Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings Nov. 16-21
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Nov. 16-21 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):
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H328283: Tariff classification of DM 30 II blasthole drill; AFR/Protest No. 2704-21-157614
| HTS: 8430.41.00, 9903.88.01, free + 25%, “… Other boring or sinking machinery: Self-propelled.” |
| Issue: Is the subject machine classified under subheading 8430.31.00, which provides for “Rock breaking machines,” or under subheading 8430.41.00, which provides for “Other boring or sinking machinery”? |
| Item: A top head driven, rotary blasthole drill rig that is suitable for multi-pass rotary and “down the hole” drilling applications. The device is crawler-mounted and self-propelled. A down-the-hole drilling machine uses repetitive percussive forces to open a hole in a rock formation and contains a drill string that rotates while a drilling hammer continuously strikes down the rock formation. Unlike other down the whole drilling machines, the machine at issue is not designed for well sinking nor for petroleum or natural gas production. The machine can also be fitted with rotary drill bits designed to cue or break rock. |
| Reason: The machine is designed for blasthole drilling -- a mining technique in which a hole is drilled into the surface of the rock formation, packed with explosive material, and detonated. Its function is not to break, cut, tunnel, plough, or strip rock, but to bore a clean hole, assisted by percussive drilling. This hole can then be packed with explosives, which are the primary mechanism for breaking rock. The availability of different drill bits and rotating cutters does not transform it into a rock cutting machine. |
| Ruling Date: Sept. 22, 2023 |
H313856: Entry of Certain Radar and Photographic Equipment installed on Aircraft
| Ruling: Peregrine’s LiDAR is the legitimate equipment of Peregrine’s aircraft and will not be landed or delivered. Therefore, no duty nor entry requirements will attach to the LiDAR, making a carnet inapplicable. Additionally, Peregrine’s aircraft with the LiDAR installed are to be considered “private aircraft” pursuant to 19 C.F.R. 122.26. Formal entry of Peregrine’s aircraft is not required. |
| Issue: Is an A.T.A. carnet necessary for the lidar? Are Peregrine’s planes “private aircraft” pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 122.26? |
| Item: Canada-registered planes, specially modified with a LiDAR high-definition photographic survey equipment apparatus. The German-origin LiDAR is installed by Peregrine on its plane’s hulls in Canada. In doing so, Peregrine removed the original passenger seats (excluding the pilot’s) and a large, original portion of the hull of each plane in order to insert and then bolt in the LIDAR. The frame of the plane was also strengthened to support the LiDAR, which weighs between 200 and 300 pounds. Peregrine says that if the LiDAR were to be removed there would be a minimum 22-inch hole in the hull of each of its aircraft. While the LiDAR is ultimately removable from the plane, Peregrine has no intention of removing the equipment. Peregrine says its planes would be useless to Peregrine’s business without the equipment. |
| Reason: The purpose of Peregrine’s aircraft is to perform photographic survey operations. Peregrine’s aircraft’s operations are completed using LiDAR equipment. Therefore, the LiDAR is to be considered aircraft equipment. The LiDAR is not landed nor is it delivered to a U.S. location. Therefore, the LiDAR, as non-landed and non-delivered aircraft equipment, is not imported merchandise and is non-dutiable and a carnet for the LiDAR is therefore inapplicable. The understanding of vessel equipment as exempt from the HMF, and therefore, from consideration as commercial cargo, extends to aircraft equipment. As the LiDAR is aircraft equipment, it also cannot qualify as commercial cargo. |
| Ruling Date: Nov. 16, 2023 |