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HQ 964462




October 22, 2001

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 964462 BJB

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8536.69.40

Mitchell Neriah
Customs Consulting Services
415 South Prospect Avenue, Suite 110
Redondo Beach, CA 90277

RE: Electrical Connectors: Cylindrical multicontact; Printed circuit.

Dear Mr. Neriah:

This is in response to your letter of July 20, 2000, to the Customs National Commodity Specialist Division, New York, on behalf of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. (“Toshiba”), with respect to the tariff classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) of five articles described as electrical connectors. Your letter, with samples, was referred to this office for reply. In preparing this decision, consideration was also given to your supplemental submissions of August 28, and October 22, 2001. We regret the delay in responding.

FACTS:

Each of the five articles is a different type of electrical connector used for making connections to or in electrical circuits. You have described the five samples submitted in the following manner:

“PS/2 Connector (# G36220119983): ”is a six-pin, “through hole” mount design cylindrical multicontact connector. The connector will be permanently mounted onto a motherboard printed circuit assembly, and is used to connect an external keyboard or mouse to a notebook computer.

“PCMCIA Connector (# G36220314999):” is a “through hole” mount design, 240-pin connector. The connector will be permanently mounted onto a motherboard printed circuit assembly. This connector is used to connect an external PCMCIA card to a notebook computer.

“RGB Connector (# G36220308999):” is a nine-pin, “through hole” mount design connector, with two rows of pins (four on the top row and five on the bottom row). A metal casing, roughly trapezoidal in shape, surrounds the terminal pins. This connector will be permanently mounted onto a motherboard printed circuit assembly. The RGB connector is used to connect a color monitor by cable to a notebook computer.

“USB Connector (# G36220239957):” is a four-pin, “through hole” mount design connector, that will be permanently mounted onto a motherboard printed circuit assembly. It is used to connect an external video source to a notebook computer.

“Battery Connector (# G36220308939):” is a 22-pin, “through hole” mount design connector, that will be permanently mounted onto a motherboard printed circuit assembly. The battery connector is used to connect a lithium-ion battery pack to a notebook computer.

Each article is fitted with multiple metal pins to enable it to be plugged into, or permanently mounted on a printed circuit board, or connect one printed circuit board to another.

ISSUE:

What is the tariff classification of the subject electrical connectors?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRI’s”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs may then be applied.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

8536 Electrical apparatus for switching or protecting electrical circuits, or for making connections to or in electrical circuits (for example, switches, relays, fuses, surge suppressors, plugs, sockets, lamp-holders, junction boxes), for a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V:

Lamp-holders, plugs and sockets:

8536.69 Other:

8536.69.40 Coaxial connectors; cylindrical multicontact connectors; rack and panel connectors; printed circuit connectors; ribbon or flat cable connectors . . .

8536.69.80 Other

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“EN’s”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the EN’s provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).

The goods at issue are described within heading 8536, as “electrical apparatus . . . for making connections to or in electrical circuits . . . for a voltage not exceeding 1,000V. Further, there is no dispute that these articles, in their condition as imported, are classifiable in subheading 8536.69, HTSUS, as “electrical apparatus for switching or protecting electrical circuits, or for connections to or in electrical circuits . . ., for a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V: Lamp-holders, plugs and sockets: Other[.]” As a result of the Information Technology Agreement, (see 62 FR 35909 (July 2, 1997)) subheading 8536.69.00, HTSUS, was divided into subheadings 8536.69.40 and 8536.69.80, HTSUS. Thus, Customs must determine the appropriate eight-digit level classification for each of these articles.

GRI 6 requires that the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings, any related subheading notes, and mutatis mutandis, to the GRIs, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable.

Plugs and sockets are described in 8536 EN (III)(A)(1) as follows:

“(III) Apparatus For Making Connections To Or In Electrical Circuits

This apparatus is used to connect together the various parts of an electrical circuit. It includes:

Plugs, sockets and other contacts for connecting a movable lead or apparatus to an installation which is usually fixed. This category includes:

(1) Plugs and sockets (including those for connecting two movable leads). A plug may have one or more pins or side contacts which match corresponding holes or contacts in the socket. The rim of one of the pins may be used for earthing purposes.”

In addition, tariff terms may be construed in accordance with their common and commercial meanings. Nippon Kogasku (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 resource materials. C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 69 CCPA 128, 673 F.2d 1268 (1982).

At GRI 1, subheading 8536.69.40, HTSUS, specifies different types of connectors, including cylindrical multicontact connectors, rack and panel connectors, ribbon or flat cable connectors, and printed circuit connectors. The term “printed circuit connectors,” like the other types of connectors in this subheading are not defined in the tariff. If these goods do not meet the terms of subheading 8536.69.40, HTSUS, by virtue of GRI 6, they would fall to be classified in subheading 8536.69.80, HTSUS.

We have reviewed numerous lexicons for a definition of the term “printed circuit connector.” The Electronic Engineer’s Master Online Glossary, (www.eem.com) provides the following:

“Printed circuit connector: Connectors which are used in conjunction with printed circuit boards. There are two distinctly different styles.

Edgeboard. May be called edge or card. The printed circuit (PC) board edge enters the connector.

Two-piece: One part of the connecting pair is physically attached to the PC board itself. The other part is attached to something else such as a cable or a motherboard.”

Based upon the information and samples provided, when the mounted prongs of each article mate with a matching socket in a printed circuit, they form a connection to or in an electrical circuit. Each article possesses multiple prongs which match corresponding holes or contacts in a printed electrical circuit.

PS/2 Connector:

In HQ 963676, dated December 13, 2000, Customs considered the terms cylindrical and multicontact in its classification of cylindrical two-contact, and three-contact connectors, and found that cylindrical multicontact connectors were classifiable in subheading 8536.69.40, HTSUS. Customs determined that plugs are cylindrical when they are “of, pertaining to, or having the form of a cylinder.” We also note that EN 85.36 (III) provides in pertinent part that: “[a] plug may have one or more pins or side contacts which match corresponding holes or contacts in the socket.”

This article has multiple pins on one surface, for attachment to a printed circuit board, and on an adjacent surface, has a set of contact holes configured in a cylindrical pattern. The multiple contacts are inserted into or mounted on a printed circuit board, and the cylindrical socket provides for the insertion of a cylindrical plug into which a moveable lead to an apparatus or installation may be attached.

Customs also found electrical connectors with cylindrical plugs and sockets and multiple “pin contacts” to be classifiable in subheading 8536.69.40, HTSUS, in NY F80888, dated January 11, 2000.

At GRI 1, the PS/2 connector is specifically provided for in subheading 8536.69.40, HTSUS, as a “cylindrical multicontact connector.

II. PCMCIA Connector:

You have stated that the PCMCIA connector is used to connect an external PCMCIA card (printed circuit assembly) to a notebook computer and will be permanently mounted onto a motherboard printed circuit assembly. As such, this article conforms to the general industry definition of a “printed circuit connector,” set forth above. Moreover, this article meets the description provided in the ENs. The PCMCIA connector is a plug used for connecting a moveable lead or apparatus to a fixed installation, i.e., a moveable lead connected to a printed circuit board permanently affixed and connected to another printed circuit assembly. At GRI 1, the PCMCIA connector is a “printed circuit connector,” specifically provided for in subheading 8536.69.40, HTSUS.

III. RGB, USB, and Battery Connectors:

All three of these articles, as described above, are electrical connectors with pins or contacts that match corresponding holes or contacts on printed circuits. As such, they too conform to the general industry definition of a “printed circuit connector,” set forth above. They also meet the description provided in the ENs. It is clear that they are plugs used for connecting moveable leads or apparatus to a fixed installation, i.e., a printed circuit board to which they are permanently fixed. At GRI 1, these connectors are also “printed circuit connectors,” specifically provided for in subheading 8536.69.40, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

Under the authority of GRI 1, and GRI 6, the PS/2 (# G36220119983) is a “cylindrical multicontact connector,” and the PCMCIA (# G36220314999), RGB (# G36220308999), USB (# G36220239957), and Battery (# 36220308939) connectors are “printed circuit connectors” classifiable in subheading 8536.69.40, HTSUS, as “[e]lectrical apparatus for making connections to or in electrical circuits . . .for a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V: . . .Lamp-holders, plugs and sockets:. . . Other:. . . cylindrical multicontact connectors; . . . printed circuit connectors[.]”

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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