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HQ 963138


JANUARY 11, 2000

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 963138 JAS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8467.92.00

Port Director of Customs
6747 Engle Road
Middleburg Heights, OH 44130

RE: Protest 4101-99-100117; Parts for Hand-Held Tools

Dear Port Director:

This is our decision on Protest 4101-99-100117, filed against your classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), of parts and components for pneumatic hand tools. The entries under protest were liquidated on March 26, 1999, and this protest timely filed on May 26, 1999.

FACTS:

The articles at issue are identified as (1) a Nail Hole Extruder, (2) a Mini Extruder Body Standart, (3) an Extruder Screw and (4) a Cape Cover. Articles (1) and (2) are cylindrical metal barrels or bodies which, after importation, will be assembled with a domestically-sourced air drill with non-electric motor incorporated into the pistol grip handle, into a Nail Hole Filler Extruder Gun and a Mini Extruder Gun, respectively. These are tools used primarily in gas stations and other automotive facilities to repair punctures and larger rips or tears in damaged tires. Article (3) is an integral component of the Mini Extruder Gun, while article (4), a fitted, protective leather cover with velcro closure, is an accessory
item that fits over the pistol grip handle of the assembled Mini Extruder Gun. Samples of the Mini Extruder Body Standart, a complete Extruder Gun, a Cape Cover, along with associated product literature were submitted with the protest.

The Nail Hole Filler Extruder Gun of which article (1) is a component has a separate, stand-alone thermostat. In use, rubber is inserted into the extruder barrel and the nozzle into the thermostat control box to soften the rubber. The air drive, non-electric motor is needed to feed and extract the rubber from the unit. Article (2), imported with an electric thermostat attached, rotates in the Mini Extruder Gun and serves as a temperature guard. Rubber is fed into the unit through an oblong section in the body. The completed Mini Extruder Gun is used with a spring and cable accessory called a tool balancer. It is attached to an overhead support and allows the tool to hang in the air.

Articles (1), (2) and (3) were entered under a provision in heading 8477, HTSUS, for extruders, and article (4) under an equivalent parts provision of the same heading. The articles were reclassified in liquidation under a provision of heading 8205, HTSUS, as other parts for handtools. Protestant now claims that article (1), the Nail Hole Extruder, is classifiable under a provision of heading 8467, HTSUS, as parts of pneumatic tools for working in the hand, that article (2), the Mini Extruder Body Standart, and article (3), the Extruder Screw, are classifiable under a provision of heading 8477, HTSUS, as parts of extruders or, alternatively, under the parts provision of heading 8467, HTSUS, and that article (4), the Cape Cover, is classifiable in a provision of heading 4205, HTSUS, as an article of leather.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

Handtools n.e.s.i.;...: base metal parts thereof:

Other handtools (including glass cutters) And parts thereof:

Other

Tools for working in the hand, pneumatic, hydraulic or with self-contained non-electric motor, and parts thereof:

Other tools:

Parts:

Of pneumatic tools

8467.99.00 Other

8477 Machinery for working rubber or plastics or for the manufacture of products from these materials, n.s.e.i. in this chapter; parts thereof:

8477.20.00 Extruders

Parts:

8477.90.85 Other

ISSUE:

Whether articles (1), (2), (3), and (4) are parts of tools of heading 8467.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Under General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 1, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), goods are to be classified 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. Under XVI, Note 2(a), HTSUS, goods included in any heading of Chapter 84 or Chapter 85 are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings. Under Section XVI, Note 2(b), HTSUS, parts suitable for use solely or principally with machines of Chapter 84 or Chapter 85 are to be classified with those machines.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. Though not dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).

Initially, while subheading 8477.20.00, HTSUS, describes extruders eo nomine, by name, at the 4-digit heading level the provision covers, in part, machinery for working rubber or plastics. In our opinion, neither the Nail Hole Filler Extruder Gun nor the Mini Extruder Gun work rubber for purposes of heading 8477. See HQ 960374, dated August 8, 1997, in which we held that a machine that mixed rubber with carbon black, oil, other raw materials and chemicals to form a homogeneous mass, “worked” rubber for heading 8477 purposes. Heading 8477 is governed by the principle of “use.” In this case, although these Guns may in a way form or shape the rubber, this is subsidiary to their principal use, which is to repair holes in damaged tires.

The text of heading 8205 limits that heading to tools not specified or included elsewhere in the HTSUS. The ENs on p. 1203 expressly exclude from heading 8205 tools of heading 8467. On the other hand, the ENs at p. 1394 state that heading

8467 covers tools which incorporate a compressed air motor (or compressed air operated piston), an internal combustion motor or any other non-electric motor (e.g., small hydraulic turbines). The heading covers such tools only if for working in the hand, that is, designed to be held in the hand during use, although to obviate the fatigue of taking their full weight they may be used with auxiliary supporting devices. Compressed air type greasing pistols for garages are listed on p. 1394 of the heading 8467 ENs. The Nail Hole Filler Gun and the Mini Extruder Gun are described by the ENs to heading 8467.

The Cape Cover, a fitted leather protective cover for the pistol grip of the Mini Extruder Gun, is not an integral, constituent component part of the Gun. Since heading 8467 does not provide for accessories, the Cape Cover is not described in that heading.

HOLDING:

The Nail Hole Filler Extruder Gun and the Mini Extruder Gun are tools of heading 8467. Under the authority of GRI 1 and Section XVI, Note 2(b), HTSUS, article (1), the Nail Hole Extruder, article (2), the Mini Extruder Body Standart, and article (3) the Extruder Screw, are all parts solely or principally used with tools of heading 8467, and are classifiable in subheading 8467.92.00, HTSUS. The protest should be ALLOWED as to these articles. Under the authority of GRI 1, the Cape Cover is provided for in heading 4205. It is classifiable as an article of leather, in subheading 4205.00.80, HTSUS. The protest should be ALLOWED as to this article.

In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you are to mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will make the
decision available to Customs personnel, and to the public on the Customs Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.customs.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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