Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings June 8
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated June 8 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
H329911: Prospective Ruling Request; Classification of Meal and Product Delivery Robots
| Ruling: The subject meal and delivery robots are properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8704.60.00 as “Motor vehicles for the transport of goods: Other, with only electric motor for propulsion.” |
| Issue: Are the subject robots classified under HTS heading 8704 which provides for “Motor vehicles for the transport of goods,” or under heading 8709 as “works trucks”? |
| Items: Meal and product delivery robots from Colombia. The robots circulate along the sidewalks to deliver meals and products through customers using an Application Programming Interface. This API allows customers and users to connect to the robot and track their orders at all times. The robots use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning, and can partially modify their speed autonomously on sidewalks based on the proximity of people. To communicate with their surroundings, the robots have digitally animated eyes and can play sounds. |
| Reason: The subject robots do not constitute “works trucks” under the common and commercial meaning of the term for three reasons. While the robots are certainly “wheeled vehicles,” it is unclear that the “meals and products” they carry and deliver constitute the “heavy weights” contemplated by the definition of the term “truck.” Even if the cargo constituted “heavy weights," the subject robots would not be considered “works” trucks. Heading 8709 explicitly requires that purported “works trucks” be “of the type used in factories, warehouses, dock areas or airports.” |
| Ruling Date: June 7, 2023 |
H324098: Request for a determination of the right to act as importer of record by Your Special Delivery Services Specialty Logistics
| Ruling: Your Special Delivery Services does not have sufficient financial interest in the Wi-Fi components, at the time of entry, to act as importer of record. |
| Issue: Does YSDS have sufficient financial interest in the imported goods, at the time of entry, to act as importer of record based on a security interest in the imported merchandise? |
| Item: Various Wi-Fi components such as wireless routers. |
| Reason: "In no way" can YSDS be characterized as an “owner and purchaser” with sufficient financial interest in the goods so as to act as importer of record. |
| Ruling Date: June 5, 2023 |
H287457: Internal Advice; Tariff Classification of a Branch Selector Unit for Variable Refrigerant Volume Air Conditioner System
| Ruling: The branch selector units are properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8481.80.90 as “Taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, vats or the like, including pressure-reducing valves and thermostatically controlled valves; parts thereof: Other appliances: Other...” Products of China classified under 8481.80.90 are subject to an additional 25% duty. |
| Issue: Are the five models of branch selector units (BSU) properly classified under heading 8415 as “Air conditioning machines" or under heading 8481 as “Taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, vats or the like..."? |
| Item: A branch selector unit. The unit is a component of specific Daikin variable refrigerant volume air conditioning systems that provides for simultaneous heating and cooling from one outdoor unit to multiple indoor units. The BSU receives a signal from the system’s controller and accordingly routes the flow of liquid or gas to the appropriate indoor unit. The controller is also connected directly and communicates with the indoor units to measure the temperature of the room(s), the refrigerant flow, and other data. The BSU is connected to the outdoor unit via a suction line, a dual pressure line, and a liquid line. It is connected to the indoor units either by wire or wirelessly. The BSU consists of copper piping, electrical connectors, and a printed circuit board that receives and interprets the signals from the controller. Each BSU model has motorized expansion valves that control the flow of liquid or gas. The BSU is encased in galvanized steel that is lined with foamed polyurethane. |
| Reason: The BSU, while being a part of an air conditioning machine, is more specifically a valve. Valves are specifically provided for eo nomine under heading 8481. |
| Ruling Date: March 28, 2023 |