HQ 556657: Applicability of partial duty exemption under HTSUS subheading 9802.00.80 to an overload upper assembly; 19 CFR 10.14; 19 CFR 10.16

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 556657

                         August 12, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:S 556657 RAH

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  9802.00.80

Mr. Philip Freeman
Cain Customs Brokers, Inc.
421 Texano 
P.O. Box 150
Hidalgo, Texas 78557

RE:  Applicability of partial duty exemption under HTSUS
     subheading 9802.00.80 to an overload upper assembly;
     19 CFR 10.14; 19 CFR 10.16

Dear Mr. Freeman:

     This is in response to your letter of April 9, 1992, on
behalf of Furnas Electric Company, requesting a ruling on an
overload upper assembly operation.

FACTS:

     The product in question is the upper part of a NEMA Bimetal-
Style Overload, which:

          [I]s used to protect electric motors by
          tripping if heat generated in the motor's
          windings is approaching damaging levels. 
          This interrupts the control circuit and
          causes the contractor to open, disconnecting
          current to the motor.  Electric heaters
          within the overload act upon a thermally
          sensitive triggering device, proportionally
          'tracking' the thermal condition of the
          motor....NEMA Bimetal-Style Overloads use the
          heat generated to cause deflection of one or
          more bimetal strips.  Once this deflection is
          great enough, the trip mechanism is operated.

     The lower assembly was the subject of an earlier Customs
ruling (Headquarters Ruling Letter 556292 dated January, 27,
1992).  Furnas Electric Company now wants to import the upper - 2 

assemblies from Mexico.  Final assembly of the lower assembly and
the upper assembly will occur in the United States.  Two models
of the overload upper assembly will be produced, D73126-001
(unstamped) and D73126-003 (unstamped).  The only difference is
the plastic housing ("body").  The assembly steps are the same
for both models.

     In the first assembly step, the upper housing ("body") is
placed in a fixture.  Three bimetal strips are placed by hand
into the body.  Three clamps are placed on the bimetals.  Six
screws are driven to hold the bimetal strips in place.  The
bodies are taken out of the fixture and inspected.

     In the next station, the upper body is placed into a ball
bearing dispensing fixture, and pushed back until three ball
bearings fall into place through three holes.  The body is then
placed on another fixture, and three screws are driven into the
same holes as the ball bearings.  An "upper contact" is lined up
with a screw hole on the body.  A "control terminal" is lined up
on top of the upper contact.  The body is taken out of the
fixture, a spring is slid onto a "trip rod" by hand, and the trip
rod is placed into a hole in the body.  An "o-ring" is picked up
with pliers and pushed onto the end of the trip rod.  A "snap
ring" is opened with pliers and placed onto the end of the trip
rod.  The upper body assembly is then inspected and boxed for
shipment.

ISSUE:  

     Whether the overload upper assembly qualifies for the
partial duty exemption available under subheading 9802.00.80,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), when
returned to the United States.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     All articles imported into the U.S. are subject to duty
unless specifically exempted therefrom under the HTSUS.

     Subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, provides a partial duty
exemption for:

     [a]rticles assembled abroad in whole or in part of
     fabricated components, the product of the United
     States, which (a) were exported in condition ready for
     assembly without further fabrication, (b) have not lost
     their physical identity in such articles by change in
     form, shape, or otherwise, and (c) have not been
     advanced in value or improved in condition abroad
     except by being assembled and except by operations
     incidental to the assembly process, such as cleaning,
     lubricating and painting. - 3 -

All three requirements of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, must be
satisfied before a component may receive a duty allowance.  An
article entered under this tariff provision is subject to duty
upon the full appraised value of the imported assembled article,
less the cost or value of the U.S. components assembled therein,
upon compliance with the documentary requirements of section
10.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.24).

     Section 10.14(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.14(a)),
states in part that:

     [t]he components must be in condition ready for
     assembly without further fabrication at the time of
     their exportation from the United States to qualify for
     the exemption.  Components will not lose their
     entitlement to the exemption by being subjected to
     operations incidental to the assembly either before,
     during, or after their assembly with other components.

     Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)),
provides that the assembly operation performed abroad may consist
of any method used to join or fit together solid components, such
as welding, soldering, riveting, force fitting, gluing,
lamination, sewing, or the use of fasteners.

     The operations performed in the instant case (placement,
clamping and screwing of parts) are similar to those discussed in
HRL 556292, supra, relating to the overload lower assembly.  In
that case, we held that the various operations performed in
Mexico to create the overload assembly, which involved securely
joining components together by force fitting, inserting a rivet
pin, screwing, and clamping were considered acceptable assembly
operations pursuant to 19 CFR 10.16(a).  We find that the
operations performed in Mexico to create the upper assembly
overload also constitute acceptable assembly operations as
delineated in 19 CFR 10.16(a).

HOLDING:

     On the basis of the information presented, it is our opinion
that the operations performed abroad to create the overload upper
assembly are considered proper assembly operations.  Therefore,
the overload upper assemblies may enter under subheading  - 4 -

9802.00.80, HTSUS, with allowances in duty for the cost or value
of the U.S.-origin components incorporated therein, upon
compliance with the documentary requirements of 19 CFR 10.24.  No
allowance may be granted for the cost or value of the foreign-
origin screws (part no. S00211-008).

                                   Sincerely,



                                   John Durant, Director
                                   Commercial Operations Division