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NY 805163




January 9, 1995

CLA-2-84:S:N:N1:103 805163

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8479.30.0000

Ms. Brenda Hinerman
Trus Joist MacMillan
Route 5, Box 50
Buckhannon, WV 26201

RE: The tariff classification of a press and pulling stations from Germany

Dear Ms. Hinerman:

In your letter dated December 6, 1994 you requested a tariff classification ruling.

Your firm intends to import a press for the manufacture of engineered lumber. While your inquiry does not specifically describe the press, it appears that it will be used to agglomerate wood fibers or chips into a continuous wood beam or similar structural wood product. It will utilize pressure applied by endless forming bands, as well as heat, to accomplish this task. A pulling station, according to your letter, is designed to pull finished wood products from the press. It is constructed from two thick steel plates, top and bottom tractor conveyor belts, and hydraulic cylinders. The hydraulic cylinders apply pressure to the tractor conveyor supporting plates in order to assist in pulling the finished product from the press. The press will utilize two pulling stations so that the proper amount of pulling force is obtained.

The applicable subheading for the press will be 8479.30.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for presses for the manufacture of particle board or fiber building board of wood or other ligneous materials and other machinery for treating wood or cork. The rate of duty will be 3 percent ad valorem.

You contend that the pulling stations should be classified as material handling devices separate from the press itself. Presumably you are referring to heading 8428, HTS, which provides for other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery.

A copy of Patent 4,410,474 which describes a pulling station in greater detail was submitted with your inquiry. According to the patent, during the manufacture of thick wood products the chips or other material are squeezed out from between the forming bands, thus causing the finished product to lose its desired configuration. In order to prevent this seals are placed at the sides of the press. However, this produces considerable friction between the material and the seals, and thus results in stresses in the forming band. The patent states:

By additionally pulling the material extrusion which has been formed itself, the band press and, in particular, its forming bands, are relieved of supplying part of the feeding forces so that the stresses occurring can be kept within permissible limits.

In Ruling Letter HQ 951859 dated August 4, 1993 (copy attached) the Customs Service ruled on the classification of extrusion pullers used for moving extruded plastic profiles. It was found that these pullers performed two functions: (1) handling the product; and (2) maintaining the product's speed so that the extruded profile did not deform. The ruling held that, while the pullers moved the extruded profile from one place to another, they were essential to maintaining the shape of the profile as it was being cooled. Accordingly, the pullers were not classified in the heading for material handling machinery since it was determined that their principal function was not handling.

Likewise, the pulling stations used with the wood press serve to move the extruded profile, as well as to relieve stresses in the press and thus maintain the extruded lumber's configuration. Therefore, as in Ruling Letter HQ 951859, the pulling stations are not classifiable as material handling machinery since in our opinion their principal function is not handling. The plastic extrusion pullers were held to be classifiable as other machinery for molding or otherwise forming rubber or plastics. Similarly, the applicable subheading for the pulling stations will be 8479.30.0000, HTS, which provides for ...other machinery for treating wood or cork. The rate of duty will be 3 percent ad valorem.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.

Sincerely,

Jean F. Maguire
Area Director

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