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NY N019125





November 21, 2007

CLA-2-84:OT:RR:E:NC:N1:106

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8428.90.0190

Ms. Ines D. Coyle
Customs Specialist
ASML US Inc.
8555 S. River Parkway
Tempe, AZ 85284

RE: The tariff classification of a machine system for the loading and moving of lithograph equipment made in the Netherlands.

Dear Ms. Coyle:

In your letter dated October 26, 2007 on behalf ASML US, Inc., you requested a tariff classification ruling. You included schematic materials and descriptive literature along with your request.

The merchandise at issue is referred to as transport system for moving lithographic equipment from a “clean room” into a container and shipped to the Netherlands. It has been designated by you as part number 4022.474.25071. The system consists of three components which are designed to function as a unit. The system is imported into the United States without any lithograph equipment and is then used in your US plant.

The three components of the system are as follows: A four wheeled, non-motorized cart constructed primarily of base metal and designed to move a lithograph module from the clean room of the US factory to the shipping area securely. A wooden container with its corners reinforced with metal. A mechanized, hand operated cable and pulley system which is built into the wooden container. The three components, the latter two being bolted together at all times, are used together to achieve the desired result of moving the lithograph equipment and are imported as a unit with equal numbers of each component. In use, the lithograph equipment is hand lifted onto the cart which has no lift capability and the cart is then moved by hand to the shipping area from the clean room. Two metal ramps are extended down from the container and a hook at the end of a cable is attached to the cart. The cable is then retracted by a hand crank attached to a spool within the container which results in the cart with the US components moving into the container. Once inside, the cart is fixed in place, the ramps fold into the container and the hand crank is stored in the container before sealing the container for export to the Netherlands. The container, which measures 2094mm x 1896mm x 1673mm is said to have a useful life of two to four years and is intended to be used twenty to fifty times per year.

In your original request dated July 30, 2007 (N015031), you had suggested classifying this item in subheading 8486.90.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Machines and apparatus of a kind used solely or principally for the manufacture of semiconductor boules or wafers, semiconductor devices, electronic integrated circuits or flat panel displays; machines and apparatus specified in Note 9(C) to this chapter; parts and accessories: Parts and accessories. You indicated that ASML believed the item to be an accessory to the lithography machine. To be an accessory to a machine classifiable in heading 8486, the article must contribute to the effectiveness of the principal article (in this case, the lithography machine). The merchandise in question neither widens the range of uses of the lithography machine nor does it improve the operation of the machine. It does not enter into the actual semiconductor processing operation. Rather, it is used for the safe transport of one part of the machine. Thus, subheading 8486.90.0000, HTSUS, would not be applicable.

The applicable subheading for the transport system will be 8428.90.0190, HTSUS, which provides for other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery: other machinery, other. The general rate of duty will be free.

Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.

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

A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Mark Palasek at 646-733-3013.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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