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HQ 957693



March 29, 1995

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 957693 DWS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8803.30.00

Mr. Robert E. Burke
Barnes, Richardson & Colburn
200 East Randolph Drive, Suite 7920
Chicago, IL 60601

RE: Drive Gears and Drive Shafts for Use in Aircraft Pumps; Section XVII, Note 2(e); Explanatory Note 84.83; HQs 089554 and 952102; 8483.10.50; 8483.90.50

Dear Mr. Burke:

This is in response to your letter of December 23, 1994, to the Regional Commissioner of Customs, New York, on behalf of Sunstrand Corporation, concerning the classification of drive gears and drive shafts for use in aircraft pumps under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Your letter has been referred to this office for a response.

FACTS:

The merchandise consists of drive gears and drive shafts for use in aircraft pumps. The pumps will be mounted on and driven by the engine accessory gear box, which is driven by the engine to which the pumps are not internal or integral parts. The drive shafts include splined shafts (part nos. 40 and 350), couplings (part no. 470), and output shaft units (part no. 590). They are designed to transfer power between the pump gear and the power source (aircraft engine accessory gear box), or between two or more sets of gear impellers installed in series inside a pump. The drive gears (part nos. 570 and 580) consist of components which rotate inside a pump housing, capturing fluid between intermeshing teeth, compressing the fluid, and forcing it out under pressure.

The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

8483.10.50: [t]ransmission shafts (including camshafts and crankshafts) and cranks; bearing housings, housed bearings and plain shaft bearings; gears and gearing; ball screws; gear boxes and other speed changers, including torque converters; flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks; clutches and shaft couplings (including universal joints); parts thereof: [t]ransmission shafts (including camshafts and crankshafts) and cranks: [o]ther transmission shafts and cranks.

The general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable under this provision is 3.2 percent ad valorem.

8483.90.50: . . . : [p]arts: [p]arts of gearing, gear boxes and other speed changers.

The general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable under this provision is 2.5 percent ad valorem.

8803.30.00: [p]arts of goods of heading 8801 or 8802: [o]ther parts of airplanes or helicopters.

Goods classifiable under this provision receive duty-free treatment.

ISSUE:

Whether the drive gears and drive shafts are classifiable under subheading 8483.90.50, HTSUS, as parts of gearing, or subheading 8483.10.50, HTSUS, as other transmission shafts, or subheading 8803.30.00, HTSUS, as other parts of airplanes.

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.

Section XVII, note 2(e), HTSUS, states:

2. The expressions "parts" and "parts and accessories" do not apply to the following articles, whether or not they are identifiable as for the goods of this section:

(e) Machines or apparatus of headings 8401 to 8479, or parts thereof; articles of heading 8481 or 8482 or, provided they constitute integral parts of engines or motors, articles of heading 8483.

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 84.83 (p. 1328) states that:

[t]he heading also excludes:

(b) Transmission equipment of the kinds described above (gear boxes, transmission shafts, clutches, differentials, etc.), but which are designed for use solely or principally with vehicles of aircraft (Section XVII); it should, however, be noted that this exclusion does not apply to internal parts of vehicle or aircraft engines - these parts remain classified in this heading.

DRIVE SHAFTS

The drive shafts are described under subheading 8483.10.50, HTSUS, as other transmission shafts. The drive shafts are not internal or integral parts of aircraft engines and do not fall within the exclusionary language of section XVII, note 2(e), HTSUS. Therefore, although they are described under heading 8483, HTSUS, because of the exclusionary language under Explanatory Note 84.83 and the fact that they are parts of aircraft, the drive shafts are classifiable under subheading 8803.30.00, HTSUS, as other parts of airplanes.

DRIVE GEARS

In HQ 089554, dated July 3, 1991, we held that similar drive gears, which functioned as the fluid driving mechanisms in hydraulic gear pumps, were classifiable under subheading 8483.40.90, HTSUS, which provides for: "[g]ears and gearing, other than toothed wheels, chain sprockets and other transmission elements entered separately."

However, in HQ 952102, dated September 15, 1992, which modified the holding in HQ 089554 with respect to the drive gears, we held that the individual gears were transmission elements. Because the gears were individual articles, we stated that they were precluded from classification under subheading 8483.40.90, HTSUS ("entered separately"), and were classifiable under subheading 8483.90.50, HTSUS, as parts of gearing. We note that, although HQ 952102 modified HQ 089554 with respect to the drive gears, both rulings held that drive gears are classifiable under heading 8483, HTSUS.

As with the drive gears in the above rulings, we find that the subject gears are described under subheading 8483.90.50, HTSUS, as parts of gearing. Similar to the drive shafts, the drive gears are not internal or integral parts of aircraft engines and do not fall within the exclusionary language of section XVII, note 2(e), HTSUS. Therefore, although they are described under heading 8483, HTSUS, because of the exclusionary language under Explanatory Note 84.83 and the fact that they are parts of aircraft, the drive shafts are classifiable under subheading 8803.30.00, HTSUS, as other parts of airplanes.

HOLDING:

The drive gears and drive shafts are classifiable under subheading 8803.30.00, HTSUS, as other parts of airplanes.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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