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HQ 951569

April 23, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 951569 DWS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8454.30.00; 8514.30.00

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
610 South Canal Street
Chicago, IL 60607

RE: Internal Advice 18/92; Furnace; Die Casting Machine; C.S.D. 83-83; Functional Unit; Section XVI, Note 4; Section XVI, Note 2(a)

Dear Sir:

This is in response to your memorandum requesting internal advice concerning the tariff classification of a die casting machine, imported in two different shipments, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The subject merchandise consists of a die casting machine. The importer placed an order with its parent-supplier for a complete die casting machine. However, the furnace for the machine, shipped the same day as the remainder of the machine, was laden on a different vessel. The furnace arrived in Chicago, Illinois, on December 14, 1991, while the remainder of the die casting machine arrived in Newark, New Jersey, on December 17, 1991.

ISSUE:

Whether, for classification purposes, the furnace and the remainder of the die casting machine, imported in separate shipments, make up a functional unit classifiable as a casting machine under the HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's), taken in order. GRI 1 provides that classification is determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

The die casting machine without the furnace was classified by the Newark port under subheading 8454.30.00, HTSUS, which provides for: "[c]onverters, ladles, ingot molds and casting machines, of a kind used in metallurgy or in metal foundries, and parts thereof: [c]asting machines." However, the furnace was classified by the Chicago port under subheading 8514.30.00, HTSUS, which provides for: "[i]ndustrial or laboratory electric furnaces and ovens; other industrial or laboratory induction or dielectric heating equipment; parts thereof: [o]ther furnaces and ovens."

Section XVI, note 4, HTSUS, states that:

[w]here 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.

The importer claims that, under section XVI, note 4, HTSUS, the furnace should be classifiable as a functional unit with the die casting machine because the entire machine, including the furnace, was the subject of one order, and that all of the components will be assembled into one unit after importation.

In C.S.D. 83-83, dated April 5, 1988, the tariff classification of a hoverbarge, imported in a disassembled state over a period of five days, was at issue. The hovercraft was cut into eleven sections, and these sections were loaded onto ten trucks. The ten trucks were to travel in convoy at the same time and enter at the port of Alcan, Alaska. However, one truck broke down and another stayed behind. The first eight trucks arrived at Alcan on January 21, 1981, and the two remaining trucks reached Alcan on January 26, 1981.

In C.S.D. 83-83, it was held that:
a hoverbarge imported into the United States in disassembled sections does not meet the requirements of a vessel. Subassemblies or components may form a vessel when assembled, however they are not considered to be a vessel when imported into the United States because at the time of importation it is the condition of the structure that controls its classification and not what the structure is made into after importation. Sections of the hoverbarge are considered merchandise and are dutiable under the appropriate tariff schedules.

The facts in C.S.D 83-83 and in the present situation are very similar. As with the merchandise in C.S.D. 83-83, it is the condition of the die casting machine and furnace at the time of importation that governs, not what they will be made into after importation. Unlike the merchandise in C.S.D. 83-83, which arrived at the same port, the furnace and the remainder of the die casting machine arrived at two separate ports, hundreds of miles apart. It is our position that, based upon the reasoning in C.S.D. 83-83, the subject merchandise does not make up a functional unit.

Section XVI, note 2(a), HTSUS, states that:

[p]arts which are goods included in any of the headings of chapters 84 and 85 (other than headings 8485 and 8548) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings.

The furnace, which is a part of the subject die casting machine, is specifically provided for under subheading 8514.30.00, HTSUS. Therefore, under section XVI, note 2(a), HTSUS, the furnace is classifiable under subheading 8514.30.00, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

Under C.S.D 83-83, for classification purposes, the furnace and the remainder of the die casting machine do not make up a functional unit.

The furnace is classifiable under subheading 8514.30.00, HTSUS. The general, column one rate of duty is 2.5 percent ad valorem.

The remainder of the die casting machine is classifiable under subheading 8454.30.00, HTSUS. Under this provision, the merchandise is subject to a free rate of duty.

You should advise the internal advice applicant of this decision.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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