HQ 083787: Studded rubber track belt for amusement ride vehicles

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 083787

                          June 8, 1989


CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 083787 TLS

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 9508.00.0000

Mr. Tim Seils
Foster Manufacturing Corp.
1652 Phillips Av.
Racine, Wisconsin  53403

RE:  Studded rubber track belt for amusement ride vehicles

Dear Mr. Seils:

     Your letter of February 8, 1989, addressed to our Milwaukee
office, has been referred to this office through our New York
office for reply.

FACTS:

     The studded rubber track belt is a one piece track composed
of a reinforced rubber and kevlar combination and is nine (9)
inches wide.  Two pictures were submitted which show the track as
it is used on the amusement ride for which it is said to be
designed.  The belt is used as wheels on a car would be used, or
more appropriately, as belts on a tractor or snowmobile would be
used. Two track belts are equipped to each vehicle.  You request
a ruling on the tariff classification of this item, under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA).

ISSUE:

     Under which of the following provisions does the studded
rubber track belt belong?  Three different headings appear to be
relevant in this case:

     1)  4010, HTSUSA, covering conveyor or transmission
     belts or belting;

     2)  8708, HTSUSA, covering, inter alia, parts and
     accessories of motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705;

     3)  9508, HTSUSA, covering, inter alia, fairground
     amusements and parts and accessories thereof.



                                -2-

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) govern
classification under the HTSUSA.  GRI 1 states that for legal
purposes classification shall be determined according to the
terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

     The belt is exclusively designed, manufactured, and imported
for use on the amusement ride.  The vehicle is used exclusively
as an amusement ride and is designed and manufactured with that
purpose in mind.  The ride cannot be operated without the
belting, making the track belt in question here in an
indispensable part of the machine.  No evidence has been
submitted to contradict these findings.

     Heading 4010 applies to conveyor or transmission belts or
belting of vulcanized rubber.  The belt in question here is of a
reinforced rubber/kevlar combination and is nine inches (22.9 cm)
wide.  The notes for chapter 40 offer some guidance in this area.
Note 2(f) of chapter 40 states that articles of chapter 95 are
not covered under chapter 40.  The track belt in this case is an
integral part of an amusement ride and is designed for that
vehicle.  Amusement rides are not covered under chapter 40, but
they are covered under chapter 95.  Therefore, the one-piece
studded track belt is not classifiable under the 4010 heading.

     The one-piece studded track belt does not belong under
heading 8708 as a part used for a tractor.  This heading is
appropriate only if the vehicle this belt is a part of is a motor
vehicle classified in headings 8701-8705.  While the vehicle
this belt will be used on may resemble a tractor (primarily
because of the similarities in the way the belts are used and
its appearance), it is an amusement ride that is designed solely
as such, to be used strictly for amusement purposes at amusement
parks.  Note 1 of section XVII of the HTSUSA also states that the
section does not cover articles of heading 9508. This track belt
is not classifiable under the heading 8708.

     The 9508 heading applies to, inter alia, fairground
amusements and parts and accessories thereof.  Note 3 of chapter
95 of the HTS requires that parts or accessories which are
suitable for use solely or principally with articles of this
chapter are to be classified with those articles.  It has been
established that the track belt is an essential part of the
amusement ride for which it is designed.  The facts presented
support the claim that the belt is used exclusively on the
amusement ride and for no other purpose.  Therefore, subheading
9508.00.0000 is the correct classification for this specific
track belt.



                               -3-

HOLDING:

     The one-piece studded track belt is properly classified
under 9508.00.0000, HTSUSA, as a part of a fairground amusement.



                                Sincerely,



                                John Durant, Director
                                Commercial Rulings Division