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HQ 964731




January 17, 2002

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 964731 BJB

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8538.90.80

Port Director
U.S. Customs Service
300 South Ferry Street
Terminal Island, CA 94126

RE: Protest 2720-00-100785; Electrical connectors; Parts; No metal contacts.

Dear Port Director:

The following is our decision on Protest 2720-00-100785, filed by counsel on behalf of ITT Cannon (“protestant”), against your classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), of parts of electrical connectors without metal contacts. The merchandise under protest was entered during a period dating from October 18, 1999, through November 18, 1999. These entries were liquidated on September 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29, 2000. The protest was timely filed on November 21, 2000.

FACTS:

The subject merchandise is described as “electrical connectors without metal contacts, assembled or unassembled.” The merchandise was entered in sealed plastic packets containing electrical connector pieces. Some of the outer shell pieces are encased in metal. Most of the pieces are made entirely of molded plastic. None of the packets contain metal contacts.

Customs determined these articles to be classifiable under subheading 8538.90.80, HTSUS, which provides for “[p]arts suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of heading 8535, 8536, or 8537: Other: Other[,]” or subheading 8536.30.80, HTSUS, which provides for, “[e]lectrical apparatus for switching or protecting electrical circuits, or for making connections to or in electrical circuits . . ., for a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V: Other apparatus for protecting electrical circuits: Other[.]”

Protestant claims that these articles are electrical connectors, part of ITT Cannon’s D-Subminiature Standard product group. D-Subminiature electrical connectors are used in both commercial and industrial environments, including military and aerospace applications ranging from office equipment to satellites. Protestant submitted product literature and schematics describing the merchandise as “crimp connectors without metal contacts.” A sample of the merchandise, submitted to you, was described as being plastic pieces with a plastic housing metalised or plated in steel or tin. The “connectors” are imported without the metal contacts. These must be added later by the purchaser.

Protestant claims classification of the merchandise, at GRI 1, under heading 8536, HTSUS. Alternatively, protestant claims that the subject merchandise, at GRI 2(a), remains classifiable in heading 8536, HTSUS, as an incomplete electrical connector, with the essential character of a complete electrical connector.

ISSUE:

What is the classification of pieces of electrical connectors without metal contacts?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

We note initially that the protest was timely filed under the statutory and regulatory provisions for protests, 19 U.S.C. 1514(c)(3)(A) and 19 CFR 174.12(e)(1).

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 GRI’s may then be applied.

In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) may be utilized. The Explanatory Notes (ENs), although not dispositive or legally binding, 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 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:

Other apparatus for protecting electrical circuits:

Other

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

Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of heading 8535, 8536 or 8537:

8538.90 Other:

Other

Protestant claims that the articles are complete electrical connectors classifiable in heading 8536, HTSUS. Thus, we must first determine whether the subject articles are complete electrical connectors classifiable in heading 8536, HTSUS, which provides for “[e]lectrical apparatus for . . . making connections to or in electrical circuits . . . for a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V[.]”

The ENs to heading 8536 provide, in pertinent part, that:

“These apparatus consist essentially of devices for making or breaking one or more circuits in which they are connected, or for switching
from one circuit to another; they may be known as single pole, double pole, triple pole, etc., according to the number of switch circuits incorporated. This group also includes change-over switches and relays.

(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 or one of the pins may be used for earthing purposes.

The ENs to heading 8536 indicate that electrical connectors function by making or completing an electrical circuit.

Grolier’s Encyclopedia (Grolier Electronic Publishing, 1994) hereinafter “Grolier’s”), under the heading “circuit, electric” elaborates:

“An electric circuit comprises interconnected electrical components forming a complete path for an electric current, which is a flow of electric charge.

An article is to be classified according to its condition as imported. See XTC Products, Inc. v. United States, 771 F. Supp. 401, 405 (1991). See also United States v. Citroen, 223 U.S. 407 (1911). The parts must be classified according to their components present at entry.

Absent metal contacts, the merchandise when assembled cannot transfer an electrical charge or complete an electrical circuit. The articles include molded plastic pieces designed for making electrical connectors and at least one molded housing piece, metalised or encased in a metal covering. Thus, the goods are not articles that make connections to or in an electrical circuit. At GRI 1, they are not described by heading 8536, HTSUS.

As noted above, protestant claims that if Customs determines at GRI 1, that the goods are not complete electrical connectors classifiable in heading 8536, at GRI 2(a), they are incomplete or unfinished electrical connectors which have the essential character of the complete or finished article classifiable in heading 8536.

GRI 2(a) provides,

“(a) Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled.”

At GRI 2(a), they are not classifiable as incomplete connectors because they do not contain that which is essential to make a connection, the metal contacts.

Although these articles do not constitute complete electrical connectors and are not classifiable under heading 8536, HTSUS, they are described at GRI 1 in heading 8538, HTSUS, which provides for, “[p]arts suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of heading 8535, 8536, or 8537[.]” See §XVI, Note 2(b).

In HQ 962145, dated November 20, 2000, Customs determined that a single electrical connector housing, made of 100% molded plastic, was a part suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of heading 8536. The plastic housing was designed for use with other parts, like the present merchandise, as a part for an electrical connector.

Protestant may sell the present merchandise separately from the metal contacts that would make a complete electrical connector. However, the articles and the metal pins must be matched and conform to specific electrical standards to function as complete electrical connectors.

Accordingly, at GRI 1, because the articles are used solely or principally as parts of an “electrical connector,” they are classified in subheading 8538.90.80, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

Electrical connector parts, including shells and housings finished with steel, nickel, or other metallic plating, without metal contacts, are classified in subheading 8538.90.80, HTSUS, which provides for “[p]arts suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of heading 8535, 8536 or 8537: [o]ther: [o]ther: [o]ther.”

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, you are to mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision. Sixty (60) days from the date of the decision, the Office of Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to Customs personnel, and to the public on the Customs Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.customs.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division


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