HQ 0083674 - Control panels/programmable controllers dedicated for use in microwave ovens. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 083674

June 22, 1989

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 083674 KK

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO: 8537.10.00

Paul S. Anderson, Esq.
Sonnenberg, Anderson, O'Donnell & Rodriguez Attorneys & Counsellors at Law
200 West Adams Street
Suite 2625
Chicago, Illinois 60606

RE: Control panels/programmable controllers dedicated for use in microwave ovens.

Dear Sir:

Your letter of January 23, 1989, requesting a binding ruling under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), regarding the tariff classification of certain subassemblies dedicated for use in microwave ovens was referred to this office for a direct reply to you. We have also received and reviewed your supplemental submission of May 17, 1989.

FACTS:

The subject merchandise consists of a printed circuit board with several discrete components contained thereon, a power supply, a clock and a metal portion which is attached to the circuit board. Both the circuit board and the metal portion are dedicated solely for use in a microwave oven. The subassembly contains the components which are essential to the oven's various programming functions.

ISSUE:

Whether the subject merchandise is properly classifiable in subheading 8537.10.00, HTSUS, which provides for "[b]oards, panels . . . for the electrical control or the distribution of electricity . . . [f]or a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V . . . [p]rogrammable controllers;" or in subheading 8516.90.20, HTSUS, which provides for " . . . other electrothermic appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes . . . parts thereof . . . [p]arts . . . [o]f . . . ovens."

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1 provides as follows:

The titles of sections, chapters and sub- chapters are provided for ease of reference only; for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chap- ter notes and, provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to the following provisions.

Section XVI, Note 2, states in pertinent part:

(a) Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of Chapter 84 and 85 . . . are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings;

(b) Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine . . . are to be classified with the machines of that kind.

Section XVI, (II) Parts, (Section Note 2), states in pertinent part:

. . . parts which in themselves constitute an article covered by a heading of this Section . . . are in all cases classified in their own appropriate heading even if specially designed to work as part of a specific machine. This applies in particular to:

(13) Boards, panels . . . and other apparatus for electrical control . . .
(heading 85.37).

In accordance with Section XVI, Note 2, if the subject merchandise is properly described in heading 8537 as "[b]oards, panels . . . for electrical control," the same falls to be classified in that heading. Also in accordance with Section XVI, Note 2, if the subject merchandise is not properly described in heading 8537, the same falls to be classified as "[p]arts . . . [o]f . . . ovens" in subheading 8516.90.20, HTSUS.

Importer acknowledges that without the aforementioned metal portion, the subject merchandise would be properly classifiable
as "programmable controllers" in heading 8537. Importer further suggests, that were the aforementioned printed circuit board imported with a metal portion that functioned merely as protection for the circuit board itself, the merchandise would also be classifiable in heading 8537. However, importer contends that insofar as the metal portion provides safety barriers and structural integrity for microwave ovens, the articles as imported are something other than programmable controllers.

We do not disagree with importers contention that classification in this case ultimately turns on whether the metal portion effectively takes the subject merchandise out of heading 8537. In this regard, "[i]t is well established that where merchandise has a single or primary function and an incidental, subordinate, or secondary function, the merchandise is classifiable on the basis of its primary design, construction or function." F.W. Myers, Inc. V. United States, No. 88-78, slip op. at 14 (CIT, June 16, 1988). The question of whether a given function is secondary or coequal is one of fact. Tridon, Inc. v. United States, 5 CIT 167 (1983). Similarly, "an incidental, subordinate, or secondary function which relates to an article's predominant use, does not make that article 'more than' the article named in the tariff provisions." A & A International, Inc. v. United States, No. 87-117, slip op. at 19 (CIT, October 29, 1987).

In support of the view that the subject articles are "more than" programmable controllers, importer cites United States v. The A.W. Fenton Company, Inc., 49 CCPA 46, CAD 794 (1962), a case in which the court held that an electric motor, in assembled relationship with a gear assembly and a frame that constituted a housing for the brushes of a floor polisher, was "more than" a "motor." In so holding, the court noted at 49 that the article's "additional features . . . do more than make it a special type of motor. They dedicate it to one particular use as a part of a floor polisher. Since it is more than a motor, it is not properly classifiable as a motor for tariff purposes."

We believe Fenton is readily distinguishable, since in this case, the metal portion which is attached to the circuit board does not constitute a feature which dedicates the imported control panel to one particular use as a part of a microwave oven. Even without the metal portion, the control panel is dedicated for use in a microwave oven. While it can be said that the metal portion is designed to enhance the structural integrity of the article in which the control panel assembly is incorporated, it is also the case that the imported assembly is essentially a control panel attached to a metal frame that protects the control panel itself, and by definition, the article in which the control panel assembly is ultimately incorporated.

In the past, importer has imported printed circuit boards containing the same component parts contained in the instant merchandise (except with differently designed metal portions). These importations were classified as control panels in item 685.90, TSUS. Importer notes that due to certain technological advances, it has become cost effective to import the printed circuit boards and the metal portions as assembled units.

Instructive in this regard, was the court's reasoning in A & A International, Inc. v. United States, No. 87-117, slip op. (CIT Oct. 29, 1987). In holding that "equalizer/boosters" were not more than "audio-frequency electric amplifiers," the A & A International court stated at 21, that "[w]hen the difference in an article is in the nature of an improvement, and the essential character is preserved or only incidentally altered, the statutory designation of the article still applies and determines its Customs classification."

We also note our ruling April 8, 1986 (554010). In that ruling, we determined that programmable microprocessor oven control units with attached metal chassis were properly classifiable as control panels in item 685.90, TSUS. For purposes of tariff classification, we do not believe that the metal chassis in that case differ from the metal chassis in the instant case.

We disagree, therefore, with importer's assertion that the "core issue pertains to the reason there is such a mounting of the panel." Even assuming arguendo, that Customs could from a practical and administrative standpoint distinguish between metal chassis designed to provide structural integrity for control panels of microwave ovens, and metal chassis designed to provide safety barriers and structural integrity for the microwave ovens in which said control panels are incorporated, this distinction would not provide a basis for classifying one type of importation in heading 8537 and the other in heading 8517. Simply put, such a distinction would not alter the fact that the essential use of control panels with attached metal chassis dedicated for use in microwave ovens, is electrical control of those ovens.

It is our opinion then, that while the attached metal portions are designed to provide safety barriers and structural integrity for the microwave ovens in which the control panel assemblies are incorporated, these functions do not constitute "co-equal" functions. Rather, these functions fall within the rule of law set forth above in F.W. Myers -- to wit, "that where merchandise has a single primary function and an incidental, subordinate or secondary function, it is classifiable on the basis of its primary design, construction and function." Accordingly, by operation of GRI 1, the subject merchandise is properly classifiable as "[p]rogrammable controllers" in heading 8537, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

In view of the foregoing, the subject merchandise is properly classifiable in subheading 8537.10.00, HTSUS, which provides for "[b]oards, panels . . . for electric control . . . [f]or a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V . . . [p]rogrammable controllers," dutiable at the rate of 5.3 percent ad valorem.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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