H330412

HQ H330412 September 17, 2024 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H330412 JRG CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 7318.16.00; 7318.29.00; 7326.90.86; 8431.49.90 Center Director Petroleum Natural Gas and Minerals Center of Excellence and Expertise 2350 N. Sam Houston Pkwy E. Houston, TX 77032 RE: Internal Advice Request; Classification of Certain Items Related to a Casing Oscillator Dear Center Director: This is in response to the January 13, 2022, request for Internal Advice (IA) submitted on behalf of ROC Equipment, LLC (ROC), regarding the classification of certain merchandise used with the BUMA Casing Oscillator (Casing Oscillator). ROC contends the merchandise should be classified under subheading 8431.43.80, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430: Of machinery of heading 8426, 8429 or 8430: Parts for boring or sinking machinery of subheading 8430.41 or 8430.49: Other.” For the following reasons, we disagree with the proposed classification. FACTS: On October 11, 2020, ROC entered a Starter Casing, a Sectional Casing, Reduction Slips/Inserts, Conical Rings, and a Threaded Ring. The merchandise is intended to be used after importation with the Casing Oscillator, a machine used during drill shaft construction for foundation systems. Due to the length of this ruling and the number of items at issue, descriptions of the products (obtained from the responses to two requests for information (CBP Form 28) that you made to ROC) will be provided below along with the discussion of their classification. ISSUES: Whether the subject merchandise are parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430 (i.e., classified under heading 8431, HTSUS). And if so, whether the subject merchandise are parts of boring or sinking machinery of subheading 8430.41 or 8430.49 (i.e., classified under subheading 8431.43). LAW AND ANALYSIS: In its Internal Advice request, ROC asserts the subject merchandise are parts of the Casing Oscillator, which is in turn properly classified under subheading 8430.41.00, HTSUS, as “other boring or sinking machinery: self-propelled,” because they are specifically designed to be used in the drilling process and required for the Casing Oscillator to properly function. Classification under the HTSUS is determined in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) and, in the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation (ARIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be “determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.” If the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, GRIs 2 through 6 may be applied in order. GRI 6 provides: For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires. 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. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). The HTSUS headings and subheadings at issue are: 7318 Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers (including spring washers) and similar articles, of iron or steel: Threaded Articles: 7318.16.00 Nuts . . . * * * Non-threaded articles: 7318.29.00 Other . . . * * * 7326 Other articles of iron or steel . . . * * * 8430 Other moving, grading, leveling, scraping, excavating, tamping, compacting, extracting or boring machinery, for earth, minerals, or ores; pile-drivers and pile-extractors; snowplows and snowblowers: Other boring or sinking machinery: 8430.41.00 Self-propelled . . . * * * Other machinery, not self-propelled: 8430.69.01 Other . . . * * * 8431 Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430: Of machinery of heading 8426, 8429 or 8430: 8431.43 Parts for boring or sinking machinery of subheading 8430.41 or 8430.49: * * * 8431.49 Other: There is no dispute that the Casing Oscillator is classified under heading 8430, HTSUS. As such, the subsequent discussion occurs at the subheading level applying GRI 6 and examines whether the Casing Oscillator falls under the scope of the term “Other boring or sinking machinery.” Neither the HTSUS nor the ENs define the term “boring or sinking machines.” When a tariff term is not defined by the HTSUS or its legislative history, “the term’s correct meaning is its common meaning.” Mita Copystar Am. v. United States, 21 F.3d 1079, 1082 (Fed. Cir. 1994). The common meaning of a term used in commerce is presumed to be the same as its commercial meaning. See Simod Am. Corp. v. United States, 872 F.2d 1572, 1576 (Fed. Cir. 1989). To ascertain the common meaning of a term, we may consult “dictionaries, scientific authorities, and other reliable information sources” and “lexicographic and other materials.” C.J. Tower & Sons of Buffalo, Inc. v. United States, 673 F.2d 1268, 1271 (C.C.P.A. 1982); Simod, 872 F.2d at 1576. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “boring” as “the action of piercing, perforating, making a bore-hole,” while “sinking” is “the process or act of boring or excavating downwards in search of coal, etc.” Boring, Oxford English Dictionary (11th ed. 2020); Sinking, Oxford English Dictionary (11th ed. 2020). The Casing Oscillator functions by twisting (oscillating) the Starter Casing’s cutting shoe into the ground. Once deep enough, the Sectional Casing is attached to the Starter Casing to allow for continued operation and the process may be repeated until the desired depth is reached. While this occurs, another machine excavates the earth material within the Casings. When the shaft is deep enough and fully excavated, a rebar cage is installed, concrete is poured, and the Casings are extracted. The Casings provide stability when the earth is unstable or large, deep access shafts are created. Given the Casing Oscillator drives the Casings into the ground to assist in excavation, it is classified under heading 8430, HTSUS. The Casing Oscillator, however, does not function as a boring or sinking machine, it simply facilitates the use of a boring or sinking machine when soil conditions would make excavation otherwise difficult. ROC concedes that a drill or crane is required when using the Casing Oscillator to both anchor the Casing Oscillator and perform the actual excavation. As such, it falls outside the scope of the provision for “other boring or sinking machinery” of 8430.41.00, HTSUS. It is therefore properly classified under subheading 8430.69.01, HTSUS. The ENs support this conclusion by stating heading 8430, HTSUS, “covers machinery . . . for ‘attacking’ the earth’s crust (e.g., for cutting and breaking down rock, earth, coal, etc.; earth excavation, digging, drilling, etc.).” Moreover, the ENs indicate “sinking and boring machines” includes “only drilling machines” as “[o]ther quite distinct machines normally used therewith are excluded even if presented with the drilling machines.” As previously discussed, the Casing Oscillator is not a drilling machine rather it requires a separate drill to complete the excavation. Therefore, it is a “distinct machine normally used therewith” and not a sinking and boring m

In its Internal Advice request, ROC asserts the subject merchandise are parts of the Casing Oscillator, which is in turn properly classified under subheading 8430.41.00, HTSUS, as “other boring or sinking machinery: self-propelled,” because they are specifically designed to be used in the drilling process and required for the Casing Oscillator to properly function. Classification under the HTSUS is determined in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) and, in the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation (ARIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be “determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.” If the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, GRIs 2 through 6 may be applied in order. GRI 6 provides:For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.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. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).The HTSUS headings and subheadings at issue are:7318 Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers (including spring washers) and similar articles, of iron or steel: Th