H266146

U.S. Customs and Border Protection HQ H266146 July 31, 2020 OT:RR:CTF:CPMM H266146 RRB CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 3917.40.0090 Center Director Automotive and Aerospace Center of Excellence and Expertise U.S. Customs and Border Protection 477 Michigan Avenue, Rm. 281 Detroit, MI 48226 RE: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 3801-14-150024; Tariff classification of reinforced silicone shapes Dear Center Director: The following is our decision regarding the Application for Further Review (“AFR”) of Protest Number 3801-14-150024, timely filed on May 19, 2015, on behalf of FlexFab, LLC (“Protestant”). The AFR concerns U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (“CBP”) classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), of reinforced silicone shapes. In its submission, Protestant requested a meeting with CBP in the event we disagree with its proffered classification of the merchandise. We reached out both via telephone and email, dated June 25, 2020, to the protestant, and also to the protestant’s broker several times, most recently on July 21, 2020, without success. We therefore consider the request withdrawn and our decision on the matter follows. FACTS: The protested merchandise consists of various silicone hollow shapes of different shapes and lengths that the Protestant asserts are “hoses.” The silicone is reinforced with textile and some are also encircled by metal wire rings. Almost all of the part numbers underlying the protest are under 12 inches in length. The protested merchandise are used in the engine compartment of automotive vehicles and trucks and serve as connections from one apparatus to another in order to facilitate the flow of liquids and gases. While the Protestant asserts that the units are hoses, the Port of Detroit (“Port”) notes that the Protestant’s catalogue and invoices identify the subject merchandise as “hoses, elbows, sleeves, charged air connector couplers, reducers,” and other items. The protested merchandise consists of four (4) entries that were entered at the Port on September 9, 2014, September 19, 2014, and September 31, 2014, and were liquidated on November 28, 2014, under subheading 3917.40.00, HTSUS (2014) as “Tubes, pipes and hoses and fittings therefor (for example, joints, elbow, flanges), of plastics: Fittings: Other,” at a duty rate of 5.3% ad valorem. The Protestant filed this Protest and AFR on May 19, 2015, asserting that the subject merchandise is properly classified under subheading 3917.39.00, HTSUS (2014), as “Tubes, pipes and hoses and fittings therefor (for example, joints, elbow, flanges), of plastics: Other tubes pipes and hoses: Other: Other: Other.” ISSUE: Whether various reinforced silicone shapes are classified under subheading 3917.39.00, HTSUS (2014), as “other tubes pipes and hoses” or under subheading 3917.40.00, HTSUS (2014), as “fittings.” LAW AND ANALYSIS The protest was properly filed as a decision on classification under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2). The protest was timely filed within 180 days of liquidation of the entries. See 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3). Further Review of Protest Number 3801-14-150024 was properly accorded to Protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because the decision against which the protest was filed involves questions of law or fact which have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of Customs or his designee, or by the courts. Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRI”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. The 2014 HTSUS provisions under consideration as follows: 3917 Tubes, pipes and hoses and fittings therefor (for example, joints, elbows, flanges), of plastics: Other tubes, pipes and hoses: 3917.39.00 Other: Other: 3917.39.0050 Other. . . 3917.40.00 Fittings: 3917.40.0090 Other. . . * * * * Note 8 to chapter 39 states, in pertinent part: 8. For the purposes of heading 3917, the expression “tubes, pipes and hoses” means hollow products, whether semimanufactures or finished products, of a kind generally used for conveying, conducting or distributing gases or liquids (for example, ribbed garden hose, perforated tubes). This expression includes sausage casings and other lay-flat tubing. However, except for the last mentioned, those having an internal cross section other than round, oval rectangular (in which the length does not exceed 1.5 times the width) or in the shape of a regular polygon are not to be regarded as tubes, pipes and hoses, but as profile shapes. * * * * The Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings at the international level. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989). The EN to 39.17 states, in pertinent part: This heading also includes fittings of plastics for tubes, pipes and hoses (for example, joints, elbows, flanges). * * * * There is no dispute at the four digit level that the protested merchandise is classified in heading 3917, HTSUS, as “tubes, pipes and hoses and fittings therefor (for example, joints, elbows, flanges), of plastics.” Instead, the dispute arises at the six digit level as to whether or not the protested merchandise are “other tubes, pipes and hoses” of subheading 3917.39, HTSUS, or “fittings” of subheading 3917.40, HTSUS. Both the heading language in heading 3917 and the ENs to 39.17 identify joints, elbows and flanges as types of fittings. Furthermore, the protested merchandise is substantially similar to that addressed in New York (“NY”) Ruling Letter N251994, dated April 25, 2014. There, we classified four different items comprised of textile-reinforced silicone used as connectors between two pieces of engine equipment as fittings of subheading 3917.40.00, HTSUS. Moreover, even though chapter 39 provides little discussion of fittings of plastic, we look to the uniform usage rule of statutory construction for guidance. Under this rule, terms ordinarily have the same meaning throughout the statute, unless there is such variation in connection in which the words are used. See, e.g., Gen. Dynamics Land Syst. V. Cline, 540 U.S. 581, 591-96 (2004). For example, heading 7307, HTSUS, describes pipe fittings of iron or steel (e.g., couplings, elbows, sleeves). The ENs to 73.07 identify fittings as being “mainly used for connecting the bores of two tubes together, or for connecting a tube to some other apparatus, or for closing the tube aperture.” Based on the shapes and constructions of the protested merchandise, which the Protestant’s own catalogue and invoices describe as hoses, elbows, sleeves, charged air connector couplers, etc., and which serve as connections from one apparatus to another to facilitate the flow of liquids and gases, it is clear that these items are used as fittings described in the ENs to 73.07. Moreover, the classification of the protested merchandise as fittings of subheading 3917.40, HTSUS, is consistent with industry and common definitions for fittings. Pipe fitting is defined in Collins English Dictionary as “a coupling, elbow, etc. used to connect sections of pipe.” See Collins English Dictionary, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/pipe-fitting (last visited June 11, 2020). Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a pipe fitting as “a piece (such as a coupling or elbow) used to connect pipes or as accessory to a pipe.” See Me

By application of GRIs 1and 6, the subject reinforced silicone shapes are classified in heading 3917, HTSUS, and specifically in subheading 3917.40.0090, HTSUSA (Annotated) (2014), which provides for “Tubes, pipes and hoses and fittings therefor (for example, joints, elbow, flanges), of plastics: Fittings: Other.” The column one, general rate of duty at the time of entry was 5.3% ad valorem. 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 at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.You are instructed to DENY the protest. In accordance with Sections IV and VI of the CBP Protest/Petition Processing Handbook (HB 3500-08A, December 2007, pp. 24 and 26), you are to mail this decision, together with the CBP 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 Trade, Regulations and Rulings, will make the decision available to CBP personnel and to the public on the Customs Rulings Online Search System (“CROSS”), at https://rulings.cbp.gov/, and other methods of public distribution.Sincerely,Craig T. Clark, DirectorCommercial and Trade Facilitation Division