HQ 084140: Pit Liner Pedestal and Walkway

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 084140


                                        July 18, 1989


            CLA-2:CO:R:C:G  084140 JAS

            CATEGORY:   Classification

            TARIFF NO.: 7308.90.9090

            Steven Baker, Esq.
            Bellsey and Baker
            100 California Street, Suite 670
            San Francisco, California 94111

            RE:  Pit Liner Pedestal and Walkway

            Dear Mr. Baker:

                 In a letter dated March 20, 1989, to the Area Director of
            Customs, New York Seaport, on behalf of Toshiba International
            Corporation, you inquire as to the tariff classification of a
            pit liner pedestal and a walkway, both from Japan.  Our ruling
            follows.

            FACTS:

                 The articles in question are used in the construction of a
            hydroelectric power plant.  Initially, a pit is dug to house
            the turbine.  The turbine pit is a space open at one end which
            provides access to the gate mechanism, main guide bearing, and
            packing box, all turbine components.  The pit is then lined
            with concrete.  The pit liner pedestal is of one-piece
            construction and has a U-shape cross section.  It is made of
            steel plates, flanges and ribs, plus connecting hardware, and
            serves as an internal form and protective lining for the
            concrete.  It has a platform-like top that serves as a floor on
            which rests the generator and the rotating parts of the turbine
            (turbine runner and shaft), plus the unbalanced hydraulic
            thrust to the stay ring (a structural member providing support
            for portions of the turbine distributor).  A floor-plate
            walkway of steel is placed around the circumference of the
            turbine pit and will rest on the concrete. It is located
            approximately at the level of the gate levers and is intended
            to provide workers access to the turbine-generator for
            inspection, operation and maintenance.












                                      - 2 -

                 You state that the pit liner pedestal provides the
            framework and support for the generator and turbine, without
            which they cannot operate.  Therefore, you maintain that by
            function and design the pit liner pedestal is an integral,
            constituent part of the turbine, and is classifiable under the
            provision for hydraulic turbines, water wheels and regulators
            therefor, and parts, in subheading 8410.90.0000, Harmonized
            Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).  Your
            submission does not address the classification of the walkway.

                 You state that Customs officers at Seattle have proposed
            to classify the merchandise under the provision for other
            structures and parts of structures, of iron or steel, in
            subheading 7308.90.9090, HTSUSA.

            ISSUE:

                 Are the pit liner pedestal and walkway classifiable in
            heading 7308, in heading 7326, as other articles of iron or
            steel, or in heading 8410, as claimed?

            LAW AND ANLAYSIS:

                 General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 1, HTSUSA, states in
            part that for legal purposes, classification shall be
            determined according to the terms of the headings and any
            relative section or chapter notes.  General Rule of
            Interpretation 3(a) states in part that where goods are, prima
            facie, classifiable under two or more headings the heading
            which provides the most specific description shall be preferred
            to headings providing a more general description.  Heading 7308
            covers structures and parts of structures of iron or steel,
            heading 7326 covers other articles of iron or steel, while
            heading 8410 covers hydraulic turbines and parts thereof.

                 Section XV (which includes merchandise of headings 7308
            and 7326) does not cover articles of section XVI (which
            includes merchandise of heading 8410).  See Section XV, Note
            1(f), HTSUSA.  Therefore, if the pit liner pedestal and walkway
            are classifiable in heading 8410, or in another heading of
            section XVI, they are precluded from classification in section
            XV.

                 Neither the pit liner pedestal nor the walkway are
            considered parts of the turbine.  They are not integral working
            parts either of the turbine or of the generator.  Although the
            generator and working parts of the turbine rest on top of the















                                       - 3 -

            pit liner pedestal, the pedestal is not necessary to their
            completion or proper functioning.  Rather, the pit liner
            pedestal serves to line and protect the concrete structure that
            surrounds and supports the turbine.

                 We conclude that the pit liner pedestal and the walkway
            are not parts classifiable in heading 8410.  There is no
            evidence either that they are classifiable elsewhere in section
            XVI.  As such, these articles are not precluded from
            classification in heading 7308 or in heading 7326, if they
            otherwise qualify.

                 Explanatory Notes, which provide guidance in interpreting
            the HTSUSA at the international level, indicate that heading
            7308 covers metal structures and their parts made up of plates,
            among other components.  Once put in position, they generally
            remain in that position.  The notes indicate further, at p.
            1020, that in addition to the structures and parts mentioned in
            the heading, pit head frames and superstructures, and gangways
            (which allow persons to move from one place to another on a
            ship), are also included.  In our opinion, the pit liner
            pedestal and walkway are encompassed by heading 7308.  Under
            GRI 3(a), heading 7308 is more specific than heading 7326.

            HOLDING:

                 The pit liner pedestal and walkway are classifiable under
            the provision for other structures and parts of structures, of
            iron or steel, in subheading 7308.90.9090, HTSUSA.  The rate of
            duty is 5.7 percent ad valorem.


                                        Sincerely,



                                        John Durant, Director
                                        Commercial Rulings Division