H305598

HQ H305598 December 18, 2024 OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN: H305598 PF CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8441.80.00 Larry T. Ordet Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. 1000 NW 57th Street Court, Suite 600 Miami, Florida 33126 RE: Tariff classification and application of Section 301 trade remedy of corrugating systems Dear Mr. Ordet: This letter is in reply to your request, on behalf of your client, BHS Corrugated North America, Inc. (“BHS”), concerning the classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) of BHS’s corrugating systems and the applicability of Section 301 duties to certain components of these systems. Your request was forwarded by the National Commodity Specialist Division (“NCSD”) in New York to this office for a response. No sample was provided. FACTS: BHS’s corrugating system consists of individual machines designed to produce stacks of corrugated board from reels of paper. The individual machines are connected through electrical, steam, air and water connections and interconnections. The components of the corrugating system include facers (single or double), reel or roll stands, splicers, preheaters, glue machines, slitter scorers, cutoff knives, stackers and a corrugator control system. Within the single facers, two paper webs - medium and liner paper - separately enter the machine. The flat, medium paper is transformed into a fluted web of paper after it is heated by a preheater and travels through corrugating rolls. Glue is applied to the tips of the flutes on one side of the fluted web via an internal glue roll mechanism and the paper is bonded to the web of paper liner, which is known as a “single face.” The single face travels to a glue machine, where glue is applied to the other set of flute tips. Then, the other liner is attached to the single face, which is fed into a double facer. The completed web travels through the double facer and when it exits the double facer, becomes a web of corrugated board. The single facer, double facer, slitter scorer, splicer, stacker and corrugator control system are produced in Germany. The reel stand, splicer, and preheater are made in China. All machines are combined in Germany for shipment into the United States. The single facers and other machines will be combined in Germany with three pieces of the system (the reel stand, splicer, and preheater), which are produced in China. The reel stands feeds paper into the machine and the splicer matches the new paper reel with the old reel. The preheater is a round drum which heats the paper so that it can be fluted and prepped for gluing. The preheater is a simple machine consisting of a steel frame that includes up to three steel drums. Paper, prior to being bonded to other layers of paper, travels across the steam-heated reels to increase its temperature. The heating of paper is needed to form the flutes and enable the paper layers to be bonded to each other. The sole function of the preheater is to deliver heat to the paper. The complete system will be placed into containers for a single shipment to the United States. Prior to its final installation at a domestic manufacturing facility, most of the components of the system will remain separate and unassembled. The reel stand, splicer, and preheater are shipped to the United States in the same condition as they are entered into Germany. ISSUES: What is the tariff classification of the corrugating system? Do Section 301 duties apply to the corrugating system? LAW AND ANALYSIS: Merchandise imported into the United States is classified under the HTSUS. Tariff classification is governed by the principles set forth in the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”) and, in the absence of special language or context which requires otherwise, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation (“AUSR”). The GRIs and the AUSR are part of the HTSUS and are considered statutory provisions of law for all purposes. GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRIs taken in order. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the heading and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. The HTSUS headings under consideration are as follows: 8419 Machinery, plant or laboratory equipment, whether or not electrically heated (excluding furnaces, ovens and other equipment of heading 8514), for the treatment of materials by a process involving a change in temperature such as heating, cooking, roasting, distilling, rectifying, sterilizing, pasteurizing, steaming, drying, evaporating, vaporizing, condensing or cooling, other than machinery or plant of a kind used for domestic purposes; instantaneous or storage water heaters, nonelectric; parts thereof: Other machinery, plant or equipment: 8419.89 Other: 8419.89.10 For making paper pulp, paper or paperboard. Other: 8419.89.95 Other. 8441 Other machinery for making up paper pulp, paper or paperboard, including cutting machines of all kinds, and parts thereof: 8441.80 Other machinery. The subject merchandise is a machine with an individual function, pursuant to Note 4 to Section XVI, HTSUS, which covers Chapter 84. Note 4 states: Where a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of individual components (whether separate or interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings in chapter 84 or chapter 85, then the whole falls to be classified in the heading appropriate to that function. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. -80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). The general EN to Section XVI, which covers Chapter 84, states the following in relevant part: (VII) FUNCTIONAL UNITS (Section Note 4) This note applies when a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of separate components which are intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings of Chapter 84 or, more frequently, Chapter 85. The whole then falls to be classified in the heading appropriate to that function, whether the various components (for convenience or other reasons) remain separate or are interconnected by piping (carrying air, compressed gas, oil, etc.), by devices used to transmit power, by electric cables or by other devices. For the purposes of this Note, the expression “intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function” covers only machines and combinations of machines essential to the performance of the function specific to the functional unit as a whole, and thus excludes machines or appliances fulfilling auxiliary functions and which do to contribute to the function of the whole. Note 4 to Section XVI, HTSUS, which covers machinery of Chapter 84, directs that imported machines consisting of separate components, which will be connected post-importation and contribute together to a clearly defined function, are to be classified as one functional unit rather than separately. The unit should be classified under the HTSUS provision which describes its clearly defined function. See Note 4 to Section XVI; EN to Section XVI, (VII) Functional Units (Section Note 4); Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) H299136, dated May 13, 2019. Here, based on the information provided by you, the individual components of the system, the single facer, double facer, reel stand, splicer, and preheater are connected t

Merchandise imported into the United States is classified under the HTSUS. Tariff classification is governed by the principles set forth in the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”) and, in the absence of special language or context which requires otherwise, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation (“AUSR”). The GRIs and the AUSR are part of the HTSUS and are considered statutory provisions of law for all purposes. GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRIs taken in order. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the heading and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. The HTSUS headings under consideration are as follows:8419 Machinery, plant or laboratory equipment, whether or not electrically heated (excluding furnaces, ovens and other equipment of heading 8514), for the treatment of materials by a process involving a change in temperature such as heating, cooking, roasting, distilling, rectifying, sterilizing, pasteurizing, steaming, drying, evaporating, vaporizing, condensing or cooling, other than machinery or plant of a kind used for domestic purposes; instantaneous or storage water heaters, nonelectric; parts thereof: Other machinery, plant or equipment:8419.89 Other:8419.89.10 For making paper pulp, paper or paperboard. Other: 8419.89.95 Other.8441 Other machinery for making up paper pulp, paper or paperboard, including cutting machines of all kinds, and parts thereof:8441.80 Other machinery. The subject merchandise is a machine with an individual function, pursuant to Note 4 to Section XVI, HTSUS, which covers Chapter 84. Note 4 states: Where a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of individual components (whether separate or interconnected by piping,