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HQ 959138




October 17, 1997

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 959138 RFA

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8525.10.20

Port Director
U.S. Customs Service
300 S. Ferry Street
Terminal Island, CA 90731

RE: Protest 2720-96-100340; Decoder Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA); Television Reception Apparatus; Electrical Machines and Apparatus Not Specified or Included Elsewhere; HQs 088255, 953369, 953370, 952791, 087724, 957442 and 083967

Dear Port Director:

The following is our decision regarding Protest 2720-96-100340, which concerns the classification of a decoder printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The subject merchandise is a Comstream L-Band Receiver Board signal decoder (demodulator) model Dbs Qpsk with FEC TCE, part number XX15042-000. It is a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) card that converts an analog waveform which has been transmitted from a television satellite or cable transmission into a demodulated digital data stream. The decoder PCBA is capable of demodulating a 24 MHZ transponder channel within the L-Band frequency range from 950 MHZ to 1450 MHZ. The decoder PCBA will then be used by television set-top receiver manufacturers. It is claimed that the subject merchandise is unusable without other electronic components for its output.

The merchandise was entered in 1995 under subheading 8543.90.55, HTSUS, as parts of electrical machines and apparatus not specified or included elsewhere. The entries were liquidated on December 15 and 22, 1995, under subheading 8525.10.20, HTSUS, as other radio broadcasting reception apparatus. The protest was timely filed on March 14, 1996.

The 1995 subheadings and their corresponding duty rates under consideration are as follows:

8525.10.20: Transmission apparatus for radiotelephony, radiotelegraphy, radiobroadcasting or television, whether or not incorporating reception apparatus or sound recording or reproducing apparatus. . . : [t]ransmission apparatus: [t]elevision. . . .

Goods classifiable under this provision have a column one, general rate of 3.3 percent ad valorem.

8543.90.55: Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: [p]arts: [o]ther: [p]rinted circuit assemblies. . . .

Goods classifiable under this provision have a column one, general rate of duty of 3.6 percent ad valorem.

ISSUE:

Is the decoder PCBA classifiable as television transmission apparatus under heading 8525, HTSUS, or as parts of electrical machines and apparatus not specified or included elsewhere under heading 8543, 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.

The merchandise was classified by Customs under heading 8525, HTSUS, as television transmission apparatus. The protestant claims that this provision has very specific parameters and that the subject merchandise must be combined with other components in order to decode an incoming television signal. The scope of heading 8525 as it relates to components of satellite television apparatus has been the subject of numerous rulings. In HQ 088255, dated December 17, 1990, Customs dealt with the classification of an integrated receiver/decoder (IRD) unit under the HTSUS. In that ruling, Customs determined that:

[t]he IRD is in the transmission path, but it is not at the end of the transmission path where final reception and viewing takes place. Its function is to receive and decode a scrambled signal that is subsequently transmitted or relayed, in the form of a NTSC signal, to be received and displayed at the end of the transmission path. Therefore, the IRD cannot be considered a "television receiver", as provided for under heading 8528, HTSUS. [see also HQ 953369, dated February 10, 1993].

Because the subject IRD unit operated as a transmission apparatus, we held in these rulings that the IRD unit was classifiable under subheading 8525.10.20, HTSUS. See also HQ 953370, dated February 10, 1993, HQ 952791, dated February 8, 1993, and HQ 087724, dated April 2, 1991, for other rulings on similar goods.

The subject merchandise is a decoder which converts an analog waveform which has been transmitted from a television satellite or cable transmission into a demodulated digital data stream. Based upon HQ 088255, we find that the subject merchandise is classifiable under heading 8525, as transmission apparatus, because the decoder is in the transmission path of the signal.

The protestant claims that its decoder is similar to the decoders which were the subject of HQ 083967, dated June 21, 1989, and HQ 957442, dated March 10, 1995. The decoders in these rulings converted audio signals from digital readers found in digital sound reproducing apparatus such as compact disc players and motion picture sound systems. Because the signals converted by the decoders are not radio or television signals, they were not considered to be articles of heading 8525. The subject merchandise is not similar to the merchandise in these rulings because the subject merchandise is receiving a television transmission signal. Heading 8543 provides for electrical machines and apparatus not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter. As stated earlier, the subject merchandise meets the terms of heading 8525, as transmission apparatus. Therefore, they cannot meet the terms of heading 8543, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

The Comstream Decoder is classifiable under subheading 8525.10.20, HTSUS, which provides for: "[t]ransmission apparatus for radiotelephony, radiotelegraphy, radiobroadcasting or television, whether or not incorporating reception apparatus or sound recording or reproducing apparatus. . . : [t]ransmission apparatus: [t]elevision. . . ." Goods classifiable under this provision have a column one, general rate of 3.3 percent ad valorem.

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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