Protest 2809-98-100149; Thin Film Thermal Printheads (TPHs); Parts of Thermal Printers; Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Units; Legal Note 5(B) to Chapter 84; Legal Note 2(b) to Section XVI; HQ 956855; NYs B81165, B85425, and 880194

HQ 962153 March 22, 1999 CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 962153 RFA CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8473.30.50 Port Director U.S. Customs Service P.O. Box 2450 San Francisco, CA 94126 RE: Protest 2809-98-100149; Thin Film Thermal Printheads (TPHs); Parts of Thermal Printers; Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Units; Legal Note 5(B) to Chapter 84; Legal Note 2(b) to Section XVI; HQ 956855; NYs B81165, B85425, and 880194 Dear Port Director: The following is our decision regarding Protest 2809-98-100149, which concerns the classification of Kyocera Thin Film Thermal Printheads under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). In preparing this decision, consideration was given to supplemental submissions by counsel for the protestant on July 1 and November 10, 1998. FACTS: The subject merchandise are Kyocera Thin Film Thermal Print Heads (TPHs), models KST-216-8MPD1-GS, KST-128-4MGD1-CMS2, KPT-48-8MPF1-GS2, KST-48-8MPD1-HPM, and KJT-128-8MGF1-CMS, used in thermal printers. Thermal printing is a non-impact method of printing that uses a print head of electrically heated pins, or elements, and special heat-sensitive paper. As the special heat-sensitive paper passes over a bar of heating elements, it comes into contact with selectively heated elements, and the paper is darkened. Thermal printers provide a low-to-medium resolution print image. They are available in sizes ranging from as small as 1.5 inches to as wide as 12 or 36 inches. The TPHs are used in various type of applications such as: bar code and label printers, direct thermal fax machines, point-of-sale printers, portable medical chart recorders, ticket printers, etc. Two of the model TPHs are principally used in chart recorders. The TPHs consist of a linear array of resistor elements that produces dots of heat in a thermal printer. The TPHs are electronic devices containing driver integrated circuits (ICs) in a shift register architecture, which permits serial loading of data that determines which heaters will be energized and then energizes the selected heaters in response to other control signals. The TPHs have a metal heat sink, typically aluminum, with holes for physically mounting the printhead to the printer. The ICs receive their instructions from an interface board which is connected to a computer through a standard centronics or RS-232 interface. The merchandise was entered on August 4 and 12, October 22 and 30, and November 3,5,6, 10, 17, and 28, 1997, under subheading 8473.30.50, HTSUS, as parts of automatic data processing (ADP) units. The entries were liquidated on January 30, 1998, under subheadings 8543.90.88, HTSUS, as parts of electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter, and 9018.19.95, HTSUS, as parts of electro-diagnostic instruments. The protest was timely filed on April 29, 1998. The 1997 subheadings under consideration are as follows: 8473.30.50: Parts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with machines of headings 8469 to 8472: Parts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471: Not incorporating a cathode ray tube: Other.... Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one rate of duty of free. 8543.90.88: Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Parts: Other: Other. . . . Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one rate of duty of 3.1 percent ad valorem. 9018.19.95: Instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences, including scintigraphic apparatus, other electromedical apparatus and sighttesting instruments; parts and accessories thereof: [o]ther: Other. . . . 1.7% Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one rate of 1.7 percent ad valorem. ISSUE: Are the thermal print heads classifiable as parts of ADP printer units, or as other parts of electrical machines or apparatus or as parts of electro-medical apparatus, 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. To classify the TPHs, which are parts of thermal printers, it is necessary to first determine where the thermal printers are classified in the HTSUS. In HQ 956855, dated May 1, 1995, Customs determined that incomplete thermal slip printers used in various products, including lottery ticket dispensers, automatic tellers, medical equipment, credit card payment machines, cash register/point-of-sale machines, etc., were classifiable under heading 8471, HTSUS, as ADP units, based upon the application of Legal Note 5(B) to chapter 84, HTSUS. [See also NY B81165 (January 22, 1997), NY B85425 (May 13, 1997), and NY 880194 (November 18, 1992) for similar holdings involving the classification of thermal printers]. There is no dispute that the TPHs are parts. The classification of “parts” is subject to Legal Note 2 to Section XVI, HTSUS, which provides that Subject to note 1 to this section, note 1 to chapter 84 and to note 1 to chapter 85, parts of machines (not being parts of the articles of heading 8484, 8544, 8545, 8546 or 8547) are to be classified according to the following rules: (a) Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of chapters 84 and 85 (other than headings 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8485, 8503, 8522, 8529, 8538 and 8548) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings; (b) Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading 8479 or 8543) are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate. However, parts which are equally suitable for use principally with the goods of headings 8517 and 8525 to 8528 are to be classified in heading 8517; (c) All other parts are to be classified in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate or, failing that, in heading 8485 or 8548. We cannot classify the TPHs in accordance with Legal Note 2(a) to Section XVI, HTSUS, because they are not described in any heading within the HTSUS. The TPHs are parts solely or principally used with thermal printers. Based upon the application of Legal Note 2(b) to Section XVI, we find that the TPHs are classifiable under subheading 8473.30.50, HTSUS, which provides for parts of ADP printers. Because the TPHs are classifiable under heading 8473 in accordance with Legal Note 2(b) to Section XVI, they cannot be classified as parts under either heading 8543 or 9018, HTSUS. HOLDING: Based upon Legal Note 2(b) to Section XVI, HTSUS, the Kyocera Thin Film Thermal Print Heads (TPHs), models KST-216-8MPD1-GS, KST-128-4MGD1-CMS2, KPT-48-8MPF1-GS2, KST-48-8MPD1-HPM, and KJT-128-8MGF1-CMS, are classifiable under 8473.30.50, which provides for: “[p]arts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with machines of headings 8469 to 8472: [p]arts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471: [n]ot incorporating a cathode ray tube: [o]ther....” Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one rate of duty of free. The protest should be GRANTED. In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550065, 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 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.ustreas.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution. Sincerely, John Durant, Director Commercial Rulings Division