Application for Further Review of Protest No. 3401-08-100024; Welltec Inc.; Well Tractor® Device

HQ H053679 August 11, 2010 CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H053679 JPJ CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8479.89.98 Port Director Service Port of Pembina U.S. Customs and Border Protection 112 West Stutsman Pembina, ND 58271 RE: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 3401-08-100024; Welltec Inc.; Well Tractor® Device Dear Port Director: This is our decision regarding the Application for Further Review (“AFR”) of Protest Number 3401-08-100024, timely filed on behalf of Welltec, Inc. (“Welltec”), concerning the classification of the Well Tractor® device under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). FACTS: The merchandise at issue was entered on December 19, 2006. At the time of entry, Welltec entered the merchandise under subheading 8479.90.9495, HTSUS, which provides for “Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof; Parts; Other; Other; Other.” The merchandise was re-classified by the port under subheading 8479.89.9850, HTSUS, which provides for “Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and mechanical appliances; Other; Other: Other; Oil and gas field wireline and downhole equipment.” The entry liquidated on January 4, 2008. On July 1, 2008, Welltec filed a protest against the tariff classification of the merchandise in subheading 8479.89.9850, HTSUS. A photograph of the Well Tractor® device, inside a wellbore, has been taken from the Protestant’s website, www.welltec.com, and is reproduced below.
The Well Tractor® 318 XR (Extended Reach) device has a long cylindrical body with connections at both ends, that is 19 feet long, has an outer diameter of 3 1/8 inches, and a weight in the air of 409 lbs. According to the website, the Well Tractor® device is rigged up over the well at the end of the electric wireline and allowed to descend into the hole in a controlled manner. Due to gravity, it falls freely under the control of the wireline until the deviation of the well reaches a point where friction on tool string and cable prevents the string from progressing further. The Well Tractor® device is then activated and the wheels come out of the tool body. When the Well Tractor® device is initially powered up, the wheels in each drive section are hydraulically deployed out of the tool body. The wheels start to rotate automatically once they emerge from the body of the Well Tractor® device. This allows the wireline string to be driven forward. Each wheel contains its own independent hydraulic motor, which facilitates the rotation of the wheels and the forward motion of the Well Tractor® device. The wheels in each section are in-line and pumped out with 180 degree phasing, incorporating two wheels on each side of the section. To ensure 360 degree wheel coverage inside the well bore or open hole, each drive section is subsequently phased 90 degrees to the previous drive section when assembled. The website explains that the Well Tractor® device functions with an electric over hydraulic power relationship. The control panels, communications and power source inside the Well Tractor® device are electric, while the remaining parts and function are hydraulic, allowing the use of a modular structure for the drive sections. This makes it possible to change the Well Tractor® device’s traction by reducing or increasing the number of wheels needed to drive it, without affecting the efficiency. The wheels are grouped into sections of four wheels per section. To increase the pull force of the Well Tractor® device, it is possible to add extra drive sections. As a consequence of changing the number of drive sections, speed can also be adjusted. When the wireline tool string reaches its objective depth within the hole, the Well Tractor® device is “powered down.” When the Well Tractor® device is powered down, the product literature describes it as “a passive sinker bar included within the tool string” so the wireline tool string can be pulled out of the well bore. The product literature describes the Well Tractor® device as “a down hole conveyance device.” It is used in conjunction with any conventional wireline tool string inside the well bore to extend the reach of the traditional wireline within deviated, horizontal and vertical wells. It explains that the electric Well Tractor® device is designed “to convey any conventional wireline tool string used in the well bore, while pulling the wireline behind it.” The Well Tractor® device is also described as a “down hole well bore intervention tool used for transporting diagnostic and maintenance equipment inside highly deviated and horizontal oil and gas wells.” The product literature describes the Well Tractor® device as “powerful enough to push large open hole tool strings into the open hole, ….” The device is operated from the surface by highly-skilled Welltec professionals who control the proprietary electric and hydraulic systems. The tool is “preconfigured in advance” by a team of experienced engineers. The WellSim program developed especially for analyzing and planning Well Tractor® operations predicts at what depth inside the wellbore the Well Tractor® device needs to be started and what pull is required to get to any given depth in a well. ISSUE: What is the classification of the Well Tractor® device under the HTSUS? LAW AND ANALYSIS: Initially, we note that the matter protested is protestable under 19 U.S.C. §1514(a)(2) as a decision on classification. The protest was timely filed within 180 days of liquidation of the first entry for entries made on or after December 18, 2004. (Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub.L. 108-429, §2103(2)(B)(ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3) (2006)). Further Review of Protest No. 3401-08-100024 was properly accorded to the protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because it is alleged to involve questions of law or fact which have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of Customs or his designee or by the Customs courts. Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs may then be applied. Due to the hierarchical structure of the HTSUS: (1) merchandise must first be classified in the HTSUS in the 4-digit heading whose terms most specifically describe the merchandise (unless otherwise required or directed by the GRIs); and (2) only 4-digit headings are comparable (i.e., no consideration should be given to the terms of any subheading within any 4-digit heading when considering the proper classification of merchandise at the 4-digit heading level). The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows: 8426 Ships’ derricks; cranes, including cable cranes; mobile lifting frames, straddle carriers and works trucks fitted with a crane: 8427 Fork-lift trucks; other works trucks fitted with lifting or handling equipment: 8428 Other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery: 8430 Other moving, grading, leveling, scraping, excavating, tamping, compacting, extracting or boring machinery, for earth, minerals or ores; pile-drivers and pile-extractors; snowplows and snowblowers: 8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: 8701 Tractors (other than tractors of heading 8709): The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes ("ENs") constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127-28 (Aug. 23, 1989). The ENs to heading 8426 provide, in relevant part, as follows: The heading covers a number of intermittent-action lifting or handling machines. SELF-PROPELLED AND OTHER “MOBILE” MACHINES In general, the heading covers not only fixed or stationary machines, but. . .also mobile machines, whether or not self-propelled. o o o o MULTI-FUNCTION MACHINES o o o o The heading covers lifting or handling machines usually based on pulley, winch or jacking systems, and often including large proportions of static structural steelwork, etc. These static structural elements (e.g., crane pedestals and gantries) are classified in this heading when they are presented as parts of a more or less complete handling machine. o o o o The heading covers: (1) Bridge cranes, which consist of a powerful lifting unit suspended from a heavy cross beam or “bridge”, the whole moving on wide gauge rails. (2) Gantry cranes and overhead traveling cranes in which the beam itself runs on rails fixed on walls or on suitable supporting metal structures. (3) Transporter cranes, fixed or running on rails. o o o o (6) Tower cranes. (7) Portal or pedestal cranes, as used in harbours, which are jib cranes supported on tall four legged pedestals which run on rails of such wide gauge as to span one or more normal railway tracks. (8) Jib or derrick cranes (9)Cableways and cable cranes, which are installations for transporting suspended loads. o o o o (11) Works trucks fitted with a crane, which are designed for moving loads over short distances in factories, warehouses, dock areas or airports by means of a light crane mounted on a chassis of the works truck type, usually in the form of a box frame, with a long wheel-base and a wide track to avoid overbalancing. o o o o The ENs to 8427 provide, in relevant part, as follows: With the exception of straddle carriers and works trucks fitted with a crane of heading 84.26, this heading covers works trucks fitted with lifting or handling equipment. Works trucks of this description include, for example : (A) FORK-LIFT AND OTHER ELEVATING OR STACKING TRUCKS (1) Mechanically propelled fork-lift trucks, which are sometimes of large size, carry the load on an elevating carriage sliding on a vertical mast... o o o o (B) OTHER WORKS TRUCKS FITTED WITH LIFTING OR HANDLING EQUIPMENT (1) Trucks with mechanically elevating platforms... (2) Other trucks fitted with lifting or handling equipment including those specialised for use in particular industries (e.g., in the textile or ceramic industries, in dairies, etc.). o o o o The ENs to heading 8428, HTSUS, provide, in relevant part, as follows: With the exception of the lifting and handling machinery of headings 84.25 to 84.27, this heading covers a wide range of machinery for the mechanical handling of materials, goods, etc. (lifting, conveying, loading, unloading, etc.). The provisions of Explanatory Note to heading 84.26 apply, mutatis mutandis, to the equipment of this heading insofar as they concern self-propelled and other “mobile” machines, multifunction machines and lifting, loading, handling, etc., machines intended for incorporation in other machines…. The heading covers lifting or handling machines usually based on pulley, winch or jacking systems, and often including large proportions of static structural steelwork, etc. The ENs to heading 8430, HTSUS, provide, in relevant part, as follows: This heading covers machinery, other than the self-propelled machines of heading 84.29 and agricultural, horticultural or forestry machinery (heading 84.32), for “attacking” the earth’s crust (e.g., for cutting and breaking down rock, earth, coal, etc.; earth excavation, digging, drilling, etc.), or for preparing or compacting the terrain (e.g., scraping, leveling, grading, tamping or rolling). It also includes pile-drivers, pile-extractors, snow-ploughs, and snow-blowers. The ENs to heading 8479, HTSUS, provide, in relevant part, as follows: This heading is restricted to machinery having individual functions, which : (a) Is not excluded from this Chapter by the operation of any Section or Chapter Note. and (b) Is not covered more specifically by a heading in any other Chapter of the Nomenclature. o o o o The machinery of this heading is distinguished from the parts of machinery, etc., that fall to be classified in accordance with the general provisions concerning parts, by the fact that it has individual functions.   For this purpose the following are to be regarded as having “individual functions”: o o o o (B)   Mechanical devices which cannot perform their function unless they are mounted on another machine or appliance, or are incorporated in a more complex entity, provided that this function: (i)   is distinct from that which is performed by the machine or appliance whereon they are to be mounted, or by the entity wherein they are to be incorporated, and (ii)   does not play an integral and inseparable part in the operation of such machine, appliance or entity. The protestant argues that the Well Tractor® device is described by, and thus classifiable, under one of the following headings: 8426, 8427, 8428, 8430, or 8701, HTSUS. Heading 8426 The protestant argues that “[t]hough the Well Tractors at issue do not readily conjure up an image of any of the traditional forms of such goods,” the merchandise is classifiable in heading 8426 because it functions as a crane within the bore of a drilled well, and is used to lift or lower goods by the application of propulsive force. We note, however, that heading 8426, which provides for “Ships’ derricks; cranes, including cable cranes; mobile lifting frames, straddle carriers and works trucks fitted with a crane,” is an eo nomine provision, and not a use provision, as it describes the merchandise by name, and not by use. See Clarendon Marketing, Inc. v. United States, 144 F. 3d 1464, 1467 (Fed. Cir. 1998). HTSUS terms, absent contrary legislative intent, are to be construed according to their common and commercial meanings, which are presumed to be the same. See Simod Am. Corp. v. United States, 872 F. 2d 1572, 1576 (Fed. Cir. 1989). A court may rely upon its own understanding of the terms used and may consult lexicographic and scientific authorities, dictionaries, and other reliable information sources. See Baxter Heathcare Corp. of P.R. v. United States, 182 F. 3d 1333, 1337 (Fed. Cir. 1999). One who argues that a tariff term should not be given its common or dictionary meaning must prove that it has a different commercial meaning that is definite, uniform, and general throughout the trade. See Rohm & Haas Co. v. United States, 727 F. 2d 1095, 1097 (Fed. Cir. 1984). According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, at http://www.merriam-webster.com/, a crane is defined as: 3 : an often horizontal projection swinging about a vertical axis: as a : a machine for raising, shifting, and lowering heavy weights by means of a projecting swinging arm or with the hoisting apparatus supported on an overhead track b : an iron arm in a fireplace for supporting kettles c : a boom for holding a motion-picture or television camera The dictionary definition of a crane indicates that the common understanding of the term is also consistent with the ENs to heading 8426. The ENs to heading 8426 state that the lifting and handling machine of heading 8426 is "generally a crane," see EN 84.26(b)(2), by virtue of its ability to suspend heavy loads and drop them down precisely in the desired location. The ENs further explain that the machines of heading 8426 are usually based on a pulley, winch or jacking system; operate by lifting and suspending their loads from above; and often include large proportions of static structural steelwork, such as crane pedestals and gantries. This static structural steelwork is an integral part of the machines of heading 8426, and is oftentimes supported on overhead tracks allowing for lateral movement of these machines and their associated static structures along these tracks. According to the product literature, the Well Tractor® device is a mobile machine that does not integrate any specific structural elements in order to operate. The Well Tractor® device does not swing about a vertical axis to lift and suspend heavy loads from above and drop them down precisely in a desired location. Instead, the product literature states that it is a device tethered to a wireline tool string and then allowed to descend (gravity) into the hole in a controlled manner until it is powered up and used to pull the wireline tool string out to the end of the well bore. Therefore, the Well Tractor® device is not described by the terms of heading 8426. Heading 8427 The protestant also argues that, “[t]hough the Well Tractors at issue is [sic] not a ‘fork lift truck,’” the merchandise is classifiable in heading 8427 because like the other works trucks, the merchandise is fitted with an accessory adaptor mechanism precisely for the purpose of attaching various lifting and handling appliances and are used to handle or manipulate other goods within the bore of a drilled well by the application of propulsive force.” We note, however, that heading 8427, which provides for “Fork-lift trucks; other works trucks fitted with lifting or handling equipment” is an eo nomine provision, and not a use provision, as it describes the merchandise by name, and not by use. See Clarendon Marketing, Inc. v. United States, 144 F. 3d 1464, 1467 (Fed. Cir. 1998). HTSUS terms, absent contrary legislative intent, are to be construed according to their common and commercial meanings, which are presumed to be the same. See Simod Am. Corp. v. United States, 872 F. 2d 1572, 1576 (Fed. Cir. 1989). A court may rely upon its own understanding of the terms used and may consult lexicographic and scientific authorities, dictionaries, and other reliable information sources. See Baxter Heathcare Corp. of P.R. v. United States, 182 F. 3d 1333, 1337 (Fed. Cir. 1999). One who argues that a tariff term should not be given its common or dictionary meaning must prove that it has a different commercial meaning that is definite, uniform, and general throughout the trade. See Rohm & Haas Co. v. United States, 727 F. 2d 1095, 1097 (Fed. Cir. 1984). According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, at http://www.merriam-webster.com/, a forklift is defined as: a self-propelled machine for hoisting and transporting heavy objects by means of steel fingers inserted under the load The dictionary definition of a forklift indicates that the common understanding of the term is also consistent with the ENs to heading 8427, which indicate that the machines of heading 8427 generally support their loads underneath by a platform, fork, or carriage. Whereas the machines of heading 8426 operate by lifting and suspending their loads from above, the machines of heading 8427 generally support their loads underneath by a platform, fork, or carriage. The vehicles with lifting and handling equipment of heading 8427 utilize an elevating platform, fork or carriage to support their loads in accomplishing the necessary lifting and handling. The machines of this heading are forklifts. A forklift truck basically consists of a wheeled chassis upon which is mounted a vertical mast assembly. The standard forklift truck features a frame and two L-shaped forks which move up and down on the mast assembly. The forks can be inserted into openings in a pallet, thus allowing the forklift to handle goods which have been placed on the pallet. The more general trucks of this heading are known as works trucks. The trucks of this heading are, at the time of importation, fitted with lifting or handling equipment. According to the product literature, the Well Tractor® device has a “top connector” and a “bottom connector.” The “top connector” connects the Well Tractor® device to the wireline through mono or multi cable heads; and the “bottom connector” connects the Well Tractor® device to mono or multi line logging tools below. It is not fitted with lifting or handling equipment, and does not utilize an elevating platform, fork or carriage to support a load from underneath. Instead, when the Well Tractor® device is powered up, and the wheels are hydraulically deployed out of the apparatus, it drives the attached wireline string and the attached logging tools forward into the wellbore, thus pulling the wireline behind it (emphasis added). The product literature explains that once the wireline string reaches its objective depth within the hole, the Well Tractor® device is “powered down.” When so powered down, the Well Tractor® device is described as “a passive sinker bar included within the tool string” so that the wireline tool string can be pulled out of the well bore (emphasis added). Therefore, the Well Tractor® device is not described by the terms of heading 8427. Heading 8428 The protestant also argues that: Though the Well Tractors at issue may not readily conjure up images of traditional forms of the foregoing. . .goods,” the merchandise is classifiable in heading 8428 because the primary function and utility of the merchandise is in the lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, holding (i.e., various forms of manipulation) of other goods and/or appliances within the bore of a drilled well. Heading 8428 provides for “other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery (for example, lifts, escalators, conveyors, teleferics).” We note that it is an eo nomine provision, and not a use provision, as it describes the merchandise by name, and not by use. See Clarendon Marketing, Inc. v. United States, 144 F. 3d 1464, 1467 (Fed. Cir. 1998). According to the ENs, this heading covers a wide range of machinery for the mechanical handling of materials and goods. Among these are lifting machines usually based on pulley, winch or jacking systems, and that often include large proportions of static structural steelwork. According to the product literature, the Well Tractor® device is a mobile machine with no integral static structures, such as stanchions, framework, or pylons which are permanently affixed to the ground or affixed for that time that the machine is in use. In fact, Protestant explains that the Well Tractor® device is never used by itself and cannot function except as part of a well completion and/or intervention system that includes a number of associated devices and control systems. It is well-established that articles are classified in the condition as imported. See United States v. Citroen, 223 U.S. 407, 414-415 (1911). In the condition as imported, the Well Tractor® device does not lift, handle, load, or unload merchandise. It can only function in conjunction with, and must be attached to, the downhole end of a conventional wireline tool string. Otherwise, the Well Tractor® device, as imported, does not “handle” materials or goods. It merely enhances the use of the wireline tool string. See HQ 952942, dated April 27, 1993 (motorized trolley attached to hoist to enhance use of the hoist not “handling” machinery). The product literature also explains that a Well Tractor® device connects to the wireline through mono or multi cable heads, is electrically driven, and “functions with an electric over hydraulic power relationship.” The device is operated from the surface by highly-skilled Welltec professionals who control the proprietary electric and hydraulic systems via an umbilical cord to the Well Tractor® device. Once it is attached to the wireline, it is used inside the wellbore to extend the reach of the traditional wireline. Therefore, the Well Tractor® device is not a lifting or handling machine of heading 8428. Heading 8430 Protestant argues that the Well Tractor device is “…moving machinery. Their primary function and utility is in the moving through lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, holding (i.e., various forms of manipulation) of other goods and/or appliances within the bore of a drilled well.” Heading 8430 is an eo nomine provision, not a use provision, as it describes the merchandise by name, and not by use. See Clarendon Marketing, Inc. v. United States, 144 F. 3d 1464, 1467 (Fed. Cir. 1998). Heading 8430 provides for “Other moving, grading, leveling, scraping, excavating, tamping, compacting, extracting or boring machinery, for earth, minerals or ores; pile-drivers and pile-extractors; snowplows and snowblowers.” We note that it is an eo nomine provision, and not a use provision, as it describes the merchandise by name, and not by use. See Clarendon Marketing, Inc. v. United States, 144 F. 3d 1464, 1467 (Fed. Cir. 1998). The ENs to heading 8430 state that the heading covers machinery, . . ., for attacking the earth’s crust (e.g., for cutting and breaking down rock, earth, coal, etc.; earth excavation, digging, drilling, etc.), or for preparing or compacting the terrain (e.g., scraping, leveling, grading, tamping or rolling). It also includes pile-drivers, pile-extractors, snow-ploughs, and snow-blowers. The protestant explains, however, that the Well Tractor® device is used in cased or open hole wells already bored into the surface of the Earth. The protestant explains that it is attached to a wireline and then lowered into position, either by means of gravity, or it may also be pushed into position using coiled tubing. Finally, the protestant explains that the Well Tractor® device is not typically used to drill the well. Thus, the Well Tractor® device is not described by the terms of heading 8430. Heading 8701 The protestant argues that, “[t]he Welltec well tractor, obviously, was given its name because its function is very much like that of a ‘tractor.’ Its purpose and essential character is to push, pull, convey, manipulate, handle, etc., loads or appliances.” The protestant also explains that the merchandise is capable of engaging its wheels and driving itself past whatever twists and turns the wells present. Heading 8701 is an eo nomine provision providing for “Tractors (other than tractors of heading 8709).” It is not a use provision, as it describes the merchandise by name, and not by use. See Clarendon Marketing, Inc. v. United States, 144 F. 3d 1464, 1467 (Fed. Cir. 1998). Heading 8701 falls within Section XVII of the HTS which includes vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment. Legal Note 2 to Chapter 87, HTSUS, provides as follows: “For the purposes of this chapter, “tractors” means vehicles constructed essentially for hauling or pushing another vehicle, appliance or load, whether or not they contain subsidiary provision for the transport, in connection with the main use of the tractor, of tools, seeds, fertilizers or other goods.” The EN 87.01 also states that: For the purposes of this heading, tractors means wheeled or track-laying vehicles constructed essentially for hauling or pushing another vehicle, appliance or load. They may contain subsidiary provision for the transport, in connection with the main use of the tractor, of tools, seeds, fertilizers or other goods, or provision for fitting with working tools as a subsidiary function. Pursuant to Legal Note 2 to Chapter 87, the Well Tractor® device is not a “tractor” of heading 8701 because it is not a vehicle constructed essentially for hauling or pushing another vehicle, appliance, or load. Therefore, the Well Tractor® device is not described by the terms of heading 8701. Although Welltec’s product is called “Well Tractor®, and the marketing literature describes the Well Tractor® device as “tractor conveyance technology,” CBP has previously stated that “[t]he manner in which merchandise is sold is a factor to be considered but is not determinative of its classification….” See HQ 955341, dated May 12, 1994 citing HQ 952105, dated July 21, 1992. Regarding the advertising and marketing of a product, CBP has also stated as follows: . . .it is not enough to claim advertising or marketing as an indication of classification. Where the physical attributes [of the garment] do not lend support to the claim that [the garment is sleepwear], neither advertising nor marketing alone will be considered conclusive enough to substantiate classification for tariff purposes. See HQ 955341. Heading 8479 The protestant argues that heading 8479 is a “basket provision” that only captures articles of chapter 84 that are not “specified or included elsewhere” in the chapter, and believes that the language of other headings includes them. The term “not elsewhere specified or included” does not render this residual provision for machines with individual functions a “basket” or non-specific provision. In Sharp Microelectronics Technology, Inc. v. United States, 122 F. 3d 1446 (CAFC 1997), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that heading 9013, HTSUS, the provision for “liquid crystal devices not constituting articles provided for more specifically in other headings . . .other optical appliances and instruments, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter;. . .,” was not a “basket” provision. The court explained that the provision “is simply another specific provision acknowledging that it may be more or less difficult to satisfy than some other provision, or a more or less accurate or certain provision than some other to describe a particular article.” Id. at 1450. So too, heading 8479 specifically describes machines having individual functions, but acknowledges that other headings for machines with individual functions may provide a more specifically described home for the merchandise at issue. Indeed, as indicated above, the protestant entered its merchandise in heading 8479. The express terms of heading 8479 provide, in relevant part, for machines having individual functions. As set forth supra, a machine has an individual function if it performs a function that is distinct from the appliance to which it is incorporated, does not play an integral or inseparable part in the operation of the appliance, and cannot perform its function unless it is incorporated in a more complex entity. The function of the Well Tractor® device is to drive or pull the attached tool string down the well bore. This function is distinct from the tool string’s function. The Well Tractor® device is not an integral and inseparable part of the tool string because the tool string can function without the Well Tractor® device being attached to it. The Well Tractor® device augments the use of the tool string to make it more versatile, but it is not necessary to its completion or proper functioning. The tool string is fully capable of operating independently of the Well Tractor® device, even when the two are used together. As such, we conclude that the Well Tractor device is a machine having an individual function. Furthermore, the Well Tractor® device is not more specifically provided for elsewhere in Chapter 84 or in another chapter, and it is not excluded from classification in Chapter 84. Therefore, by application of GRI 1, the Well Tractor® device is classified in heading 8479. HOLDING: The Well Tractor® device is classified in heading 8479, HTSUS, by application of GRI 1. It is specifically provided for in subheading 8479.89.9850, HTSUS, which provides for “Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and mechanical appliances; Other; Other: Other; Oil and gas field wireline and downhole equipment.” The 2006 general column one rate of duty is 2.5 percent ad valorem. Protest No. 3401-08-100024 is DENIED. In accordance with Sections IV and VI of the CBP Protest/Petition Processing Handbook (HB 3500-08A, December 2007, pp. 24 and 26), you are to mail this decision, together with the CBP Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with this decision must be accomplished prior to the mailing of the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision Regulations and Rulings of the Office of International Trade will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public on the CBP Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution. Sincerely, Myles B. Harmon, Director Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division