by a hand lever. The butterfly valves are in sizes of two inches, two and a half inches, three inches, four inches, six inches and eight inches.

ISSUE:

Whether the butterfly valves qualify for any special agricultural use duty exemptions.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1, HTSUSA, 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 and...according to the following provisions..."

The appropriate classification for butterfly valves is within heading 8481, HTSUSA. Heading 8481 describes "Taps,
cocks, valves and similar appliances...including pressure- reducing valves and thermostatically controlled valves..." Hand operated butterfly valves made of iron are classified within subheading 8481.80.30, HTSUSA. The rate of duty is 8 percent ad valorem.

Some articles are entitled to duty free treatment under subheading 9817.00.50, HTSUSA, if the articles are used for agricultural or horticultural purposes. Heading 9817.00.50 describes "Machinery, equipment and implements to be used for agricultural or horticultural purposes..." To fall within this special classification a three part test must be met.

First, the articles must not be among the long list of exclusions to headings 9817.00.50 and 9817.00.60, HTSUSA, under Section XXII, Chapter 98, Subchapter XVII, U.S. Note 2, HTSUSA. Secondly, the terms of the heading must be met in accordance with GRI 1. Heading 9817.00.50 describes "Machinery, equipment and implements to be used for agricultural or horticultural purposes..." This determination focuses upon the specific agricultural or horticultural pursuit in question and what machine, equipment or implement performs this pursuit. Thirdly, the merchandise must have the actual use certification required under 10 C.F.R. 10.138.

Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1971) defines machinery, equipment and implement as follows:

Machinery: machines as a functioning unit...the constituent parts of a machine or instruments: WORKS...

Equipment: ...the implements (as machinery or tools) used in an operation or activity: APPARATUS...

Implement: ...an article..serving to equip...a tool or utensil forming part of equipment for work...

The butterfly valves are classified within subheading 8481.80.30. Section XXII, Chapter 98, Subchapter XVII, U.S. Note 2(t) lists the exclusions to heading 9817.00.50 from Chapter 84, HTSUSA. Subheading 8481.80.30 is not excluded from Subchapter XVII, U.S. Note 2(t). The first prerequisite is met.

Secondly, the butterfly valves must be included within the terms of the heading. The valves must be "machinery," "equipment" or "implements" used for an "agricultural or horticultural purpose."

The initial determination to be made is what agricultural or horticultural pursuit is in question. You state
that the butterfly valves are utilized in agricultural irrigation systems. Therefore, the agricultural or horticultural pursuit in question is the irrigation of crops.

The next determination to be made is what "machinery", "equipment" or "implement" performs the irrigation of crops. The butterfly valves are used in an irrigation system. It is the irrigation system which is the machine, equipment or implement that irrigates the crops. The butterfly valves are necessary components of an irrigation system. However, they are not the machine, equipment, or implement which fulfills the task. The valves by themselves do not accomplish the pursuit of irrigating crops, but are merely parts of the machine, equipment, or implement which does so.

It is the opinion of this office that the butterfly valves are parts, not "machinery", "equipment" or "implements" within the meaning of heading 9817.00.50. Therefore, the second prerequisite is not met, and the articles are not allowed the allowance under heading 9817.00.50.

HOLDING:

The butterfly valves in question are properly classified within subheading 8481.80.30, HTSUSA, as "Taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances...including pressure-reducing valves and thermostatically controlled valves..."

Butterfly valves are "parts" of an agricultural irrigation system. "Parts" are not provided for within heading 9817.00.50, HTSUSA, which describes "Machinery, equipment and implements to be used for agricultural or horticultural purposes." Therefore, the butterfly valves are ineligible for duty free classification within heading 9817.00.50, HTSUSA.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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