NY 859752

Feb. 11, 1991

CLA-2-85:S:N:N1:103 859752

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 8515.21.0000; 8514.10.0000; 8479.89.9090

Mr. Scott A. Cohn

Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz & Silverman

12 East 49th Street

New York, N.Y. 10017

RE: The tariff classification of armature and stator

manufacturing machines from Italy

Dear Mr. Cohn:

In your letter dated January 21, 1991 on behalf of Axis USA,

Inc. you requested a tariff classification ruling.

This request represents one of several ruling requests you

have submitted covering the importation of various machines for

the manufacture of armatures and stators. The armatures and

stators made by this equipment will be used as components of

electric motors for small household appliances, power tools, and

automobile DC motors.

Armatures basically consist of coils of wire wound around an

iron core. They are produced by assembling metal laminations, or

stacks, into a cylindrical shape and then inserting a shaft into

slots in the stacks. A commutator, consisting of a molded

plastic ring surrounded by a copper shell, is then placed onto

the end of the shaft, and wires are wound around the shaft and

fused to the commutator. During this process insulating

materials are inserted at various stages so as to protect the

armature components and wires, and the wires are coated with a

resin to protect them from dirt and wear. Finally, the

electrical connections in each completed armature are tested.

The armatures are transported on metal pallets along a conveyor

system from machine to machine as the assembly process occurs.

Stators, which are stationary parts of a motor about which a

rotor revolves, are produced in much the same fashion.

You inquired about the following specific machines:

1\. Model ACF commutator fuser - a machine which fuses the

copper wire to the commutator tangs by means of a low voltage

welding head. The welding head heats the tang, causing the

insulation around the wire to melt and fuse to the tang.

2\. Model AMTI automatic trickle impregnating machine - a

machine which heats the armatures in a convection oven, trickles

polyester resin onto the exposed copper wires, and then places

the armatures in a second convection oven to gelify and cure the

resin.

3\. Models SST/W and Sassi GE-SS stator stacking and welding

machines - machines which assemble a stack from pre-formed metal

plates or laminations and then perform a TIG welding operation to

weld the stack together.

4\. Model TCM terminal crimping machine - a machine which

mechanically crimps electrical terminals to the stator\'s wires.

5\. Model TFM terminal fusing machine - a machine which

fuses the electrical terminals to the stator wires by means of a

low voltage welding head. The welding head heats the terminals,

causing the insulation around the wires to melt and fuse to the

terminals.

Control panels for each machine described above may also be

imported with the particular machine.

The applicable subheading for the Model ACF commutator

fuser, Models SST/W and Sassi GE-SS stator stacking and welding

machines, and Model TFM terminal fusing machine will be

8515.21.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

(HTS), which provides for machines and apparatus for electric

resistance welding of metal: fully or partly automatic. The rate

of duty will be 2 percent ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for the Model AMTI automatic

trickle impregnating machine will be 8514.10.0000, HTS, which

provides for industrial or laboratory electric resistance heated

furnaces and ovens. The rate of duty will be 2.5 percent ad

valorem.

Finally, the applicable subheading for the Model TCM

terminal crimping machine will be 8479.89.9090, HTS, which

provides for other machines and mechanical appliances having

individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere: other.

The rate of duty will be 3.7 percent ad valorem.

A control panel imported together with the machine it will

control will be classified in the same subheading as the machine.

The above merchandise is not subject to any Voluntary Restraint

Agreements or visa requirements.

In a supplemental letter dated January 31, 1991 you also

inquired about disassembled machines and parts. In the absence

of specific information, we are unable to provide you with a

ruling on these matters. However, for your information, a

particular heading for a machine includes such a machine in a

disassembled state, per General Rule of Interpretation 2(a). If

the importation does not contain all the components of the

disassembled machine, it will still be classified in the heading

for the complete machine provided it has the essential character

of the complete machine. Parts of machines, including spare

parts, which are not goods provided for in any of the other

headings of chapters 84 or 85, nor excluded from chapters 84 or

85, will be classified in the same heading as the machine of

which they are a part provided they are solely or principally

used with such machine (see Notes 1 and 2 of section XVI, Note 1

to chapter 84, and Note 1 of chapter 85, HTS).

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section

177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry

documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the

documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be

brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the

transaction.

Sincerely,

Jean F. Maguire

Area Director

New York Seaport