Electric motor classification for imported starter equipment upheld, with higher countervailing duty sustained under the tariff entry.

Imported 24V starter equipment was treated as an electric motor in itself, not merely a motor starter, because its catalogue description and DC operating nature brought it within the tariff entry for electric motors. The higher countervailing duty followed from that classification, and the lower-rated entry for motor starters was rejected. The assessment was sustained.

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Issues: Whether the imported 24V starter was correctly classified as an electric motor under Item 30.B(i) of the Central Excise Tariff, and whether the higher countervailing duty was leviable.

Analysis: The article was treated as a motor in itself rather than merely a motor starter. On the material placed, including the catalogue description and the nature of the equipment operating on direct current, it fell within the tariff entry applicable to electric motors and not the lower-rated entry for motor starters.

Conclusion: The classification under Item 30.B(i) was upheld and the claim for lower duty failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was rejected and the assessment was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the goods function as an electric motor in themselves, they are classifiable under the tariff entry for electric motors and not under the separate entry for motor starters.

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