CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 088226 CMS
8504.90.00
Mr. Hector Casas
Casas International Brokerage, Inc.
6775 Customhouse Plaza
Ste. J Otay Mesa
San Ysidro, CA 92073
RE: Voice Coil For Voice Coil Motors; Parts Of Computer Disk
Drives; Inductors; Self Induction; Impedance; AC; DC
Dear Mr. Casas,
Your request dated October 3, 1990, on behalf of Systems
Magnetic Company, for a classification ruling on certain voice
coils has been referred by the Regional Commissioner of Customs,
New York to Customs Headquarters for a reply.
FACTS:
The merchandise consists of coils which are used in voice
coil motors. The motors in which the coils are used are
installed in computer hard disk drive units.
The coils are inserted in a moveable manner within the
magnetic field of the voice coil motors. As the coil is moved
through the magnetic field a current is induced throughout the
coil. A signal is provided to a servo system which calculates
the position of the coil and then calculates the desired position
for the coil. This enables the positioning of a structure, such
as a carriage, on the media.
The circuit in which the coils operate is a DC circuit.
The coils do not impede the flow of current and do not utilize
self induction in their operation. The coils do not perform the
operations of electrical chokes.
-2-
ISSUE:
Is the merchandise classified in Heading 8504 as inductors,
or in Heading 8503 as parts of the electric motors of Heading
8501?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Heading 8504 in pertinent part describes inductors. The
Explanatory Notes to Heading 8504, p. 1339, describe inductors as
follows:
These consist essentially of a single coil of wire
which, inserted in an AC circuit, limits or prevents by its
self-induction the flow of the AC. They vary from small
chokes used in wireless circuits, instruments, etc., to
large coils often mounted in concrete, used in power
circuits (e.g., for limiting the flow of current in the
event of a short circuit).
Although the articles under consideration are coils, they
are not the type of coils which are properly classified as
inductors in Heading 8504. The coils do not utilize self-
induction in their operation and do not operate in an AC
circuit.
The Explanatory Notes to Heading 8504 provide that chokes
are types of coils which are classified as inductors in Heading
8504. Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, 7th Ed. (1989),
p. 620, provides:
CHOKE COIL. This term is applied to various types of
inductances used in electrical circuits primarily to
present high reactance at certain frequencies. Such
coils usually have high reactance compared to their
resistance and offer impedance to the flow of alternating
currents by the induced counter electromotive force...
[Choke coils are often] used in electrical power circuits
to block high frequency transients produced by lightning
surges.
The voice coils under consideration do not impede the flow
of current and do not perform the operations of electrical
chokes. The voice coils are also not similar to inductors which
might not be chokes but do limit or prevent by self-induction the
flow of current in an AC circuit.
-3-
Although the motors in which the coils are used are
installed in computer hard disk drive units, the particular goods
of which the coils are parts are the voice coil motors, not the
disk drive units. The coils are suitable for use principally
with the electric voice coil motors of Heading 8501. The coils
are classified as parts of the electric motors of Heading 8501,
in 8503.00.40, HTSUSA.
HOLDING:
The voice coils are classified as parts of the electric
motors of Heading 8501, in 8503.00.40, HTSUSA.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division