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HQ 957489




April 24, 1995

CLA-2 R:C:M 957489 RFA

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8471.91.00

District Director of Customs
555 Battery Street
P.O. Box 2450
San Francisco, CA 94126

RE: Protest 2809-94-101554; Motherboard for Laptop Computer with CPU chip and BIOS chip, but no RAM; Automatic Data Processing (ADP) machines; Legal Note 5(A)(a) to Chapter 84; GRI 2(a); EN 84.71; HQs 087695, 951566, 951443, 950832, 950221

Dear District Director:

The following is our decision regarding Protest 2809-94-101554, which concerns the classification of motherboards for laptop computers missing RAM under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The subject merchandise is a 486 DX 2/50 central processing unit (CPU) board, or "motherboard", which contained the CPU chip with cache memory, the BIOS chip, but did not have any system memory (RAM). This CPU board is designed for laptop or notebook computers.

The merchandise was entered under subheading 8473.30.10, HTSUS, as parts of ADP machines. The subject entries were liquidated on September 2 and October 28, 1994, under subheading 8471.91.00, HTSUS, as unfinished ADP machines. The protest was timely filed on November 25, 1994.

The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

8471.91.00 Automatic data processing machines and units thereof. . .: [o]ther: [d]igital processing units, whether or not entered with the rest of a system, which may contain in the same housing one or two of the following types of units: storage units, input units, output units. . .

Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one rate of duty of 3.9 percent ad valorem.

8473.30.10 Parts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with machines of headings 8469 to 8472: [p]arts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471: [n]ot incorporating a cathode ray tube: [p]rinted circuit assemblies other than for power supplies for automatic data processing machines. . . .

Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one free rate of duty.

ISSUE:

Whether the subject microprocessor boards, containing the CPU chip and the BIOS chip, but missing RAM, are classifiable as an unfinished automatic data processing machine or as a part for an automatic data processing machine under the HTSUS?

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

In order to qualify as an automatic data processing (ADP) machine, the merchandise must meet the definition of an ADP machine set forth in Chapter 84, Note 5(A)(a), HTSUS, which provides that for the purposes of heading 8471, HTSUS, ADP machines mean:

[d]igital machines, capable of (1) storing the processing program or programs and at least the data immediately necessary for execution of the program; (2) being freely programmed in accordance with the requirements of the user; (3) performing arithmetical computations specified by the user; and, (4) executing, without human intervention, a processing program which requires them to modify their execution, by logical decision during the processing run.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN) constitute the Customs Cooperation Council's official interpretation of the HTSUS. While not legally binding, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 FR 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). EN 84.71, page 1298, states that for a digital data processing system to be complete, it must comprise a central processing unit (CPU), an input unit (i.e., keyboard) and an output unit (i.e., computer monitor).

The protestant states that the merchandise does not meet the criteria of Legal Note 5(A)(a) to chapter 84, HTSUS, because without the RAM it is incapable of storing the processing program or programs and at least the data immediately necessary for execution of the program.

In HQ 087695, dated March 6, 1991, we addressed the issue of essential character for incomplete or unfinished ADP machines. In that ruling, we held that an incomplete or unfinished circuit board (motherboard) without the data processing chips did not possess the essential character of an ADP machine under heading 8471, HTSUS. This line of reasoning was upheld and affirmed in other decisions. See HQ 951566 (August 12, 1992); HQ 951443 (April 13, 1992); HQ 950832 (February 11, 1992); HQ 950221 (November 22, 1991). In HQ 951443, dated April 13, 1992, Customs determined that a motherboard with a CPU chip but not the BIOS ROM chip did not impart the essential character of a finished digital processing unit under GRI 2(a). GRI 2(a) states that:

Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article.

The issue to be decided here is whether a motherboard which contains the CPU and BIOS chips as well as cache memory, but no RAM is classifiable as an unfinished ADP machine. The definitions for "cache memory", "memory", and "RAM" can be found in The Computer Glossary, Sixth Edition, as follows:

Cache: A memory cache is a high-speed memory bank between memory and the CPU. Blocks of instructions and data are copied into the cache and instruction execution and data updating are performed in the higher-speed memory.

Memory: Oddly enough, the computer's memory doesn't remember anything when the power is turned off. That's why you have to save your files before you quit your program. Although there are memory chips that do hold their content permanently (ROMs, PROMs, EPROMs, etc.), they're used for internal control purposes and not for the user's data. The "remembering" memory in a computer system is its disks and tapes, and although they are also called memory devices, many prefer to call them storage devices in order to differentiate them from internal memory.

Other terms for memory are RAM, main memory, main storage, primary storage, read/write memory, core and core storage.

Increasingly, the term is used to refer to disks as well as RAM memory. Perhaps, in time, memory will refer to disks exclusively and RAM will refer to working memory.

RAM: (Random Access Memory) Computer's primary workspace. Although true of most memory chips (ROMs, PROMs, etc.), "random" means that the contents of each byte can be directly accessed without regard to the bytes before or after it. RAM chips require power to maintain their content.

We find that the subject motherboard containing a CPU chip, BIOS, and cache memory meets the criteria of Legal Note 5(A)(a) to chapter 84, HTSUS. The presence of the cache gives the capability of storing the processing program or programs and at least the data immediately necessary for execution of a program. According to the information provided by the Protestant, the 486 DX 2/50 CPU board is designed for notebook computers. Therefore, we find that the subject merchandise is classifiable as an unfinished ADP machine under subheading 8471.91.00, HTSUS, based upon GRI 2(a).

HOLDING:

For the foregoing reasons, the 486 DX 2/50 central processing unit (CPU) board, or "motherboard", which contained the CPU chip with cache memory, the BIOS chip, but did not have any system memory (RAM) is classifiable under subheading 8471.91.00, HTSUS, as unfinished ADP machines.

The protest should be DENIED. 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

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