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HQ 951438


March 2, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 951438 MBR

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8473.30.40

Mr. S. Richard Shostak
Stein Shostak Shostak & O'Hara
1620 L St., N.W., Suite 807
Washington, D.C. 20036-5605

RE: Tandon; Automatic Data Processing Machine; ADP; Parts; Daughter Board; Without CPU; Floppy Disc Drive; Power Supply; Cabinet Assemblies; Subassemblies; HQ 950221; HQ 088118; HQ 087695

Dear Mr. Shostak:

This is in response to your letter of February 10, 1992, on behalf of the Tandon Corp., requesting classification of certain subassemblies and parts for automatic data processing (ADP) machines, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

You state that Tandon intends to import the SL III Systems Housing Subassembly configurations consisting of the following: chassis and cover, battery pack, power supply, input/output expansion printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), SL III PCBA (logic and control), floppy disk drive, fixtures (bezel, bracket, shield, etc.), and packing material.

A second type of importation will be the same as above but will also include an EPROM or flash memory chip.

After importation, the following components will be added: the CPU daughter board module, the hard disk drive, the SIMMs (additional memory storage), the EPROM or flash memory (added to the first configuration), and additional brackets and bezels.

ISSUE:

What are the classifications of the above referenced ADP machine subassemblies/parts, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States (HTSUS)?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) to the HTSUS govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule. GRI 1 states, in pertinent part:

...classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes...

A "motherboard" is the main interconnecting circuit board in an electronic device, to which the various subassemblies, as printed circuit boards, are plugged or wired. See Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition (1988), page 886. See HQ 085894, dated February 14, 1990.

"Motherboards" for ADP systems have been consistently deemed to possess the essential character of an ADP processing unit. Therefore, a "motherboard" containing a CPU is properly classifiable in subheading 8471.91.00, HTSUS, which provides for: "[a]utomatic data processing machines and units thereof: [o]ther: [d]igital processing units, whether or not entered with the rest of a system...."

The classification of a "motherboard" without a CPU was addressed in HQ 088118, dated February 22, 1991, which held that it was classifiable under subheading 8473.30.40, HTSUS, which provides for: "[p]arts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with the machines of headings 8469 to 8472: [p]arts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471: [n]ot incorporating a cathode ray tube."

However, the instant subassemblies are imported without the Central Processing Unit (CPU) which will be assembled on a "Daughter Board," and added after importation. A "Daughter Board" is defined by The Computer Glossary, Alan Freedman (1989), as: "a small printed circuit board that is attached to or plugs into a removable printed circuit board."

Additionally, the instant importations are missing the hard disk drive, the SIMMs (additional memory storage), the EPROM or flash memory (missing in the first configuration), and additional brackets and bezels. GRI 2(a) provides direction regarding unfinished and incomplete articles. It states:

2. (a) Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that
article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) although not dispositive, should be looked to for the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. See 54 Fed. Reg. 35128 (August 23, 1989). The relevant ENs, page 2, provide some guidance on the application of GRI 2(a) to unassembled goods by stating that "when goods are so presented it is usually for reasons such as requirements or convenience of packing, handling or transport." The ENs provide further that for purposes of Rule 2(a) the expression "articles presented unassembled or disassembled" means articles the components of which are to be assembled either by means of simple fixing devices (screws, nuts, bolts, etc.) or by riveting or welding, for example, provided only simple assembly operations are involved. However, the instant importations are missing more than half of the necessary parts.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs), regarding the Section XVI General Notes, further elaborate when they state the following on page 1132:

(IV) Incomplete Machines

Throughout the section any reference to a machine or apparatus covers not only the complete machine, but also an incomplete machine (i.e., an assembly of parts so far advanced that it already has the main essential features of the complete machine). Thus a machine lacking only a flywheel, a bed plate, calendar rolls, tool holders, etc., is classified in the same heading as the machine, and not in any separate heading providing for parts. Similarly a machine or apparatus normally incorporating an electric motor (e.g., electro- mechanical hand tools of heading 85.08) is classified in the same heading as the corresponding complete machine even if presented without that motor.

The submitted literature states that the number, cost, and significance of the parts added after importation is much greater than the parts that are the subject of the instant importations. Therefore, the SL III Systems Housing Subassemblies do not have "the main essential features of the complete machine."

Although the instant importations do not arise to the level of incomplete processor units, in their imported state as subassemblies, they also do not have the essential character of any of their constituent components/parts.

In determining whether an item is a part of an article, the courts look to the "nature, function, and purpose of an item in relation to the article to which it is attached or designed to
serve...." Ideal Toy Corp. v. United States, 58 CCPA 9, 13, C.A.D. 996, 433 F.2d 801, 803 (1979). See Clipper Belt Lacer Co., Inc. v. United States, Slip Op. 90-22 (March 13, 1990).

The instant subassemblies are clearly necessary to the completion of the ADP system, as integral, constituent, and component parts. Therefore, for tariff purposes, they should be considered "parts" of the machines of 8471, HTSUS. They are classifiable in subheading 8473.30.40, HTSUS, which provides for: "[p]arts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with the machines of headings 8469 to 8472: [p]arts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471: [n]ot incorporating a cathode ray tube."

HOLDING:

The instant importations, imported together as ADP processor unit subassemblies, are classifiable as "parts" of the machines of 8471, HTSUS, in subheading 8473.30.40, HTSUS, which provides for: "[p]arts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with the machines of headings 8469 to 8472: [p]arts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471: [n]ot incorporating a cathode ray tube."

Sincerely,


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