United States International Trade Commision Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule
faqs.org  Rulings By Number  Rulings By Category  Tariff Numbers
faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 1994 HQ Rulings > HQ 0956021 - HQ 0956169 > HQ 0956077

Previous Ruling Next Ruling


HQ 956077


July 20, 1994

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 956077 MBR

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 7616.90.00

Mr. Ivan P. Koves
Program Manager
International Business Machines Corporation P.O. Box 1900
Boulder, Colorado 80301-9191

RE: Reconsideration of HQs 084217, 084219 and 084647; Unfinished Hard Disks for ADP Disk Drives; Not "Prepared" Unrecorded Media

Dear Mr. Koves:

This is in reply to your letter of March 8, 1994, requesting reconsideration of HQs 084217, 084219 and 084647, regarding the classification of unfinished IBM hard disks for Automatic Data Processing ("ADP") machine disk drives, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

International Business Machines Corporation ("IBM") currently imports 18 separate types of disks for use in ADP hard disk drives. These disks are imported in various stages of completion. However, none are finished. In particular, none of the disks have been "sputtered" with the substrate magnetic media necessary to retain data, nor have they been surface burnished. These processes are performed after importation.

ISSUE:

Whether the unfinished ADP hard disks are classifiable in heading 8473, HTSUS, which provides for parts of ADP machines, under heading 8523, HTSUS, which provides for prepared unrecorded media, or under heading 7616, HTSUS, which provides for other articles of aluminum?

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...

You assert that the disks are classifiable in subheading 8473.30.50, HTSUS, which provides for parts of Automatic Data Processing ("ADP") machines. Customs has addressed this issue in HQ 084217, dated June 28, 1989, HQ 084219, dated July 7, 1989, and HQ 084647, dated September 14, 1989.

Chapter 85, Legal Note 6, states as follows:

Records, tapes and other media of heading 8523 or 8524 remain classified in those headings, whether or not they are entered with the apparatus for which they are intended.

This Legal Note clearly directs that media, recorded and unrecorded, shall be separately classifiable from the merchandise for which it is intended. Therefore, media is not classifiable as a part of the merchandise for which it is intended based on chapter 85, Legal Note 6. However, the instant disks are not "prepared" media, as required by the terms of heading 8523, HTSUS, since none of the disks have been "sputtered" with the substrate magnetic media necessary to retain data. Therefore, chapter 85, Legal Note 6, does not apply.

In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes ("ENs") may be utilized. The ENs, although not dispositive, should be looked to for the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. See T.D. 89- 80, 54 FR 35127, 35128, (August 23, 1989). The ENs for heading 8523, HTSUS, page 1372, state:

The heading excludes:

(a) Articles intended for use as media for recording sound or other phenomena but not yet prepared as such; these are classified in their respective headings (for example, in Chapter 39 or 48, or Section XV).

This EN embodies the principle that unprepared media is not classifiable in heading 8523, HTSUS, under GRI 2(a) regarding "unfinished" goods, since it is not possible to classify "unprepared" media as unfinished "prepared" media (i.e., it is self evident that "unprepared prepared" media is a contradiction in terms). This EN also embodies the principle that unprepared media is not classifiable as a part of the merchandise for which it is
intended, but instead, is classifiable pursuant to its constituent material.

Therefore, the disks are excluded from classification under heading 8523, HTSUS, because they are not "prepared" unrecorded media, as directed by the ENs, and are also excluded from classification under heading 8473, HTSUS, based on the exclusionary EN which directs classification pursuant to the constituent material.

Thus, classification of the disks is appropriate pursuant to its constituent material, in subheading 7616.90.00, HTSUS, which provides for other articles of aluminum.

HOLDING:

The IBM unfinished ADP hard disks are classifiable in subheading 7616.90.00, HTSUS, which provides for other articles of aluminum. For the reasons stated above, HQs 084217, 084219 and 084647 are affirmed.

Sincerely,

Harvey B. Fox, Director

Previous Ruling Next Ruling

See also: