Motor vehicle air springs classifiable as suspension parts under heading 8708, not as articles of vulcanised rubber.
Air springs designed and manufactured for motor vehicles, and used for suspension or shock absorption in buses, trucks and trailers, are classifiable under heading 8708 rather than as articles of vulcanised rubber under heading 40169990. The presence of vulcanised soft rubber does not change the essential character of the product where tariff interpretation, section notes and HSN explanatory notes show it is specifically a motor vehicle suspension part. Section Note 2 to Section XVII excludes such goods from Chapter 87 only if they are truly classifiable in Chapter 40, which was not the case here. The appropriate classification is sub-heading 87088000.
Issues: Whether air springs manufactured and supplied by the applicant are classifiable under heading 40169990 as articles of vulcanised rubber, or under heading 8708, more specifically under sub-heading 87088000 as suspension systems and parts thereof.
Analysis: The product was found to be designed and manufactured for motor vehicles and to perform the function of suspension or shock absorption in buses, trucks and trailers. Although the product contains vulcanised soft rubber, the rubber component was held not to make the article, as a whole, an article of vulcanised rubber falling under heading 4016. The classification had to be determined on the basis of the tariff headings, the relevant section notes, the HSN explanatory notes, and the principles of interpretation. Section Note 2 to Section XVII excluded articles of vulcanised rubber from Chapter 87 only where the goods were truly classifiable in Chapter 40. Here, the product was held to be more appropriately covered by heading 8708, and within that heading by the specific entry for suspension systems and parts thereof, rather than the residual entry.
Conclusion: Air springs are not classifiable under heading 40169990. They are classifiable under heading 8708, more specifically under sub-heading 87088000.
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