HQ 957649 - I/A 1/95; CD-ROM Changers (Jukeboxes); Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Machine Storage Unit; Legal Note 5(B) to Chapter 84; Storage Units Not Assembled in Cabinets for Placing on a Table, Desk, Wall, Floor or Similar Place; HQs 950238, 951802 - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 957649

December 15, 1995

CLA-2 RR:TC:MM 957649 RFA

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8471.93.60

Port Director of Customs
610 South Canal Street
Chicago, IL 60607

RE: I/A 1/95; CD-ROM Changers (Jukeboxes); Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Machine Storage Unit; Legal Note 5(B) to Chapter 84; Storage Units Not Assembled in Cabinets for Placing on a Table, Desk, Wall, Floor or Similar Place; HQs 950238, 951802

Dear Port Director:

This is in reference to your memorandum dated December 15, 1994 (MAN-1-CO:CH: CT310 KGS), forwarding a request for Internal Advice made by counsel for NSM America on September 16, 1994, concerning the tariff classification of CD-ROM changers under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). In preparing this ruling, we also considered information provided by counsels letters of June 19, 1995, and November 2, 1995.

FACTS:

The CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) changers (sometimes referred to as "jukeboxes") consists of the following models labeled as: the CDR 100- XA (a read/write capable storage device); the CDR 100-SC (a read only storage device); the CDR 100-XR (a read/write capable storage device); the Mercury models- the CDC 150 Model 20, the CDC 150 Model 40, and the CDC 150 Model 31. All of the models are designed for connection to an automatic data processing (ADP) machine via small computer systems interface (SCSI) and are capable of storing data, which is reproducible into text, graphics, or audio output, on both CD-ROM and CD audio discs. All the "jukeboxes" have their own plastic housing, control switches, and power-supplies. The numbers 100 and 150 after the letters CDR or CDC indicate the capacity of CDS the storage units can hold.

The CDR 100-XA and the CDR 100-SC each contains only one CD-ROM drive. The CDR 100-XR contains one CD-Recorder drive. The dimensions of the CDR series by height, width, and depth are 365mm, 472mm, and 215mm. The CDR series have four footpads on each corner of the bottom of the plastic housing.

The CDC 150 Model 40 contains four CD-ROM drives. The CDC 150 Model 20 contains two CD-ROM drives. The CDC 150 Model 31 contains three CD-ROM drives and one CD-Recorder. The dimensions of the Mercury models by height, width, and depth are 519mm, 218mm, and 597mm. According to the information provided, the Mercury models are different from the CDR series because the Mercury models all contain a "mail slot" for the front-end insertion and removal of individual CDS, and can be fitted into a 19 inch rack frame without use of rails. The Mercury models will also have either four wheels on the bottom of the chassis or will have two wheels placed in the front of the unit and two small footpads placed on the rear of the unit.

The following subheadings are under consideration:

8471.93: Automatic data processing machines and units thereof. . . : [o]ther: [s]torage units, whether or not entered with the rest of a system: [o]ther storage units:

8471.93.50: Not assembled in cabinets for placing on a table, desk, wall, floor or similar place. . . .

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

8471.93.60: Other. . . .

Goods classifiable under this provision have a column one, general rate of duty of 3 percent ad valorem.

ISSUE:

Are the CD-ROM changers classifiable as an ADP unit, and if so, are they assembled in cabinets for placing on a table, desk, wall, floor or similar place, 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.

Counsel indicates that the CD-ROM changers are ADP units. To be classified as an ADP machine, merchandise must meet the criteria in Legal Note 5(B) to Chapter 84, HTSUS, which defines units of ADP machines as follows:

Automatic data processing machines may be in the form of systems consisting of a variable number of separately-housed units. A unit is to be regarded as being a part of the complete system if it meets all the following conditions:

(a) it is connectable to the central processing unit either directly or through one or more other units;

(b) it is specifically designed as part of such a system (it must, in particular, unless it is a power supply unit, be able to accept or deliver data in a form (code or signals) which can be used by the system).

The CD-ROM changers meet the definition of Legal Note 5(B), HTSUS, because they connect to a computer's central processing unit (CPU) and they are able to accept or deliver data in a form which can be used by the system by acting as a storage unit for data. The only remaining issue is whether or not the CD-ROM changers, which are storage units, are assembled in cabinets for placing on a table, desk, wall, floor or similar place.

The term "cabinet" is not defined in the HTSUS or in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs), which constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUS. A tariff term that is not defined in the HTSUS or in the EN's is construed in accordance with its common and commercial meaning. Nippon Kogaku (USA) Inc. v. United States, 69 CCPA 89, 673 F.2d 380 (1982). Common and commercial meaning may be determined by consulting dictionaries, lexicons, scientific authorities and other reliable sources. C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 69 CCPA 128, 673 F.2d 1268 (1982). In HQ 951802, dated October 8, 1992, Customs stated that:

A cabinet is described as an upright case housing a radio or television receiver. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, p. 309 (1986). The subject unit is enclosed in a case with feet which houses the unit in a manner similar to that of a small radio receiver. We do not interpret the term "cabinet" to encompass only a piece of furniture or housing for a television, but also an enclosure such as that which houses a small radio. Therefore, we are of the view that a unit housed in a manner similar to that of a radio, is assembled in a cabinet, and thus does not satisfy the terms of subheading 8471.93.30, HTSUS [which provides for magnetic disk drive units not assembled in cabinets].

In determining whether or not a storage unit is assembled in cabinets for placing on a table, desk, wall, floor or similar place, Customs must look at the physical characteristics of each individual model. See HQ 950238, dated November 26, 1991, in which Customs held that storage units differing in heights depending on whether they were designed as free-standing desk top model or rack-mounted models, were classified under subheadings 8471.93.60 and 8471.93.50, HTSUS, respectively. You believe that because the Mercury models have a "dual" use for being placed on a desk top or on a rack, that classification should be determined based upon its ability to permit rack use. Both the CDR series and the Mercury models have plastic housing forming a cabinet. On the bottom of the housing of the CDR series and the Mercury models are either four footpads, four wheels, or 2 footpads and 2 wheels. Based upon these physical characteristics we find that the merchandise is classifiable under subheading 8471.93.60, HTSUS, which provides for ADP storage units assembled in cabinets for placing on a table, desk, wall, floor or similar place.

HOLDING:

The CD-ROM changers are classifiable under subheading 8471.93.60, HTSUS, which provides for: ADP storage units assembled in cabinets for placing on a table, desk, wall, floor or similar place. The general, column one rate of duty is 3 percent ad valorem.

Please advise the internal advice applicant of this 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
Tariff Classification Appeals Division

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