Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings Sept. 14
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Sept. 14 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
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H333956: Coastwise Transportation; Monopile Foundation; 46 U.S.C. § 55102; Modification of H328718 (July 17, 2023)
| Ruling: The transportation and installation of monopile foundations from a U.S. coastwise point to a pristine seabed site on the OCS by a non-coastwise-qualified, dynamically positioned installation vessel would not violate the Jones Act as long as the installation vessel is not anchored or attached to the installation site. The transportation and installation by a non-coastwise-qualified vessel from a U.S. coastwise point to a pristine seabed site on the OCS where the jack-up vessel attaches itself to the seabed would violate the Jones Act. The use of a non-coastwise qualified jack-up vessel to install monopile foundations at a pristine seabed site on the OCS would not violate the Jones Act, so long as the jack-up vessel is not transporting these monopile foundations from another coastwise point. |
| Issue: Will the process of installing monopiles described above using a foreign-flagged installation vessel result in a violation of the Jones Act? |
| Item: N/A |
| Reason: CBP considers the location for monopile installation to be a pristine site prior to the installation of the monopile. Anchoring of the installation vessel to the seabed to aid its installation activity would result in a violation of the Jones Act. The anchoring of the installation vessel on the OCS for the sole purpose of vessel safety due to inclement weather would not violate the Jones Act, so long as the vessel is no longer anchored when the monopiles are installed. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 14, 2023 |
H327109: Tariff classification of a crude distillation plant
| Ruling: (1), (3), (4), (5), (6) 8419.40.00, free, “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 of 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: Distilling or rectifying plant.” (2) 8419.89.95, free, “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 of 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: Other: Other: Other.” |
| Issue: Are the components at issue classified under subheading 8419.40.00, HTSUS, or 8419.89.95, HTSUS? |
| Items: Two units within a refinery that is currently operating and located within a foreign trade zone. (1) The Atmospheric Pipestill unit and (2) The Residue Hydrotreater Unit. Each unit will be upgraded by adding new components and modifying existing components using domestically sourced and imported components. The first four subunits of the residue hydrotreater: (3) The RX1-RX3 Reactors, (4) Flash Gas System, (5) Membrane, and (6) Recycle Compressor perform the function of creating the syncrude. This process does not rely on distillation but sends the heated stream from the PS3B bottoms through a series of reactors where catalysts, temperature, and pressure cause the molecules to break down into smaller molecules. This process is known as cracking, specifically hydrocracking. |
| Reason: The components and subunits of the atmospheric pipestill contribute together to the function of distillation. The subunits of the residue hydrotreate used for cracking do not contribute toward the clearly defined function of distillation. |
| Ruling Date: Aug. 4, 2023 |
H328718: Coastwise Transportation; Monopile Foundation; 46 U.S.C. § 55102; 46 U.S.C. § 55111
| Ruling: The transportation of monopile foundations from a U.S. coastwise point to a pristine seabed site on the Outer Continental Shelf by a non-coastwise-qualified vessel would not violate the Jones Act. |
| Issue: Will the process of installing monopiles described above using a foreign-flagged installation vessel result in a violation of the Jones Act? |
| Item: N/A |
| Reason: The monopiles will be the first item to be installed at the location and therefore it cannot be considered "a pristine site" following installation. Upon the installation of the monopiles at each location, each monopile would then be considered a coastwise point, at which no other merchandise, if laden at another coastwise point, could be unladen other than by a coastwise-qualified vessel. |
| Ruling Date: July 17, 2023 |
H302043: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 419717101738; Classification of a Chassis/Shelf with Passive Backplane Board Subassembly.
| Ruling: The chassis with passive backplane is classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8537.10.91 as “Boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases, equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536, for electric control or the distribution of electricity, including those incorporating instruments or apparatus of chapter 90, and numerical control apparatus, other than switching apparatus of heading 8517: For a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V: Other: Other.” |
| Issue: Is the chassis with backplane classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8517 as a part of a telecommunication apparatus or under heading 8537 as a board, panel, or cabinet equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536, for electrical control or the distribution of electricity? |
| Item: A Chassis/Shelf Telecommunication with Passive Backplane Board Sub-Assembly. The product is a sub-assembly that consists of a dedicated chassis/shelf which may or may not have discreet but passive additional components and is combined with a passive backplane board. Besides an air filter, a bracket, fasteners, labels, and a protection film it contains a dedicated chassis/shelf assembly “card cage” designed to house integrated circuits and other telecommunication apparatus and a backplane assembly.The chassis/shelf is specifically designed for the ultimate end product, which is an 1830 Photonic Service Switch. The shelf is engineered with slotting for photonic service switch cards. |
| Reason: Bases and cabinets designed to electrically connect and direct power are specifically provided for in Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8537. Heading 8537 covers cabinets or shelves that incorporate a switch or a fuse, which precisely describes the instant chassis and backplane. |
| Ruling Date: May 5, 2023 |
H312779: Application for Further Review of Protest 140120104117; Classification of a tube mill
| Ruling: The subject tube mill is classified in Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8462.21.00 as “Machine tools (including presses) for working metal by forging, hammering or die-stamping; machine tools (including presses) for working metal by bending, folding, straightening, flattening, shearing, punching or notching; presses for working metal or metal carbides, not specified above: Bending, folding, straightening or flattening machines (including presses): Numerically controlled." |
| Issue: Is Dundee’s tube mill is classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8455 as “Metal-rolling mills and rolls therefor; parts thereof,” or under heading 8462 as “Machine tools (including presses) for working metal by forging, hammering or die-stamping”? |
| Item: Direct Forming Hollow Section Line or “tube mill.” The tube mill consists of a series of connected components that form strip steel into a square or rectangular tube. The full machine is 300 feet long, and is comprised of a strip uncoiler and accumulator, a direct flexible cold forming line, a tube welding section, an FCF tube sizing section, a cut off, a finishing line, and integrated control electronics. Of these, all but the tube welding section and the cut off were imported together, in a single entry. Both the welding section and the cut-off were sourced domestically. |
| Reason: Heading 8462 provides for machines for working metal. Regardless of whether the tube mill forms or bends metal into tubes, the machine works the metal and reshapes it. This process is easily distinguishable from rolling to improve grain structure and quality. |
| Ruling Date: April 21, 2023 |