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NY R03847




May 19, 2006

CLA-2-85:RR:NC:MM:109 R03847

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8517.50.9000

Mr. Joel Rogers
Miller & Chevalier Chartered
655 Fifteenth Street N.W.
Suite 900
Washington. DC 20005

RE: The tariff classification of Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) from Japan, Korea, and China

Dear Mr. Rogers:

In your letter dated May 1, 2006, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of ExceLight Communications, Inc.

The merchandise subject to this ruling is an Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG). The AWG is an optical filter or multiplexer device based on arrays of waveguides. It will be applied in optical fiber long-haul communication systems, in particular in those based on multi-channel transmission with wavelength division multiplexing, where individual wavelength channels must be combined or separated. The presence of any optics in addition to the complex electronics within the AWG would make the optics subsidiary to the functioning of the electronics within the AWG. As such, the AWG is apparatus for telephony and not optical elements or instruments.

The AWG is a typically fiber-coupled device that separates or combines signals with different wavelengths. It is usually built as a planar lightwave circuit, where the light coming from an input fiber first enters a multimode waveguide section, then propagates through several single-mode waveguides to a second multimode section, and finally into the output fibers. The wavelength filtering is based on an interference effect and the different path lengths in the single-mode waveguides. Any frequency component of the input propagates through all single-mode waveguides, and the output in any channel results from the superposition of all these contributions, which acquire wavelength-dependent phase shifts.

The applicable subheading for the Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) will be 8517.50.9000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “ Electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy, including line telephone sets with cordless handsets and telecommunication apparatus for carrier-current line systems or for digital line systemsOther apparatus, for carrier-current line systems or for digital line systems: Telegraphic: Other.” The rate of duty will be free.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Linda M. Hackett at 646-733-3015.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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