Revised ICP on Internal Combustion Piston Engines
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a revised version of its informed compliance publication entitled, What Every Member of the Trade Community Should Know About: Internal Combustion Piston Engines.
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This publication was prepared by the National Commodity Specialist Division of Regulations and Rulings and provides guidance on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classification of internal combustion piston engines. The ICP was first published in January 1998, was revised in February 2004, reviewed with no changes in May 2005 and March 2006, revised in August 2008, and was most recently revised in April 2009.
According to CBP sources, the following substantive changes were made to the revised ICP:
Additional Information Added to Technical Overview
The "Technical Overview" section, which provides information on engine technology, has been updated to include the following:
Recent technology has developed a compression ignition engine that burns lighter, natural gas. This engine is excluded from classification in heading 8408 as the Explanatory Notes to that heading state that the engines of heading 8408 "operate on heavy fluid fuels." Such compression ignition, natural gas fueled engines would be properly classified as "other engines" in heading 8412.
Information on New HTS Breakout for Steel Forgings
In addition, the following paragraph was added to the "Parts of Engines (8409)" subsection of the ICP:
It is important to note that a new statistical breakout was established in 2009 for "parts: steel forgings" under subheading 8409.91.5081. Steel forgings are described in the Subheading Explanatory Notes to 7326.11 and 7326.19 as being unfinished articles that have been forged. Excluded under this Chapter 73 EN are "forgings which are products falling into other headingsor unfinished forgings which require further working but have the essential character of such finished products." This is in accordance with GRI 2(a). Therefore, forged steel parts which have the essential character of the final part, but are not in the final state or a part of an assembly, at the time of importation, would be classified under the statistical breakout as "parts: steel forgings."
ICP Provided for Informational Purposes Only
CBP states that the information provided in this publication is for general information purposes only. CBP cautions that because many complicated factors can be involved in customs issues, an importer may wish to obtain a ruling under CBP Regulations, 19 CFR Part 177, or obtain advice from an expert (such as a licensed Customs Broker, attorney or consultant) who specializes in customs matters. Reliance solely on the general information in this ICP may not be considered reasonable care.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 05/05/09 news, 09050530 3, for BP summary announcing the availability of this ICP.)
ICP on internal combustion piston engines (posted 05/01/09) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/legal/informed_compliance_pubs/icp014.ctt/icp014.pdf