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HQ 089041


August 1, 1991

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 089041 MBR

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8544.70.00

Ms. Sandra Liss Friedman
Barnes, Richardson & Colburn
475 Park Avenue South
New York, N.Y. 10016

RE: Reconsideration of HQ 087868, dated December 11, 1990; Plastic Optical Fiber Printer Cable Fitted With Connectors and Signal Converters; Composite Good; Functional Unit; Automatic Data Processing Machine

Dear Ms. Friedman:

This is in reply to your letter of April 2, 1991, requesting reconsideration of HQ 087868, dated December 11, 1990, regarding the classification of certain plastic fiber optic printer cables fitted with connectors and signal converters, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).

FACTS:

The merchandise is described in the product brochure as "RFC504 Fibre Optic Printer Cable." The product is used to connect IBM personal computers and computer printers.

The product consists of lengths (25 to 100 feet) of high grade plastic optical fiber cable fitted on each end with a signal converter and electrical pin connector. The cables are made up of individually sheathed fibers. The signal converter and electrical connector on each end of the cables are incorporated in the same housing. The housings measure approximately 78mm x 52mm x 18mm.

The signal converters transfer the electrical signals which are output by the personal computer to optical signals which are then transmitted through the fiber optic cables. The optical signals are converted back to electrical signals by the signal converter on the printer end of the cable. The signal converters also transfer serial signals to parallel signals and then back to serial signals at the printer end of the cable.

The importer states that by transferring the signal from an electrical medium to an optical medium, there is no interference from electromagnetic radiation during transmission. This, it is stated, increases the quality of the signal and the distance a particular computer may be located from a printer.

ISSUE:

What is the classification of Fiber Optic Printer Cables with connectors and converters, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA)?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

HQ 087868, dated December 11, 1990, held that the RFC504 Fiber Optic Printer Cable is classified as optical fiber cables, made up of individually sheathed fibers, fitted with connectors, in subheading 8544.70.00, HTSUSA.

However, in your letter of April 2, 1991, you state:

We submit, however, that Customs failed to consider whether the merchandise should have been classified in accordance with Rule 1 of the General Rules for the Interpretation of the Harmonized System (GRI) as "other units suitable for physical incorporation into automatic data processing machines or units thereof, free of duty, under subheading 8471.99.60, HTS, thus eliminating the need to resort to GRI 3(b).

Clearly, the instant Fiber Optic Printer Cables are not "units for physical incorporation" into anything. These are external cables that run from an IBM computer to an external printer. Therefore, in no way is the instant merchandise "physically incorporated" into an automatic data processing machine.

You also argue that the Fiber Optic Printer Cables are a "functional unit" as delineated in Section XVI, Legal Note 4., which states:

Where a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of individual components (whether separate or interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings in chapter 84 or chapter 85, then the whole falls to be classified in the heading appropriate to that function.

However, Customs has consistently held that in order to
apply a functional unit analysis, the merchandise must consist of the entire, complete machine(s) in question. Here we have only a printer cable with connectors and converters. This merchandise is not a functional unit unto itself because it needs a printer and a computer in order for it to function as designed.

You finally argue that the instant merchandise is properly classifiable as "signal connecting [sic] units" under subheading 8471.99.60, HTSUSA. We agreed that the instant merchandise was a composite good consisting of signal converters and fiber optic cables. However, in HQ 087868, dated December 11, 1990, we held that the essential character was imparted by the fiber optic cables, and that the signal conversion was only implemented in order to utilize the advantageous properties of the fiber optic cables.

Therefore, you have not provided any information or arguments to overturn HQ 087868, dated December 11, 1991.

HOLDING:

The RFC504 Fiber Optic Printer Cable is classified as optical fiber cables, made up of individually sheathed fibers, fitted with connectors, in subheading 8544.70.00, HTSUSA.

Sincerely,


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