HQ 0089283 - Singer Overlock Sewing Machines; Household Use; Request For Reconsideration Of HQ Ruling 087488 (November 30, 1990) - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 089283

August 13, 1991

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 089283 CMS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8452.10.00, 8452.21.90

Mr. David O. Elliot, Esq.
Barnes, Richardson & Colburn
475 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016

RE: Singer Overlock Sewing Machines; Household Use; Request For Reconsideration Of HQ Ruling 087488 (November 30, 1990)

Dear Mr. Elliot:

This is in response to your request on behalf of Singer Sewing Machine Company, dated May 2, 1991, for the reconsideration of HQ Ruling 087488 (November 30, 1990).

FACTS:

HQ Ruling 087488 (November 30, 1990) held that the Singer 14U series of overlock sewing machine is classified as sewing machines of the household type, in subheading 8452.10.00, HTSUSA.

ISSUE:

Is the Singer 14U series of sewing machines properly classified as sewing machines of the household type, in subheading 8452.10.00, HTSUSA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The classification of the Singer 14U overlock sewing machines as machines of the household type was based on numerous factors.

HQ Ruling 087488 recognized that the Singer Sewing Reference Library publication, More Sewing for the Home, Cy DeCosse Inc., 1987, created in cooperation with the Singer Education Department, discussed in detail the applications of the overlock stitch in household sewing. HQ Ruling 087488 also recognized that More Sewing for the Home, supra, stated that the overlock machine is a supplement to a conventional sewing machine.

HQ Ruling 087488 recognized that the speed of operation of the 14U was within the operating range commonly associated with sewing machines of the household type, as stated in Encyclopedia Americana, Vol 24 (1980).

HQ Ruling 087488 recognized that the warranty card presented with the 14U (since changed by the manufacturer) stated that "[t]his sewing machine is warranted only in normal household (non-commercial) use".

Despite this and other overwhelming support for the finding that the 14U is a machine of the household type, none of which the ruling requestor attempts to refute, the ruling requestor seeks revocation of HQ Ruling 087488 on the sole question of whether the 14U performs a lockstitch.

HQ Ruling 087488 found that the 14U performed a lockstitch, quoting the definitions of the term "lockstitch" from The Random House Dictionary Of The English Language, Unabridged Ed. (1983), and Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd Ed. (1983).

The request for reconsideration is based solely on the argument that the definitions stated in The Random House Dictionary Of The English Language, supra, and Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, supra, should be disregarded in favor of the definition stated by the Singer Company in a 1971 Singer Company publication, and certain stitch standards of another government agency.

The Random House Dictionary Of The English Language, supra, and Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, are longstanding and highly credible authoritative lexicons. The ruling requestor has not provided persuasive authority for why they should be disregarded in favor of the definition fashioned by a single company (the ruling requestor).

Further, p. 1 of the Federal Stitch Type (FST) standards referred to by the ruling requestor, as stated by its own terms, relates to "General Information". The referred to "classes" of stitches do not determine the classification of imported merchandise for HTSUSA tariff classification purposes. Even where another agency makes a finding specifically regarding a class or kind of imported merchandise, such finding does not determine the classification of goods by Customs for tariff classification purposes. See 1 CIT at 87, fn. 18, Royal Business Machines, Inc. v. U.S., 1 CIT 80, 507 F. Supp. 1007 (1980), aff'd., 669 F. 2d 692.

The ruling requestor acknowledges that the stitch in question is an overlock stitch, and the FST standards, even if determinative of HTSUSA classification, describe the stitch as a double locked stitch.

HOLDING:

A showing has not been made that the Singer 14 series of sewing machine is a machine not of the household type. HQ Ruling 087488 (November 30, 1990) is affirmed.

Sincerely,

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