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HQ 950122


December 4, 1991

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 950122 KCC

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6307.90.94; 6805.30.10

Mr. Dale Mace
Communications Manufacturing Company
(Canada) Limited
530 Gordon Baker Road
Willowdale, Ontario M2H 3B4

RE: Telephone Cleaning Equipment; GRI 1; heading 8517; EN 85.17; part; EN 68.05; textile material; abrasive powder; EN 63.07; Note 7, Section XI

Dear Mr. Mace:

This is in response to your letter dated July 31, 1991, concerning the tariff classification of Communications Manufacturing Company (CMC) telephone cleaning equipment under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).

FACTS:

The merchandise under consideration is telephone cleaning equipment used solely to clean telephone switches on central office equipment. You contend that the equipment should be classified under the tariff provision which provides for telephone equipment. Additionally, you state that all the merchandise is composed of rubber and nylon. The specific merchandise under consideration is as follows:

1) CMC 8066 Wiper Cleaner is a 2 1/2 inch trapezoid shaped strip of material composed of double faced nylon velvet pile. This item is used to non-abrasively clean bank and commutator contacts and wipers.
2) CMC 8067 Commutator Microscrub is a 2 1/2 inch trapezoid shaped strip of material composed of nylon velvet pile with an abrasive coating of carborundum. This item is used to clean commutators (vertical banks).
3) CMC 8068 Panel Microscrub is a 2 inch by 2 inch material square composed of double faced nylon velvet pile with an abrasive coating of carborundum. This item is used to abrasively clean panel equipment commutators and for general purpose abrasive cleaning of other switching contacts and 310-type plugs.
4) CMC 8069 Microscrub Strips are 9 inch by 3/8 inch strip of material composed of nylon velvet pile with an abrasive coating of carborundum. This item is used to abrasively clean relay and other contacts.
5) CMC 16062-L2 Bank Cleaning Rotor is a group of four semi-circular disks. Each disk is approximately 1/8 inch in thickness. The disks are composed of a rubber base which has a layer of textile pile material on both sides. The disks are set into a plastic bracket with will be attached to a wooden handle when used to clean telephone switches.

ISSUE:

What is the proper tariff classification of the CMC telephone cleaning equipment under the HTSUSA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1, HTSUSA, requires that classification be determined first according to the terms the headings of the tariff and any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRI's, taken in order.

Heading 8517, HTSUSA, provides for "Electrical apparatus for line telephone or telegraphy, including such apparatus for carrier-current line systems; parts thereof...." Explanatory Note (EN) 85.17 of the Harmonized Commodity and Description Coding System (HCDCS) states that:

The term "electrical apparatus for line telephone or line telegraphy" means apparatus for the transmission between two points of speech or other sound (or of symbols representing written messages, images or other data), by variation of an electric current or of an optical wave flowing in a metallic or dielectric (copper, optical fibres, combination cable, etc.) circuit connecting the transmitting station to the receiving station.

The heading covers all such electrical apparatus designed for this purposes, including the special apparatus used for carrier-current line systems.

HCDCS, Vol. 4, p. 1360. The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive, are to be looked to for the proper interpretation of the HTSUSA. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). You contend that since the CMC telephone cleaning equipment is used solely to clean telephone switches, they should be classified as parts of the telephone switches. However, not every article used with another becomes a part of that article. While the CMC telephone cleaning equipment will clean the telephone switches more effectively, they are not an essential component for the telephone switch to operate. Furthermore, there are other methods available to clean telephone switches. We are of the opinion that the CMC telephone cleaning equipment is not considered to be parts of the electrical apparatus described in heading 8517, HTSUSA, but rather they are highly specialized cleaning apparatus for telephone switches. Therefore, classification must be sought elsewhere.

Heading 6805, HTSUSA, provides for "Natural or artificial abrasive powder or grain, on a base of textile material, of paper, of paperboard or of other materials, whether or not cut to shape or sewn or otherwise made up...." EN 68.05 states that heading 6805, HTSUSA, covers "textile material...in rolls or cut to shape (sheets, bands, strips, discs, segments, etc.), or in threads or cords, on to which crushed natural or artificial abrasives have been coated, usually by means of glue or plastics. HCDCS, Vol. 3, p. 901. Additionally, EN 68.05 states that:

[t]he bands, discs, etc., may be sewn stapled, glued or otherwise made up; the heading includes, for example, tools such as buff sticks, made by permanently fixing abrasive paper or cloth onto blocks or strips of wood, etc.

The goods of this heading are mainly used (by hand or mechanically) for smoothing or cleaning up metal, wood, cork, glass, leather, rubber (hardened or not) or plastics....

HCDCS, Vol. 3, p. 901.

We are of the opinion that CMC 8067 Commutator Microscrub, 8068 Panel Microscrub and 8069 Microscrub Strips are classifiable under this tariff provision. The previously described Microscrubs are of the class and kind of merchandise contemplated by heading 6805, HTSUSA. These Microscrubs are designed to abrasively clean blank contacts for telephone systems. Therefore, the 8067 Commutator Microscrub, 8068 Panel Microscrub and 8069 Microscrub Strips are classified under subheading 6805.30.10, HTSUSA, as "Natural or artificial abrasive powder or grain, on a base of textile material, of paper, of paperboard or of other materials, whether or not cut to shape or sewn or otherwise made up...On a base of other materials...Articles wholly or partly coated with abrasives, in the form of sheets, strips, disks, belts, sleeves or similar forms," dutiable at the rate of 2.5 percent ad valorem.

Heading 6307, HTSUSA, "covers made up articles of any textile material which are not included more specifically in other headings of Section XI or elsewhere in the Nomenclature." HCDCS, Vol. 2, p. 867. Note 7, Section XI, HTSUSA, states that "the expression 'made up' means:
a) Cut otherwise than into squares or rectangles; b) Produced in the finished state, ready for use...; e) Assembled by sewing, gumming or otherwise....

As the CMC 8066 Wiper Cleaner and 16062-L2 Blank Cleaning Rotor are "made up" articles of textile material which are not specifically described in any other tariff provision, we are of the opinion that they are classifiable under subheading 6307.90.94, HTSUSA, as "Other made up articles, including dress patterns...Other...Other...Other." This tariff provision is dutiable at the rate of 7 percent ad valorem.

HOLDING:

The CMC 8067 Commutator Microscrub, 8068 Panel Microscrub and 8069 Microscrub Strips are classified under subheading 6805.30.10, HTSUSA. The CMC 8066 Wiper Cleaner and 16062-L2 Blank Cleaning Rotor are classifiable under subheading 6307.90.94, HTSUSA.

It is claimed that all of the CMC above-described merchandise is manufactured in Canada. Under the United States- Canada Free-Trade Agreement (CFTA), goods originating in the territory of Canada may be eligible for preferential tariff treatment upon compliance with the applicable law and regulations. If eligible for special treatment under the CFTA, the CMC 8067 Commutator Microscrub, 8068 Panel Microscrub and 8069 Microscrub Strips classifiable under subheading 6805.30.10, HTSUSA, will be dutiable at the rate of 1.7 percent ad valorem. Additionally, if eligible for special treatment under the CFTA, the CMC 8066 Wiper Cleaner and 16062-L2 Blank Cleaning Rotor classifiable under subheading 6307.90.94, HTSUSA, will be dutiable at the rate of 4.9 percent ad valorem.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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