HQ 555173: Applicability of partial duty exemption under HTSUS subhead- ing 9802.00.80 to particle detector calorimeters to be imported from the United Kingdom

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 555173

                                     May 2, 1989

          CLA-2  CO:R:C:V  555173 GRV

          CATEGORY:  CLASSIFICATION

          TARIFF NO:  9802.00.80, HTSUS (formerly 807.00, TSUS)

          Mr. Donald Jankowski
          Argonne National Laboratory
          High Energy Physics Division
          9700 South Cass Avenue
          Argonne, Illinois  60439

          RE:  Applicability of partial duty exemption under HTSUS subhead-
               ing 9802.00.80 to particle detector calorimeters to be
               imported from the United Kingdom

          Dear Mr. Jankowski:

               This is in response to your letters of November 7, and
          December 7, 1988, requesting, inter alia, a ruling on the
          applicability of subheading 9802.00.80, Harmonized Tariff
          Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) (formerly item 807.00,
          Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS)), to three particle
          detector calorimeters to be imported from the United Kingdom.
          Photographs of the assembly process were submitted for examina-
          tion.  By telephone, you also inquire as to the proper tariff
          classification provision for this article.

          FACTS:

               You state that U.S. fabricated components--consisting of
          Mylar bandoliers and plastic tubes and inserts (soft parts)--and
          corrugated steel sheets of British manufacture will be assembled
          in the United Kingdom into three particle detector calorimeters.
          The assembly operation consists of close packing the U.S. soft
          parts with the British steel by layering the various components
          alternately so that the plastic tubes are insulated from the cor-
          rugated steel sheets by the Mylar bandoliers, which are sand-
          wiched between plastic inserts.  The resultant honeycomb config-
          uration is then compressed for tight packing into a metal cabinet
          unit, whereby steel side panels of British manufacture are welded
          at the top and bottom to maintain the tight packing of the parti-
          cle detector configuration, thus forming a particle detector mod-
          ule.  Each module has two proportional wire detectors attached,
          and metal covers are added (both of British manufacture) to com-
          plete each unit.  The photographs submitted evidence the honey-
          comb configuration and show the completed product.













                                        - 2 -


          ISSUES:

          I.   Whether the tight packing and welding operations constitute
          "assembly" operations, thereby entitling the particle detector
          calorimeters to the partial duty exemption under HTSUS subheading
          9802.00.80 (TSUS item 807.00) when imported into the U.S.

          II.  What is the proper tariff classification of the particle
          detector calorimeters under the HTSUS.

          LAW & ANALYSIS:

               On January 1, 1989, the HTSUS superseded and replaced the
          TSUS.  TSUS item 807.00 was carried over into the HTSUS without
          change as subheading 9802.00.80.  This tariff provision provides
          a partial duty exemption for articles:

               ...assembled abroad in whole or in part of fabricated com-
               ponents, 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.

          An article entered under HTSUS subheading 9802.00.80 is subject
          to duty upon the full value of the imported assembled article
          less the cost or value of such U.S. components, upon compliance
          with the documentary requirements of 19 CFR 10.24.

               Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)),
          provides, in part, that:

               The assembly operations performed abroad may consist of any
               method used to join or fit together solid components, such
               as welding, soldering, riveting, force fitting, gluing,
               laminating, sewing, or the use of fasteners....  (Emphasis
               added).

          A collateral concern in assembly operations is whether the
          American-made components lose their physical identity in the
          assembly process.  In United States v. Baylis Brothers Co., 59
          CCPA 9, C.A.D. 1026, 451 F.2d 643, 646 (1971), the U.S. Court of
          Customs and Patent Appeals stated that:

               Congress did not intend to exclude articles from item 807.00
               merely because the American components had undergone some
               change of form or shape.  The test specified in item 807.00











                                        - 3 -


               is whether the components have been changed in form, shape,
               or otherwise to such an extent that they have lost their
               physical identity in the assembled article.  (Emphasis in
               original).

               In this case, as the U.S. components are assembled by recog-
          nized means of assembly, i.e., welding and force fitting, and as
          the resultant honeycomb configuration of the assembled parts does
          not cause the U.S. components to lose their physical identity,
          the foreign assembly operation constitutes an acceptable assembly
          operation within the meaning of HTSUS subheading 9802.00.80.
          Therefore, the U.S. soft part components of the particle detector
          calorimeters will be eligible for the duty exemption provided for
          under that tariff provision when imported into the U.S.

               The subject merchandise is properly classifiable under HTSUS
          subheading 9027.80.40, which provides for instruments and
          apparatus for physical or chemical analysis...other instruments
          and apparatus:  electrical, dutiable at the rate of 4.9%.

          HOLDING:

               On the basis of the information and photographs submitted,
          the three particle detector calorimeters will be eligible for the
          partial duty exemption in HTSUS subheading 9802.00.80 when
          imported into the U.S., upon compliance with the documentary
          requirements set forth in 19 CFR 10.24.  The described particle
          detector calorimeters will be classified under HTSUS subheading
          9027.80.40 and dutiable at the rate of 4.9%.

                                      Sincerely,





                                      John Durant, Director
                                      Commercial Rulings Division

          Enclosures