HQ 087848: Unassembled truck body panels; Parts and accessories ofautomobiles; Automotive Products Trade Act; APTA

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 087848

                        December 14, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  087848 MBR

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  8708.29.00

Mr. Ralph A. Saunders
A.N. Deringer, Inc.
30 West Service Road
Champlain, New York
12919-9703

RE:  Unassembled truck body panels; Parts and accessories of
automobiles; Automotive Products Trade  Act; APTA

Dear Mr. Saunders:

     This is in reply to your letter of August 29, 1990, on
behalf of Rene Fibre de Verre Ltee., Quebec, Canada, requesting
classification of unassembled truck body panels, under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA).

FACTS:

     Rene Fibre de Verre Ltee. (Rene), Canada, produces composite
body panels for trucks: engine compartment hoods, cab rooftop
wind deflectors, side shields (between cab and trailer), and
external windshield sun visors.  Presently, Rene manufactures
these articles for Mack Trucks, Inc., (Mack), Allentown, PA.
Mack is a bona fide motor-vehicle original equipment manufacturer
(OEM). Rene now contemplates opening an assembly plant in the
United States.  In the future, Rene proposes shipment of these
unassembled body panels to their new plant in the United States
for completion and subsequent transport to Mack.  You state that
all of these articles are for OEM use and will not be diverted
for over-the-counter sale.

ISSUE:

     What is the classification of truck body panels under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA)?  Are these unassembled truck body panels subject to
duty free treatment under the Automotive Products Trade Act?

                               -2-

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) to the HTSUSA
govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule.  GRI 1
states, in pertinent part:

     ...classification shall be determined according to the terms
     of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes...

     Heading 8704, HTSUSA, provides for: "[m]otor vehicles for
the transport of goods."  Clearly, trucks are motor vehicles for
the transport of goods.

     Heading 8708, HTSUSA, provides for: "[p]arts and accessories
of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705."  The Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN) to
heading 8708, HTSUSA, state:

     This heading covers parts and accessories of the motor
     vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705, provided the parts and
     accessories fulfill both the following conditions:

          (i) They must be identifiable as being suitable for use
          solely or principally with the above-mentioned
          vehicles;

     and  (ii) They must not be excluded by the provisions of the
          Notes to Section XVII (see the corresponding General
          Explanatory Note).

     Parts and accessories of this heading include:

     (A)  Assembled motor vehicle chassis-frames....and parts
          thereof (side-members, braces, cross members;...;
          supports and brackets for the coachwork, engine,
          running-boards,..., etc.).

     (B)  Parts of bodies and associated accessories, for
          example, floor boards, sides, front or rear
          panels...etc.;...bonnets; running-boards; wings,
          mudguards; dashboards; radiator cowlings;...;bumpers
          and over-riders;...; visors; ...; Assemblies (including
          unit construction chassis-bodies) not yet having the
          character of incomplete bodies, e.g., are classified in
          this heading and not in heading 8707."

     The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive, should be
looked to for the proper interpretation of the HTSUSA.  See 54
Fed. Reg. 35128 (August 23, 1989).

     Clearly, the instant merchandise is identifiable as being
suitable for use solely or principally with the above mentioned
                               -3-

vehicles and is properly classifiable as parts of bodies and
associated accessories, not yet having the character of
incomplete bodies.

     The Automotive Products Trade Act of 1965 (APTA), General
Note 3(c)(iii)(A), provides: "[m]otor vehicles and original
motor-vehicle equipment which are Canadian articles and which
fall in provisions for which the rate of duty "Free (B)" appears
in the "Special" subcolumn may be entered free of duty.  As used
in this note--

     (1)  The term "Canadian Article" means an article which
          originates in Canada, as defined in subdivision
          (c)(vii) of this note.

     (2)  The term "original motor-vehicle equipment", as used
          with reference to a Canadian article (as defined
          above), means such a Canadian article which has been
          obtained from a supplier in Canada under or pursuant to
          a written order, contract or letter of intent of a bona
          fide motor vehicle manufacturer in the United States,
          and which is a fabricated component originating in
          Canada, as defined in subdivision (c)(vii) of this
          note, and intended for use as original equipment in the
          manufacture in the United States of a motor vehicle,
          but the term does not include trailers or articles to
          be used in their manufacture.

     (3)  The term "motor vehicle", as used in this note, means a
          motor vehicle of a kind described in headings 8702,
          8703 and 8704 of chapter 87 (excluding an electric
          trolley bus and a three-wheeled vehicle) or an
          automobile truck tractor principally designed for the
          transport of persons or goods.

     (4)  The term "bona fide motor-vehicle manufacturer" means a
          person who, upon application to the Secretary of
          Commerce, is determined by the Secretary to have
          produced no fewer than 15 complete motor vehicles in
          the United States during the previous 12 months, and to
          have installed capacity in the United States to
          produce 10 or more complete motor vehicles per 40 hour
          week.  The Secretary of Commerce shall maintain, and
          publish from time to time in the Federal Register, a
          list of the names and addresses of bona fide motor-
          vehicle manufacturers.

     The term "fabricated component" is a term of limitation
which embraces finished or unfinished components actually
incorporated into a motor vehicle.  The term does not, however,
include materials.  Although at the time of importation the
component does not have to be in a condition completely ready for
                               -4-

assembly without further fabrication, it must at a minimum be so
far processed as to be physically recognizable as a component in
an unfinished state.  (See Report of the Committee on Ways and
Means, House of Representatives, to Accompany H.R. 9042).  You
state that the articles, in their imported state, are physically
recognizable as components in an unfinished state.

     You represent that the imported articles are "Canadian
articles" as defined in subdivision (c)(vii).  Further, you state
that your Canadian articles are supplied pursuant to purchase
orders of Mack (which you state is a bona fide motor vehicle
manufacturer in the United States, as described in General Note
3(c)(iii)(A)(4)).  You also state that these purchase orders are
received at Rene in Canada.  Lastly, you state that your imported
Canadian articles will be used exclusively as original equipment
in the manufacture of motor vehicles in the United States.

     Therefore, it is Customs position, based upon your
representations, that the instant articles provided for under
heading 8708, HTSUSA, meet the requirements of the Automotive
Products Trade Act.  See HQ 080042, dated July 19, 1988 for a
similar holding on analogous facts.

HOLDING:

     The instant parts and accessories of trucks are classifiable
in subheading 8708.29.00, HTSUSA, which provides for: "[p]arts
and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705:
[o]ther parts and accessories of bodies (including cabs):
[o]ther."

     Based on the submitted information, the instant merchandise
will meet the requirements of the Automotive Products Trade Act
and is therefore eligible for a Free rate of duty.

                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division