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HQ 958562




APRIL 19, 1996

CLA-2 RR:TC:MM 958562 JAS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 7315.12.00, 7315.82.30, 7315.82.50, 7315.89.50, 9817.00.50

Mr. William J. LeClair
Trans-Border Customs Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 800
Champlain, NY 12919

RE: Barn Cleaner Chain, Chain With Welded Paddles, 7/8 inch 0 Chain, Pintle
Chain, Hook-and-Eye Chain, Links With Welded Paddles; Parts Used With Barn
Cleaning Apparatus, Heading 7315; Parts to be Used in Articles Provided for in Heading 8436, Heading 9817.00.60; HQ 088999, HQ 958875

Dear Mr. LeClair:

Your letter to the then Area Director of Customs, New York Seaport, dated September 5, 1995, on behalf of J. Houle & Fils, Inc., has been referred to this office for reply. Your inquiry concerns the tariff classification of steel barn cleaner replacement chain and parts made in Canada. Descriptive literature was submitted.

FACTS:

The inquiry concerns three types of steel chain with paddles, and individual chain links to which a paddle is welded. The first article consists of 7/8 inch 0 chain, which consists of interlocking oval-shaped links, each round in cross section, made of 7/8 inch steel rod; the second article is pintle chain, which consists of barrel-shaped links connected by steel pins or pintles; and hook-and-eye chain, each link being rectangular in cross section, and having a J shape at one end and the other end looped or closed. All are in 21 ft. lengths and have 12 inch-long u-shaped iron shapes or paddles welded at 18-inch intervals. Some chains have only 2 such paddles. These chains operate in continuous rotation in dairy barns in connection with a motor, drive shaft and clutch pulley to sweep cow manure down a gutter onto a ramp outside the barn which empties into a manure spreader. Also in issue are individual chain links to which a u-shaped iron paddle is welded.

The provisions under consideration are as follows:

7315 Chain and parts thereof, of iron or steel:

Articulated link chain and parts thereof:

7315.12.00 Other chain...3.4 percent ad valorem

7315.19.00 Parts...2.5 percent ad valorem

Other chain:

7315.82 Other, welded link:

Of iron or nonalloy steel:

7315.82.50
Not over 10 mm in diameter...0.9 percent ad valorem

7315.82.70
Over 10 mm in diameter...Free

7315.89 Other:

7315.89.50 Other...5.3 percent ad valorem

7315.90.00 Other parts...4.6 percent ad valorem

9817.00.60 Parts to be used in articles provided for in headings 8432, 8433,
8434 and 8436, whether or not such parts are principally used as parts of such articles and whether or not covered by a specific provision within the meaning of additional U.S. rule of interpretation 1(c)...Free

ISSUE:

Whether lengths of barn cleaner replacement chain with welded paddles, as described, are chain of heading 7315.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 states in part that for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6.

Initially, heading 7315 describes an article or class of articles eo nomine, by name. In the absence of contrary legislative intent, judicial decision, or administrative practice, an unlimited eo nomine designation will include all forms of the named article. Chain is typically used for conveying and power transmission applications. The presence of paddles welded at regular intervals on this chain simply increases the area or amount of material the chain can convey. Such chain is still routinely bought and sold and regarded commercially as "chain."

The types of chain enumerated in the provisions of heading 7315 are described in the American Chain Association's design and applications handbook Chains for Power Transmission and Material Handling, Marcel Dekker, Inc. (1982). The HTS provisions for articulated link chain encompass roller chain and other articulated link chain. Articulated chain consists of segments united by joints such as pins. The pintle chain, as described, is articulated for tariff purposes, but is not regarded as a type of roller chain because roller chain is made up of two kinds of links, roller links, which is an assembly of two roller link plates, two bushings and two rollers, and pin links which are assemblies of two pin link plates and two pins. Pintle chain is provided for as other articulated link chain. The 7/8 inch 0 chain, as described, is provided for as welded link chain of nonalloy steel, The links of hook-and-eye chain are united by looping the J end of one link through the closed end of another link. Such chain is not articulated for tariff purposes, but is provided for as other chain. See HQ 958875, dated April 17, 1996.

To be eligible for duty-free entry under heading 9817.00.60, a good must not be excluded by a U.S. legal note in Chapter 98, Subchapter XVII; it must be a part to be used in an article that performs the agricultural or horticultural pursuit in question; and the good must have the required actual use certificate. See HQ 088358, dated March 1, 1991. Chapter 98, Subchapter XVII, U.S. Note 2(ij), precludes articles of Chapter 73 from classification in heading 9817.00.50. However, Note 2(ij) further states that articles provided for in subheadings 7315.81 through 7315.89, among other subheadings, are not subject to this exclusion.

Thus, both the pintle chain and the individual links of such chain with welded paddles are precluded from heading 9817.00.60. However, the 7/8 inch 0 chain and the hook-and-eye-chain, together with their respective links with welded paddles, are eligible for classification under that heading, if otherwise qualified.

The barn cleaner replacement chain is a part or component of apparatus used to remove manure from dairy barns. It is not machinery, equipment and implements for purposes of heading 9017.00.50; rather, it is a part for tariff purposes. An importation of barn cleaner replacement chain, as described, plus motor, drive shaft, and clutch pulley, imported assembled or unassembled, would be considered agricultural machinery of heading 8436. This is because the removing of animal wastes and other noxious materials from dairy barns for health or sanitary reasons bears a sufficient relationship to the care and maintenance of livestock for food and clothing as to qualify as a legitimate agricultural pursuit for tariff purposes. See HQ 088999, dated October 15, 1991. Therefore, the 7/8 inch 0 chain and the hook-and-eye chain, together with their respective links with welded paddles, qualify as parts to be used in articles provided for in heading 8436.

HOLDING:

Under the authority of GRI 1, barn cleaner replacement chain with welded paddles, as described, is provided for in heading 7315. Such chain of the pintle type is classifiable in subheading 7315.12.00, HTSUS, and the links of this chain with welded paddles are classifiable in subheading 7315.19.00, HTSUS. Such chain and its paddles are not eligible for classification in heading 9817.00.60, HTSUS.

Barn cleaner replacement 0 chain with welded paddles, as described, is classifiable in subheadings 7315.82.50 or 7315.82.70, HTSUS, as appropriate, and the barn cleaner replacement chain with welded paddles, in a hook-and-eye arrangement, as described, is classifiable in subheading 7315.89.50, HTSUS. Links of 0 chain with welded paddles and links of hook-and-eye chain with welded paddles are both classifiable in subheading 7315.90.00, HTSUS. Both types of chain, together with their respective links with welded paddles, are eligible for duty-free entry under heading 9817.00.60, HTSUS, upon compliance with the actual use requirements of 19 CFR 10.138.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification
Appeals Division

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