Revocation of NY R03515; Classification of X-arm moveable plasma television mount from South Korea

HQ H017937 May 17, 2010 CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H017937 TNA CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8479.89.98 Anthony Johnson, President Anthony Johnson, III- CHB 100 W. Imperial Avenue, Unit J El Segundo, CA 90245 RE: Revocation of NY R03515; Classification of X-arm moveable plasma television mount from South Korea Dear Mr. Johnson: This letter is in reference to New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) R03515, issued to you on April 19, 2006, concerning the tariff classification of the X-Arm moveable TV wall mount from South Korea. In that ruling, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) classified the merchandise under subheading 8543.89.96, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), as “electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and apparatus: Other: Other: Other: Other.” We have reviewed NY R03515 and found it to be in error. For the reasons set forth below, we hereby revoke NY R03515. Pursuant to section 625(c)(1), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1625(c)(1)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI, notice proposing to revoke NY R03515 was published on March 31, 2010, in Volume 44, Number 14, of the Customs Bulletin.  CBP received no comments in response to this notice. FACTS: The X-Arm is a motorized, moveable, robotic arm that is affixed to a vertical wall and is designed to mount a plasma or flat-screened television (“TV”). It contains a base plate that measures 26.57 inches in length by 22.64 inches in height. The mount measures 4.6 inches when collapsed and 12 inches when expanded. It is telescopic to twelve inches and can tilt seven degrees up and twenty degrees down, and swivels 56 degrees to the right and left. The X-Arm moves via a combination of motorized robotic arms and rollers. In NY R03515, dated April 19, 2006, CBP classified the X-Arm under 8543.89.9695, HTSUS, as: “Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and apparatus: Other: Other: Other: Other.” As such, the rate of duty is 2.6% ad valorem. ISSUE: Whether the X-Arm TV mount is properly classified under heading 8543, HTSUS, under “electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter,” or under heading 8479, HTSUS, as “machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter”? LAW AND ANALYSIS: Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). 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 may then be applied. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows: 8543 Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: 8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: In NY R03515, CBP classified the X-Arm under Heading 8543 as an electrical machine. However, the EN for Heading 8543 explains that: Most of the appliances of this heading consist of an assembly of electrical goods or parts (valves, transformers, capacitors, chokes, resistors, etc.) operating wholly electrically. However, the heading also includes electrical goods incorporating mechanical features provided that such features are subsidiary to the electrical function of the machine or appliance. While the X-Arm contains both electrical features, such as the remote control, and mechanical features, such as the X-Arm itself, the mechanical features are not subsidiary to the electrical functioning of the product. As a result, the terms of the heading do not describe the good. Heading 8479, HTSUS, provides for “machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof.” The EN to heading 8479, HTSUS, states, in pertinent part, the following: This heading is restricted to machinery having individual functions, which: (a) Is not excluded from this Chapter by the operation of any Section or Chapter Note. and  (b)  Is not covered more specifically by a heading in any other Chapter of the Nomenclature. and (c)  Cannot be classified in any other particular heading of this Chapter since : (i)   No other heading covers it by reference to its method of functioning, description or type. and (ii)   No other heading covers it by reference to its use or to the industry in which it is employed. or   (iii)   It could fall equally well into two (or more) other such headings (general purpose machines) For this purpose the following are to be regarded as having individual functions: (A)  Mechanical devices, with or without motors or other driving force, whose function can be performed distinctly from and independently of any other machine or appliance. CBP has long classified motorized machines that could not be classified elsewhere in heading 8479, HTSUS. This has been true even where the machine in question has incorporated some electrical features, as long as the mechanized function is not subsidiary to the electrical function of the machine or appliance (EN 8543). In NY G86267, dated February 2, 2001, for example, CBP classified a motorized, illuminated advertising module into heading 8479, HTSUS. There the unit could be placed either on a counter or mounted on a wall, and, while it used a light to illuminate three different advertisements, it also used a motor to rotate the display. In HQ 089831, dated October 4, 1991, CBP classified a music box that incorporated both mechanical and electrical features to play the national anthem as an American flag was mechanically raised up a flag pole. These items were all classified under heading 8479, HTSUS, because their mechanical features were not subsidiary to their electrical functions, and they were all mechanical devices whose function was performed distinctly from and independently of any other machine or appliance. In HQ 953671, dated July 2, 1993, CBP classified a mechanical billboard display under the same heading. The X-Arm is similar to the products at issue in HQ 089831, HQ 953671, and NY G86267 in that its function is an electronically controlled mechanical function. In addition, classification in heading 8479, HTSUS, is consistent with the description in the EN to that heading. As a result, the X-Arm is classified under subheading 8479.89.98, HTSUS, for “machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and mechanical appliances, other.” HOLDING: Under the authority of GRI 1, the X-Arm Full-Motion Motorized Mount is provided for in heading 8479, HTSUS. Specifically, it is classified under subheading 8479.89.98, as “machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: Other machines and mechanical appliances, other.” The column one general rate of duty is 2.5% ad valorem. Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the internet at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/. EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS: NY R03515, dated April 19, 2006, is REVOKED. Sincerely, Myles B. Harmon, Director Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division