Honeywell has won a dispute with US Customs and Boarder Protection (CBP) over imported parts used to make aircraft brake discs, with the US Court of International Trade agreeing that the parts were incorrectly classified and should be classed as duty-free.
Court documents detail that Honeywell filed the legal case to challenge the CBP’s liquidation of Honeywell’s radial, web and chordal segments under the Harmonised Tariff Schedule of the United States. The CBP placed tariffs applying to "other made-up articles" and carries a 7% import duty. Honeywell argued that these segments should instead be classified as "undercarriages and parts thereof" for aircraft, a duty-free category.
Honeywell had previously lodged three protests against this classification in 2017, but they were denied, prompting the company to take the matter to court. The company initiated the case on October 23, 2017, and officially filed its complaint on October 29, 2021.
At its core, the US government’s argument against classification of the segments as parts of aircraft rests on the degree of processing involved in the production of aircraft brake discs.
The government argued that the segments were textile materials requiring further processing and should be classified differently, making them subject to import duties. The government’s cross-motion for summary judgment was denied.