Jan. 29 CBP Bulletin Proposes to Revoke Rulings on Minkomatics, Accelerometers
In the Jan. 29 issue of the CBP Customs Bulletin (Vol. 48, No. 4), CBP published two notices that propose to revoke rulings and similar treatment for the tariff classification of mink feeding vehicles and assembled multi-die products.
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Comments on Proposed Revocations Due Feb. 28
CBP said consideration will be given to any written comments received by Feb. 28 before taking this action. In addition, any party who has received a ruling or decision on the merchandise that is subject to the proposed revocations, or any party involved with a substantially identical transaction, should advise CBP by the date that written comments on the proposed ruling are due. (An importer's failure to advise CBP of such rulings, decisions, or substantially identical transactions may raise issues of reasonable care on the part of the importer or its agents for importations subsequent to the effective date of the final decision in this notice.)
Proposed Revocations
CBP is proposing to revoke the rulings below, and any rulings on these products that may exist but have not been specifically identified. CBP is also proposing to revoke or modify any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
Minkomatic Vehicles from Finland
| Item: The Minkomatic is a motor vehicle used to transport premixed feed from the feed kitchen to the animals in their pens. The vehicle serves no other function than to carry food; the machine does not mix, prepare or aerate food. |
| Current: 8704.21.0000, 25% (in subheading 9903.87.00), (Motor vehicles for the transport of goods, with gross vehicle weight not exceeding 5 metric tons.) |
| Proposed: 8436.80.00, Free, (Other agricultural, horticultural, forestry, poultry-keeping or bee-keeping machinery, including germination plant fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment; poultry incubators and brooders; parts thereof: Other machinery) |
| Reason: The Minkomatic can equally be described as a vehicle for the transport of goods and as an animal feeder, with both functions covered by heading 8436, said CBP. The vehicles are used on mink farms, which raise minks for their fur, a commercial purpose, it said. As a machine used on a farm, for the purpose of raising livestock, which is not described by headings 8432 to 8435, the Minkomatic falls under heading 8436 |
| Proposed for revocation: NY 849985 (1990) |
| Proposed new ruling: HQ H183882 |
Assembled Multi-Die Products
| Item: Kionix accelerometers. Each Kionix hybrid integrated circuit contains a silicon sensor chip that responds to acceleration (an accelerometer) or rotation (a gyroscope), in addition to a separate silicon integrated circuit chip. |
| Current: 8543.89.9695, 9802.00.80, 2.6%, (Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and apparatus: Other: Other: Other…Other) |
| Proposed: 9031.80.80, 1.7%, (Measuring or checking instruments, appliances and machines, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; profile projectors; parts and accessories thereof: Other instruments, appliances and machines: Other) |
| Reason: The Kionix accelerometers do not identify or provide a measurement of a particular property. They simply detect changes in motion via displacement of the silicon beams in the sensor chip which causes a change in capacitance, and interpret or translate the resulting signal via the ASIC chip. The Kionix accelerometers are similar to the accelerometers covered in a previous CBP ruling and should be similarly classified in heading 9031, which excludes classification in heading 8543, it said. While the proposed revocation will not affect the original specific protest, CBP can modify or revoke a protest review decision to change the legal principles set forth in the decision. The revocation will therefore only apply to entries of similar merchandise that were made 60 days after the original decision, it said. |
| Proposed for revocation: HQ H013678 (2009) |
| Proposed new ruling: HQ H240792 |