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HQ 951012


October 18, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:F 951012 AJS/EAB

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9506.91.00

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
P.O. Box 789
Great Falls, MT 59401

RE: Protest 3303-91-100023; electronic monitor for exercise treadmill; subheadings 8535.90.00, 8537.10.00; HR 089891

Dear Sir:

Protest for further review 3303-91-100023, dated April 4, 1991, was filed against the tariff classification of "Fox III electronics for exerciser machine": within subheading 8535.90.00, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The subject articles are electronic consoles or monitors for exercise treadmills. Consisting of printed circuit board assemblies and a liquid crystal display device in a plastic housing, they control the speed and angle of the treadmills and display the hypothetical distance travelled, time elapsed, average user's pulse rate and average calories expended.

ISSUE:

Whether the electronic monitors are classifiable within subheading 9506.91.00, HTSUS, which provides for parts and accessories of exercise articles and equipment; or subheading 8535.90.00, HTSUS, which provides for electrical apparatus for switching or protecting electrical circuits, or for making connections to or in electrical circuits (for example, switches, fuses, lightning arresters, voltage limiters, surge suppressors, plugs, junction boxes), for a voltage exceeding 1000 V; or subheading 8537.10.00, HTSUS, which provides for "[b]oards, panels . . . and other bases, equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536, for electric control or the distribution of electricity . . . for a voltage not exceeding 1000 V."

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

In HRL 089891 (September 15, 1993) (copy enclosed), Customs addressed the classification of similar electronic monitors which were used to monitor and display the speed, time, distance, caloric expenditure and pulse rate in exercise treadmills. We ruled that these types of devices are classifiable within subheading 9506.91.00, HTSUS, which provides for parts and accessories of exercise equipment. The subject monitors are also used to adjust the speed and angle of the treadmills, as well as to display the hypothetical distance travelled, time elapsed, average user's pulse rate and average calories expended. Accordingly, the subject monitors are also classifiable within subheading 9506.91.00, HTSUS.

Classification of the subject monitors within either heading 8535 or 8537 was not specifically discussed in HRL 089891. However, the monitors do not satisfy the terms of either of these headings. They are not used merely to switch, protect or make a connection in electrical circuits nor for electric control or the distribution of electricity. As discussed previously, the monitors are solely or principally used to display and adjust a variety of functions on an exercise treadmill. As such, they are classifiable within subheading 9506.91.00, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

The subject electronic monitors for exercise treadmills are properly classifiable within subheading 9506.91.00, HTSUS, which provides for parts and accessories of exercise equipment. You should allow the protest in full.

A copy of this decision should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and provided to the protestant as a part of the notice of action on the protest.

In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 3, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision, with enclosure, should be mailed by your office to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, Lexis, Freedom of Information Act and other public access channels.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division


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