HQ 0554633 - LCD television receiver - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 554633

March 28, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 554633 JMH

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 685.04

Ms. Angela Gaetano
Chief, Customs Information Exchange
U.S. Customs Service
6 World Trade Center
New York City, New York 10048

RE: LCD television receiver

Dear Ms. Gaetano:

This is in response to your May 11, 1987, request for the resolution of a difference of opinion between the Los Angeles- Long Beach port and the National Import Specialist (NIS) in New York on certain LCD television receivers manufactured by Casio Computer Ltd. of Japan.

FACTS:

The instant difference concerns the Casio TV-2000, a 2.6 inch color LCD television receiver. The TV-2000 uses a liquid crystal display instead of a cathode ray tube.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach port took the position that the television receiver should be classified within item 685.04, Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS), as "Television apparatus and parts thereof...Television receivers and parts thereof...Not having a picture tube...Other...Other...Flat panel television receivers..."

The NIS position is that the television receiver should be classified within item 684.98, TSUS as "Television apparatus and parts thereof...Television receivers and parts thereof...Not having a picture tube...Entered with components enumerated in headnote 3(b)(i) of this part..."

Both ports in the instant difference agree that the TV-2000 is to be classified within Schedule 6, Part 5 of the TSUS. The disagreement relates to the effect of Schedule 6, Part 5, Headnote 3(b)(i), TSUS, on the classification of the merchandise.

ISSUE:

Whether the Casio TV-2000 is properly classified within Item 684.98, TSUS, as "Television apparatus and parts thereof... Television receivers and parts thereof...Not having a picture tube...Entered with components enumerated in headnote 3(b)(i) of this part..." or within Item 685.04, TSUS, as "Television apparatus and parts thereof...Television receivers and parts thereof...Not having a picture tube...Other...Other...Flat panel television receivers..."

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Schedule 6, Part 5, Headnote 3(b)(i) states:

3. The provisions of this headnote apply to "television apparatus and parts thereof" provided for in items 684.92, 684.98, 685.00, and 685.08 of this part.
(a) The term "complete", as used to describe television receivers, means a television receiver, fully assembled, whether or not packaged or tested for distribution to the ultimate purchaser.
(b) For this purposes of items 684.98 and 685.00-- (i) each subassembly that contains as a component, or is covered in the same entry with, one or more of the following television components, viz., tuner, channel selector assembly, antenna, deflection yoke, degaussing coil, picture tube mounting bracket, grounding assembly, parts necessary for fixing the picture tube or tuner in place, consumer operated controls, or speaker, shall be classified in item 684.98...

Headquarter's Ruling Letter 071709 (HQ 071709), dated May 17, 1984, involved similar merchandise, the Casio TV-10. This ruling disregarded Headnote 3(b)(i). The LCD television receiver in that case was determined to be "more than" the subassembly and parts described in Headnote 3(b)(i). The description of "television receivers not having a picture tube," was found to be more specific than the description for "other television apparatus and parts thereof." An LCD is not viewed as a picture tube within the TSUS. "The requirements that an article be a television receiver and lack a picture tube are more difficult to satisfy than the requirement that an article be television apparatus or parts thereof." HQ 071709, p. 3.

HQ 071709 is dispositive of the article in question, the TV- 2000. The same rationale used for ruling the TV-10 "more than" parts or subassemblies can also be applied to the TV-2000. The TV-2000, unlike the TV-10, is a color television receiver and
more closely corresponds to the language of item 684.98, TSUS. However, we ruled that the TV-10 to be "more than" the subassemblies and components of item 684.98. This ruling was unrelated to the distinction between black and white and color television receivers. Therefore, the TV-2000 is properly classified within item 685.04, as "Television receivers and parts thereof...Not having a picture tube...Other...Other...Flat panel television receivers..."

HOLDING:

The Casio TV-2000 is properly classified within item 685.04, TSUS, as "Television apparatus and parts thereof...Not having a picture tube...Other...Other...Flat panel television receivers..."

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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