CIT Finds Locking Pliers Classifiable as Pliers
Locking pliers imported by Irwin Industrial Tool are classifiable in the tariff schedule as pliers, not vises or clamps, the Court of International Trade said in a Sept. 21 decision. Having already ruled in April against CBP’s liquidation of the imported locking pliers as wrenches (see 1704130035), the trade court found that the locking pliers are not classifiable as vises either, because they pivot on a central fulcrum and close by gripping the handles, rather than by turning a screw or lever.
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In its April decision, CIT said pliers of subheading 8203.20.60, dutiable at 12 cents per dozen plus 5.5 percent, are defined as a “versatile hand tool with two handles and two jaws that are flat or serrated and are on a pivot, which must be squeezed together to enable the tool to grasp an object.” The court defined vises, classified in subheading 8205.70.0060 and dutiable at 5 percent, as “tools with a frame and two opposing jaws, at least one of which is adjustable, which are tightened together with a screw, lever, or thumbnut, to press firmly on an object and thereby hold the object securely in place while the user is working.”
The court had declined to rule either way on Irwin’s locking pliers, because only the government had filed a motion for judgment to classify the locking pliers as wrenches. Irwin eventually filed its own motion for classification as pliers in May.
In response, CIT found the locking pliers are pliers. For classification as vises, three requirements must be met: 1) the subject tools have a frame and two opposing jaws, at least one of which is adjustable, 2) the tools’ jaws are tightened together with a screw, lever, or thumbnut, and 3) the tools’ jaws press firmly on an object and thereby hold the object securely in place while the user is working. Although Irwin’s locking pliers have two jaws, they are joined at a pivot, suggesting that the jaws are “not directly opposed,” CIT said. The jaws are not tightened using a screw, lever or thumbnut, but rather by “gripping the handles together,” it said. “Therefore, the tools at issue in this case do not possess the characteristics required to meet the definition of vises or clamps,” CIT said.
(Irwin Indus. Tool Co. v. U.S., Slip Op. 17-128, CIT # 14-00285, dated 09/21/17, Judge Kelly)
(Attorneys: Frances Hadfield of Crowell & Moring for plaintiff Irwin Industrial Tool Company; Guy Eddon for defendant U.S. government)