H345780

H345780 February 3, 2026 OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H345780 MFT CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8421.21.00 Center Director, Machinery C.E.E. U.S. Customs and Border Protection 301 E. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802 Re: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 2704-23-168738; Classification of Sand and Cartridge Filter Systems from China Dear Center Director: The following is our decision on the Application for Further Review (AFR) of Protest No. 2704-23-168738, which was filed on December 5, 2023, on behalf of Aquapro Systems, LLC (protestant). The Protest and AFR concern the applicability of U.S. Note 20(ttt)(i)(23) to Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) regarding certain sand and cartridge filter systems from China. In reaching the determination below, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has considered information submitted with the Protest and AFR, including supplemental information provided on May 16, 2025, pursuant to an oral discussion of the issues held on April 22, 2025. FACTS: At issue are sand filter systems (hereinafter “sand filters”) and cartridge filter systems (hereinafter “cartridge filters”), which are devices used to filter out dirt and debris from swimming pool water. The sand filters are mainly comprised of a multiport valve; tank; filter assembly; drain plug; hose adapter and clamp; pump; pressure gauge; and strainer basket. When in use, incoming water from the piping system is fed from the piping system into the sand filters’ multiport valve to the top of the filter bed. As the water is pumped through the filter media (i.e., sand), the filter bed traps dirt and debris. The water then flows to the bottom of the filter tank, through the multiport valve, and back through the piping system to return to the pool. The cartridge filters are primarily comprised of a pressure gauge; manual air relief assembly; upper and lower filter body; air relief filter; cartridge element; adapter; outlet pipe; and inlet elbows. During operation, dirt and debris collect on the cartridge element as water flows into the cartridge filter. The accumulated dirt and debris cause a resistance to the flow of pool water within the filter housing, which raises the internal pressure as indicated by the pressure gauge located at the top of the cartridge filter. A pressure reading between 8 and 10 psi higher than an initial measurement – or a noticeable decrease in water flow – would indicate that the cartridge element needs to be cleaned or replaced to remove the accumulated dirt and debris from the filter. The cartridge filters similarly release filtered water back into the pool. The subject merchandise was entered between May 2, 2022, and October 8, 2022. CBP liquidated each of the subject entries on July 28, 2023, and August 11, 2023, under statistical reporting number 8421.21.0000 of the HTSUS Annotated (HTSUSA), which provides for, “Centrifuges, including centrifugal dryers; filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus, for liquids or gases; parts thereof: Filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids: For filtering or purifying water.” There is no dispute that the subject merchandise is classifiable under statistical reporting number 8421.21.0000, HTSUSA. Rather, the protestant claims that U.S. Note 20(ttt)(i)(23) to Chapter 99, HTSUS, excludes the subject sand filters and cartridge filters from the additional duties imposed by Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 under heading 9903.88.01, HTSUS. ISSUE: Whether the subject sand filters and cartridge filters each constitute “[f]iltering or purifying machinery or apparatus of a kind used for waste water treatment (described in statistical reporting number 8421.21.0000)” under U.S. Note 20(ttt)(i)(23) to Chapter 99, HTSUS. LAW AND ANALYSIS: A decision on classification and the rate and amount of duties chargeable is a protestable matter under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2). The subject protest was timely filed on December 5, 2023, within 180 days of liquidation, pursuant to 19 U.S.C § 1514(c)(3). Further review of Protest No. 2704-23-168738 is properly accorded to the protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because the decision against which the protest was filed is alleged to involve questions of law or fact which have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of CBP or his designee or by the Customs courts. Specifically, CBP has not previously ruled upon the language of the exclusion note at issue, nor its applicability to pool water filtration machinery. Classification under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods will 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 will then be applied in order. 2 The HTSUSA provision under consideration is as follows: 8421 Centrifuges, including centrifugal dryers; filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus, for liquids or gases; parts thereof: Filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids: 8421.21.0000 For filtering or purifying water U.S. Note 20(ttt)(i) to Chapter 99, HTSUS, provides as follows, in pertinent part: The U.S. Trade Representative determined to establish a process by which particular products classified in heading 9903.88.01 and provided for in U.S. notes 20(a) and 20(b) to this subchapter could be excluded from the additional duties imposed by heading 9903.88.01. See 83 Fed. Reg. 40823 (August 16, 2018) and 83 Fed. Reg. 47326 (September 18, 2018). Pursuant to the product exclusion process, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined that, as provided in heading 9903.88.67, the additional duties provided for in heading 9903.88.01 shall not apply to the following particular products, which are provided for in the enumerated statistical reporting numbers: [. . .] (23) Filtering or purifying machinery or apparatus of a kind used for waste water treatment (described in statistical reporting number 8421.21.0000) The rules of interpretation that govern the classification of merchandise throughout the Nomenclature apply, perforce, to legal notes in Chapter 99, HTSUS.1 GRI 1 requires that the subject merchandise meet the terms of the relative chapter notes – in this instance, Note 20(ttt)(i)(23) to Chapter 99, HTSUS. To be excluded from the additional Section 301 duties imposed by subheading 9903.88.01, HTSUS, the subject sand filters and cartridge filters must constitute “[f]iltering or purifying machinery or apparatus of a kind used for waste water treatment” and meet the description found in statistical reporting number 8421.21.0000, HTSUSA [emphasis added]. While the merchandise plainly constitutes filtering machinery for filtering water under statistical reporting number 8421.21.0000, HTSUSA, the crux of this matter turns on whether the filters are “of a kind used for waste water treatment.”2 Neither the HTSUS nor the ENs provide a definition for “waste water treatment.” In the absence of a definition of a term in the HTSUS or ENs, the term’s correct meaning is its 1 See, e.g., Keystone Auto. Operations, Inc. v. United States, 781 F. Supp. 3d 1362, 1371–73 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2025) (rejecting the plaintiff’s contention that certain information presented in a Federal Register notice “supplant[ed] longstanding judicial precedent on interpreting HTSUS provisions”). 2 We note that the term “waste water,” as used in the exclusion note, is commonly rendered as “wastewater.” See waste, adj. meanings, etymology and more, OXFORD ENG. DICTIONARY, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/6455518222 (last visited Jan. 26, 2026) (“9.c. waste water (now frequently written as one word)”). This decision and several sources cited throughout will use the one- and two-word variants interchangeably. 3 

A decision on classification and the rate and amount of duties chargeable is a protestable matter under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2). The subject protest was timely filed on December 5, 2023, within 180 days of liquidation, pursuant to 19 U.S.C § 1514(c)(3). Further review of Protest No. 2704-23-168738 is properly accorded to the protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because the decision against which the protest was filed is alleged to involve questions of law or fact which have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of CBP or his designee or by the Customs courts. Specifically, CBP has not previously ruled upon the language of the exclusion note at issue, nor its applicability to pool water filtration machinery. Classification under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods will 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 will then be applied in order. 2 

The HTSUSA provision under consideration is as follows: 8421 Centrifuges, including centrifugal dryers; filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus, for liquids or gases; parts thereof: Filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids: 8421.21.0000 For filtering or purifying water U.S. Note 20(ttt)(i) to Chapter 99, HTSUS, provides as follows, in pertinent part: The U.S. Trade Representative determined to establish a process by which particular products classified in heading 9903.88.01 and provided for in U.S. notes 20(a) and 20(b) to this subchapter could be excluded from the additional duties imposed by heading 9903.88.01. See 83 Fed. Reg. 40823 (August 16, 2018) and 83 Fed. Reg. 47326 (September 18, 2018). Pursuant to the product exclusion process, the U.S. Trade Represen