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HQ 964213





MARCH 20, 2001

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 964213 JAS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8207.30.60

Port Director of Customs
1 East Bay Street
Savannah, GA31401

RE: Protests 1703-99-100176, 1703-99-100180; Cutting and Forming Dies

Dear Port Director:

This is our decision on Protests 1703-99-100176 and 1703-99-100180, both filed against your classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), of certain cutting and forming dies. The entries were liquidated on July 9 and June 25, 1999, for the respective protests, which were timely filed on August 3, 1999.

FACTS:

The entries under protest cover dies or tools used to make automotive parts and components from sheet metal. Some of these dies perform individual blanking, cutting-off, piercing, trimming and separating functions, which involve cutting, while others are drawing, flanging, and restriking dies, which involve forming operations. Some, called called single stage dies, perform both cutting and forming operations. All of the dies at issue are used either in a transfer press, a tandem press line or an individual stamping press. Transfer presses feature individual die stations, each utilizing multiple dies. Various cutting and forming operations, or combinations of both, are performed at each station. Tandem press lines incorporate individual presses connected by handling equipment. Dies used in tandem press lines perform cutting and/or forming operations as the part moves from station to station or from press to press. Transfer presses and tandem press lines are used to produce identifiable formed automotive parts from sheet metal.

The protestant is contesting the classification of five (5) dies in the entry the subject of protest 1703-99-100176. Some consist of single dies and others consist of multiple dies housed together in one holder or shoe. Certain of these dies are grouped together for classification purposes because they were imported and intended for use together. The classification of eight (8) dies in the entry the subject of protest 1703-99-100180, is also being contested. These will be similarly treated.

The dies were entered under a provision of heading 8207, HTSUS, for pressing, stamping or punching tools, not suitable for cutting metal. Customs determined that the dies were capable of both cutting and forming operations and, consequently, were deemed suitable for cutting metal. Accordingly, the entries were liquidated under an alternative provision of heading 8207 for tools suitable for cutting metal.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

Interchangeable tools for handtools...or for machine-tools..., including dies for drawing or extruding metal...:

8207.30 Tools for pressing, stamping or punching, and parts thereof:

8207.30.30 Suitable for cutting metal, and parts thereof

8207.30.60 Not suitable for cutting metal, and parts thereof

ISSUE:

Whether the dies at issue qualify as composite goods for tariff purposes; if so, whether an essential character can be established.

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. GRI 3(b), HTSUS, states in part that composite goods made up of different components are to be classified as if consisting of the component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.

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

Protestant cites HQ 952717, dated January 22, 1993, in which Customs classified progressive die units in subheading 8207.30.60, HTSUS, citing the authority of GRI 3(b), which states, in part, that composite goods consisting of different components shall be classified as if consisting of the component which gives them their essential character. The dies in that case were a series of dies in the same holder or “shoe.” Protestant concludes that at the subheading level, the forming dies impart the essential character to the whole because they impart size and shape to, and establish the identity of a finished part. The dies in HQ 952717 were in a holder called a “shoe” or plate. Some of the ones at issue here have only one die per “shoe,” while others have multiple dies. They were composite goods with components (i.e., the dies) attached to each other to form a practically inseparable whole. This required the essential character analysis that resulted in the subheading 8207.30.60 classification. Some of the dies under consideration here perform only one cutting or forming function while others are grouped in “shoes” and perform multiple cutting and forming functions. Protestant maintains that these dies still qualify as composite goods.

Relevant ENs, on p. 4, state that for purposes of GRI 3(b) composite goods made up of different components shall be taken to mean not only those in which the components are attached to each other to form a practically inseparable whole but also those with separable components, provided these components are adapted one to the other and are mutually complementary and that together they form a whole which would not normally be offered for sale in separate parts. The same EN also states that as a general rule, the components of composite goods are put up in a common packing.

The tariff status of multiple dies in groups called “lines” was addressed in HQ 963200, dated October 3, 2000. Each die in that case was in its own “shoe” or holder, and each one performed a different and unique function. Evidence in that case indicated that in the automotive industry where parts are to be produced in a transfer press and a line of dies is required, a complete line of dies is specified and purchased, rather than individual dies; all the dies in a particular line are necessary to produce a single part, that separately, an individual die has no viable, commercial use; and finally, because these dies have a long usable life and to minimize the downtime of a production line, when a particular die fails it is most always serviced or repaired on-site and is not replaced. HQ 963200 concluded that the dies at issue there were composite goods under GRI 3(b) and, incorporating the essential character analysis outlined in HQ 952717, held that they were to be classified as if consisting of the forming dies.

The dies here are a combination of the types described in HQ 952717 and in HQ 963200. In a letter, dated March 15, 2001, the protestant attests that all of the dies the subject of Protests 1703-99-100176 and 1703-99-100180, both those that perform only one cutting or forming function and those that perform multiple cutting and forming functions, are necessary to produce a finished and complete automotive part. For this reason, it is customary in the automotive industry to order and purchase these dies as a complete line and not individually. Customs has independently corroborated this practice through sources in the tool and die industry.

With respect to the entry in Protest 1703-99-100176, the facts in this case indicate the following: dies identified as items 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3, designated together as part # KP 73112, and used in a fully automated tandem press line, operate together to perform a variety of cutting and forming operations to include drawing, trimming, piercing, and restriking, to produce an identifiable formed body part. Dies identified as items 6-6, 6-7 and 6-8, designated together as part # KP 76033, operate together to perform similar cutting and forming operations, the result being an identifiable automotive part or component. Finally, dies identified as items 8-2, 8-3, 8-4, 8-5, and 8-6, designated together as part # KP 76752, are a complete set of dies mounted in a transfer press that perform combined cutting and forming operations that result in an identifiable formed body part. All of these dies qualify as composite goods in accordance with GRI 3(b), noting the attendant ENs. They are to be classified as if consisting of the forming dies.

With respect to the entry in Protest 1703-99-100180, the facts indicate the following: dies identified as items 7-6, 7-7, 7-8, 7-9 and 7-10, designated together as part # KP 76713, are mounted in a transfer press and perform a combination of cutting and forming operations such as blanking, drawing, trimming, flanging and piercing, to create a finished, identifiable automotive part or component. Dies identified as items 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, 10-5, 10-6, 10-7 and 10-8, designated together as part # KP 82153, perform a combination of cutting and forming operations to create a finished, identifiable automotive part or component. Finally, dies identified as items 14-1 and 15-1 are single stage dies, each performing multiple cutting and forming functions to produce a finished, identifiable automotive part. All of these dies qualify as composite goods pursuant to GRI 3(b) and the attendant ENs. In accordance with the principles of HQ 952717, as that decision applies to the issue of essential character, these dies are to be classified as if consisting of the forming dies.

HOLDING:

The dies at issue are provided for in heading 8207. Under the authority of GRI 3(b), applied at the subheading level through GRI 6, they are classifiable in subheading 8207.30.60, HTSUS. The five dies in the entry identified as items 2-2, 6-7, 6-8, 8-3 and 8-4, and the eight dies in the entry identified as 7-8, 7-9, 10-2, 10-3, 10-6, 10-7, 14-1 and 15-1, all liquidated under subheading 8207.30.30, HTSUS, should be reclassified under subheading 8207.30.60, HTSUS, as indicated, and the protest ALLOWED as to these items.

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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