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HQ 957366



March 10, 1995

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 957366 DWS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 7318.29.00; 7616.90.00

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
300 S. Ferry Street, Rm. 1001
Terminal Island, CA 90731

RE: Protest 2704-94-102289; "Stroke Control" Rod Stops; Pull Pins; Parts; Kores Manufacturing Inc. v. U.S.; HQ 084140; Parts of General Use; Section XV, Note 2(a); Explanatory Note 73.18(D); Section XVI, Note 1(g); HQ 954932; 8433.90.50; 8432.90.00

Dear District Director:

The following is our decision regarding Protest 2704-94-102289 concerning your action in classifying and assessing duty on "Stroke Control" rod stops and pull pins under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The merchandise consists of "Stroke Control" rod stops and pull pins. The aluminum rod stops are wrapped around the shaft of a hydraulic cylinder, which is then attached to a tractor. The protestant claims that the rod stops are for use in a disc harrow soil cultivation operation. They are used to control the stroke of the hydraulic cylinder shaft and regulate the depth penetration of a disc harrow disc blade into the ground. The number of rod stops used on a hydraulic cylinder shaft is dependent upon how deep the user wants to cut into the ground with the disc harrow, as disc penetration differs for each disc harrow application.

The pull pins are used to attach the disc harrow to a tractor. A pull pin is similar to a hitch pin, also used to tow implements, which is an unthreaded steel pin with a flange at one end of the pin and is cross-drilled to receive a retaining cotter pin.

The "Stroke Control" rod stops and pull pins were entered on November 24, 1993, under subheading 8433.90.50, HTSUS, as other parts for cleaning, sorting, or grading eggs, fruit, or other agricultural produce, and subheading 8432.90.00, HTSUS, as parts of agricultural machinery for soil preparation or cultivation, respectively. The entry containing the "Stroke Control" rod stops and pull pins was liquidated on July 8, 1994, under subheading 7616.90.00, as other articles of aluminum, HTSUS, and subheading 7318.29.00, HTSUS as other non-threaded articles, respectively. The protest was timely filed on August 8, 1994.

The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

8433.90.50: [h]arvesting or threshing machinery, including straw or fodder balers; grass or hay mowers; machines for cleaning, sorting or grading eggs, fruit or other agricultural produce, other than machinery of heading 8437; parts thereof: [p]arts: [o]ther.

Goods classifiable under this provision receive duty-free treatment.

8432.90.00: [a]gricultural, horticultural or forestry machinery for soil preparation or cultivation; lawn or sports ground rollers; parts thereof: [p]arts.

Goods classifiable under this provision receive duty-free treatment.

7616.90.00: [o]ther articles of aluminum: [o]ther.

The 1993 general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable under this provision is 5.7 percent ad valorem.

7318.29.00: [s]crews, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers (including spring washers) and similar articles, of iron or steel: [n]on-threaded articles: [o]ther.

The 1993 general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable under this provision is 5.7 percent ad valorem.

ISSUE:

Whether the "Stroke Control" rod stops are classifiable under subheading 8433.90.50, as other parts for cleaning, sorting, or grading eggs, fruit or other agricultural produce, or under subheading 7616.90.00, as other articles of aluminum.

Whether the pull pins are classifiable under subheading 8432.90.00, HTSUS, as parts of agricultural machinery for soil preparation or cultivation, or under subheading 7318.29.00, HTSUS, as other non-threaded articles.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

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

"STROKE CONTROL" ROD STOPS

As the protestant claims the "Stroke Control" rod stops are classifiable under subheading 8433.90.50, HTSUS, we must first determine whether they are parts. Whether an article is a part of another article depends on the nature of the so-called "part" and its usefulness, function and purpose in relation to the article in which it is designed to serve. Kores Manufacturing Inc. v. U.S., 3 CIT 178, 179 (1982), aff'd appeal No. 82-83 (C.A.F.C. 1983).

It is our position that the "Stroke Control" rod stops are not parts of hydraulic cylinders, as protestant claims. Each hydraulic cylinder to which the rod stops are attached is a complete good in and of itself. Although the rod stops may enhance the operation of the hydraulic cylinder in a disc harrow application by regulating the stroke of the hydraulic cylinder shaft, they are not essential to the effective operation of the hydraulic cylinder in any general application. See HQ 084140, dated July 18, 1989, in which we held that a pit liner pedestal support for a generator and turbine was not a part of those goods, as the pedestal support was not necessary to their completion or proper functioning.

Inasmuch as the "Stroke Control" rod stops are not parts classifiable under subheading 8433.90.50, HTSUS, and because they are not more specifically described elsewhere under the HTSUS, we find that they are classifiable under subheading 7616.90.00, HTSUS, as other articles of aluminum.

PULL PINS

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

[t]hroughout the tariff schedule, the expression "parts of general use" means:

(a) Articles of heading 7307, 7312, 7315, 7317 or 7318 and similar articles of base metals.

In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes may be utilized. The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive or legally binding, provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). In part, Explanatory Note 73.18(D) (p. 1029) states:

(D) COTTER-PINS AND COTTERS

Cotter-pins, usually of bifurcated form, are used for fitting in holes in spindles, shafts, bolts, etc., to prevent objects mounted thereon from moving along them.

Cotters and taper pins are used for similar purposes but are usually larger and more solid; they may be designed, like cotter-pins, to pass through holes (in which case they are often wedge-shaped), or for fitting into grooves or slots cut round the shaft, spindle, etc., in which case they may be of various shapes such as horseshoe or conical. . .

Based upon the above description given in Explanatory Note 73.18, it is our position that the subject pull pins are similar in kind to cotter-pins and cotters and are parts of general use as defined under section XV, note 2(a), HTSUS, classifiable under subheading 7318.29.00, HTSUS.

Section XVI, note 1(g), HTSUS, states that:

[t]his section does not cover:

(g) Parts of general use, as defined in note 2 to section XV, of base metal (section XV), or similar goods of plastics (chapter 39).

Even though the protestant has provided information that the pull pins are utilized in an agricultural pursuit, because the pull pins are defined as parts of general use of base metal, under section XVI, note 1(g), HTSUS, they are precluded from classification under chapter 84, HTSUS. See HQ 954932, dated November 12, 1993, in which we held that hitch pins, similar in kind to the subject pull pins, were parts of general use classifiable under subheading 7318.29.00, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

The "Stroke Control" rod stops are classifiable under subheading 7616.90.00, as other articles of aluminum.

The pull pins are classifiable under subheading 7318.29.00, HTSUS, as other non-threaded articles.

The protest should be DENIED in full. In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, should be mailed by your office to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, Freedom of Information Act, and other public access channels.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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