HQ 0081744 - Color video printer - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 081744

April 3, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 081744 TLS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8522.90.90

Mr. John Montoya
Canon, U.S.A., Inc.
One Canon Plaza
Lake Success, New York 11042-1113

RE: Color video printer

Dear Mr. Montoya:

You request a ruling on the proper classification of a color video printer under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). Your letter dated November 24, 1987 has been submitted to this office for a reply.

FACTS:

The color video printer is a machine that produces color still images from a video cassette recorder, a video floppy disk, or a video disk. The printer functions on an ink jet printing principle and takes approximately three minutes to produce one print. It prints on a specially coated paper. An eight-color cartridge replacement system is also used. The printer operates in conjunction with a still video (SV) recorder, a television, and a still video camera.

The SV camera takes a "picture" of an object or scene and converts that image into an electronic signal and records it on a standard floppy disk. The SV recorder transfers the image immediately to a television or monitor when the floppy disk is placed into the recorder, processing an electronic impulse from the information stored on the floppy disk. The printer can then produce hard copies of the image. The entire integrated unit is referred to as the Still Video System. The printer acts in unison with the other components of the system, and it does not reproduce videos or record them directly by itself. The printer is not capable of functioning with an automatic data processing machine.

ISSUE:

Under which of the following HTSUSA headings is the color video printer properly classifiable:

8471, HTSUSA, covering automatic data processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, not elsewhere specified or included;

8472, HTSUSA, covering other office machines (for example, hectograph or stencil duplicating machines, addressing machines, automatic banknote dispensers, coin-sorting machines, coin- counting or wrapping machines, pencil-sharpening machines, perforating or stapling machines);

8522, HTSUSA, covering parts and accessories of apparatus of headings 8519 to 8521.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) govern the classification of articles under the HTS. GRI 1 requires that classification be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes. Heading 8471 covers automatic data processing (ADP) machines and machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form. As noted above, the color video printer cannot be operated with an ADP machine, nor does it transcribe or process data. While the entire integrated system may perform these functions, it is the different individual components within the system that do so and not the printer itself. Therefore, the color video printer is not classifiable under heading 8471.

The Explanatory Notes (EN), although not dispositive, should be looked to for the proper interpretation of the HTSUSA. See 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). EN 84.72 states that heading 8472 covers other office machines if not covered by any other heading. We must now compare 8472 to heading 8521 for the purpose of choosing the most appropriate provision.

Heading 8521 covers video recording or reproducing apparatus. The still video system both records and reproduces video images into hard copies. Under EN 85.21, it is noted that reproducing apparatus are those designed only to reproduce images and sound directly on a television receiver. In fact, EN 85.21(B)(1) notes, as an example of an apparatus intended to be classified under heading 8521, one ..."using videodiscs in which the image and sound data are stored on the disc by various methods and picked up by a laser optical reading system...." In the present case, a television monitor is substituted for the laser optical reading system, but the effect is the same. The television monitor picks up the recorded image and sound directly from the videodisc in the same manner the laser system would. Thus, we find the still video system to be covered under 8521 as video reproducing apparatus.

Heading 8522 calls for parts of apparatus of headings 8519 to 8521. As noted before, the color video printer is a part of the integrated system. The part should be classified consistent with how the whole is classified. As a part of apparatus covered under heading 8521, the printer is properly classifiable under 8522. Classification under heading 8472 is precluded because 8521 provides a more specific description of the still video system as a whole. See EN 84.72, supra.

HOLDING:

The color video printer is classified under subheading 8522.90.90, HTSUSA, as a part of apparatus of heading 8521.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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