Interpretation ID: 2849o
Vice President/General Manager
Mid America Design, Inc.
U.S. Route 45 North
One Mid America Place
Effingham, IL 62401
Dear Mr. Niebrugge:
The Customs Service has asked me to respond directly to your letter complaining about the Customs Service seizure of some spinner hubcaps that your company tried to import into the United States. I understand that Mid America Design, Inc. attempted to import a shipment of "spinner hubcaps" from Taiwan. These spinner hubcaps were seized by the U.S. Customs Service for failing to conform with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 211, Wheel Nuts, Wheel Discs, and Hubcaps (49 CFR 571.211). You asked why our agency said that your company's imported "spinner hubcaps" do not comply with Standard No. 211, when comparable domestically produced items are permitted to be sold. For the last 20 years, it has been illegal to sell spinner hubcaps in the United States, regardless of where the spinner hubcaps were manufactured.
I have enclosed copies of my May 13, 1987 letter to the Honorable William E. Dannemeyer and my November 13, 1987 letter to Mr. William J. Maloney, your counsel in this matter. In these letters, I reaffirmed our interpretations from the past 20 years stating that spinner hub caps do not comply with the requirements of Standard No. 211, and have not complied with that Standard since it became effective on January 1, 1968. Section 108(a)(1)(A) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act [15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(1)(A)] makes it illegal to "manufacture for sale, sell, offer for sale, or introduce or deliver for introduction in interstate commerce, or import into the United States" any hub caps that do not comply with Standard No. 211 (Emphasis added). Therefore, the U.S. Customs Service was enforcing the law properly when it seized the spinner hubcaps your company sought to import.
You also stated in your letter that spinner hubcaps are currently available in the United States, and enclosed some advertisements offering spinner hubcaps for sale. I would like to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We have referred this information to our enforcement staff for appropriate action.
If you have any further questions or need more information on the subject of spinner hubcaps and Standard No. 211, please feel free to contact Steve Kratzke of my staff at this address or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.
Sincerely,
Erika Z. Jones Chief Counsel
Enclosures
cc: Mr. Daniel C. Holland District Director of the Customs Service 909 First Avenue Seattle, Washington 98174
ref:211 d:3/18/88