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HQ 964815





DECEMBER 5, 2001

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 964815 JAS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8482.10.50

Andrea Ybarra
StorageTek
2270 South 88th Street
Louisville, CO 80028-0001

RE: NY B88876 Revoked; Linear Guide Sliders

Dear Ms. Ybarra:

In NY B88876, which the Director of Customs National Commodity Specialist Division, New York, issued to you on August 22, 1997, certain linear guide sliders were found to be classifiable in subheading 8473.30.50, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), as other parts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471.

Pursuant to section 625(c), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1625(c)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2186 (1993), notice of the proposed revocation of NY B88876 was published on October 30, 2001, in the Customs Bulletin, Volume 35, Number 44. No comments were received in response to that notice.

FACTS:

The merchandise in NY B88876, identified as part 10110314, is known variously as a linear guide, slider, and linear guide slider. It consists of two rows of circulating ball bearings in a square metal casing affixed to a 15 1/2-inch long metal arm. The arm has round holes punched at 1-inch intervals along its length. The balls circulate in pathways within the casing which allows the casing to travel in grooves up and down the length of the arm with minimal friction. After importation, these linear guide sliders are assembled onto a threader arm, an
article that functions as a threader in tape storage peripheral devices which are units of automatic data processing (ADP) machines. These devices thread tape through the tape path from the cartridge to the take-up reel.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

8473 Parts and accessoriessuitable for use solely or principally with machines of headings 8469 to 8472:

Parts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471:

Not incorporating a cathode ray tube:

Other

8482 Ball or roller bearings, and parts thereof:

.10 Ball bearings:

8482.10.50 Other

ISSUE:

Whether linear guide sliders are goods included in heading 8482.

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.

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

Subject to certain exceptions that are not relevant here, goods that are identifiable as parts of machines or apparatus of Chapter 84 or Chapter 85 are classifiable in accordance with Section XVI, Note 2, HTSUS. See Nidec Corporation v. United States, 861 F. Supp. 136, aff'd. 68 F. 3d 1333 (1995). Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of Chapters 84 and 85 are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings. See Note 2(a). Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading, are to be classified with the machines of that kind. See Note 2(b).

The linear guide sliders in NY B88876 were described as parts used with units of automatic data processing machines which qualified them for classification in subheading 8473.30.50 in accordance with Section XVI, Note 2(b), HTSUS. The ruling cited in NY B88876 on supposedly similar merchandise, HQ 955270, dated August 5, 1994, concerned magnetic head sliders. These were articles principally used with automatic data processing machines to read and write from a magnetic disk. These articles consisted of both a mixture of ceramic materials and active sensors or transducer elements deposited onto one end of the slider body using semiconductor manufacturing techniques, and ceramic slider bodies into which a magnetic core is bonded with epoxy and glass. The linear guide sliders at issue bear no resemblance, either by function or design, to the magnetic head sliders in HQ 955270.

The ENs on p. 1433 include within heading 8482:

(A) Ball bearings, with single or double rows of balls. This group also includes slide mechanisms with bearing balls, for example:

The free-travelling type, of steel, comprising a segment, a casing enclosing the bearing balls, and a guide rail with a groove of triangular section. (Emphasis original).

The linear guide sliders at issue consist of a casing enclosing bearing balls and an arm on which it travels, which is the equivalent of a guide rail. These articles are within the cited EN description. Notwithstanding the use of these articles with tape storage peripheral devices which are units of ADP machines, linear guide sliders are goods included in heading 8482 in accordance with Section XVI, Note 2(a). This conclusion is consistent with HQ 086397, dated June 20, 1990, in which linear motion guides were
found to be classifiable in subheading 8482.10.50, HTSUS. The articles consisted of a casing enclosing ball bearings and grooved rails. After importation, machine tool tabletops were affixed to the tops of the bearing casings and the assemblies installed in machine tools.

HOLDING:

Under the authority of GRI 1, linear guide sliders represented by part 10110314 are provided for in heading 8482. They are classifiable in subheading 8482.10.50, HTSUS.

EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:

NY B88876, dated August 22, 1997, is revoked. In accordance with 19 U.S.C. 1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Customs Bulletin.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division


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