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 > 1995 HQ Rulings > HQ 956912 - HQ 956975 > HQ 956918

Previous Ruling Next Ruling
HQ 956918



January 30, 1995

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 956918 DWS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9031.40.00

Area Director
U.S. Customs Service
Building #77, JFK Airport, Rm. 228
Jamaica, NY 11430

RE: Protest 1001-94-102982; Electronic Setting Fixtures; Chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3; Optical Instruments; HQ 087699; 9031.80.00

Dear Area Director:

The following is our decision regarding Protest 1001-94-102982 concerning your action in classifying and assessing duty on electronic setting fixtures under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The merchandise consists of Mapal electronic setting fixtures (model nos. MN 500 and MN 510), off-line tool presetters which are specifically designed to measure and check the lengths and diameters of Mapal cutting tools. In setting these high precision tools, the fixtures allow for their productive and economic use. They are of heavy duty, rigid cast iron design, and are equipped with ultra-sensitive, low pressure touch probes, a digital readout display, high precision guide-ways (glass scales), fine adjustment for accurate positioning, adjustable distance between "centers", a shadowgraph projector with a ratio of 10:1 magnification, automatic compensation for tool runout, complete enclosure, pneumatic tool clamping and unclamping, and a female spindle holder to accommodate assembled tool systems.

The merchandise was entered on October 25, 1993, under subheading 9031.80.00, HTSUS, as other measuring or checking instruments. The entry was liquidated on April 1, 1994, under subheading 9031.40.00, as other optical measuring or checking instruments. The protest was timely filed on April 28, 1994.

The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

9031.40.00: [m]easuring or checking instruments, appliances and machines, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; profile projectors; parts and accessories thereof: [o]ther optical instruments and appliances.

The 1993 general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable under this provision is 10 percent ad valorem.

9031.80.00: . . . : [o]ther instruments, appliances and machines.

The 1993 general, column one rate of duty for goods classifiable under this provision is 4.9 percent ad valorem.

ISSUE:

Whether the electronic setting fixtures are classifiable under subheading 9031.40.00, HTSUS, as other optical measuring or checking instruments, or under subheading 9031.80.00, HTSUS, as other measuring or checking instruments.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).
GRI 1 provides that classification is determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

Chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3, HTSUS, states that:

[f]or the purposes of this chapter, the terms "optical appliances" and "optical instruments" refer only to those appliances and instruments which incorporate one or more optical elements, but do not include any appliances or instruments in which the incorporated optical element or elements are solely for viewing a scale or for some other subsidiary purpose.

The protestant states that the shadowgraph projector is a peripherally optional item for the fixtures, and that the digital read-out is ten times more accurate than the projector. However, the protestant has provided no evidence that the projector is an optional piece of equipment. In fact, the literature provided by the protestant describes both the projector and the guide-ways as being standard equipment for the fixtures. The literature even highlights the fact that the projector has a magnification ratio of 10:1.

Because the fixtures contain optical elements (the projector and guide-ways), and because these optical elements appear to perform an essential function in the effective operation of the fixtures, it is our position that they are classifiable under subheading 9031.40.00, HTSUS, as other optical measuring or checking instruments. See HQ 087699, dated November 26, 1990, which held similar merchandise to be classifiable under subheading 9031.40.00, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

The Mapal electronic setting fixtures are classifiable under subheading 9031.40.00, HTSUS, as other optical measuring or checking instruments.

The protest should be DENIED in full. In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, 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, Freedom of Information Act, and other public access channels.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

Previous Ruling Next Ruling

See also: