CLA-2 R:C:M 957909 KCC
Ms. Shirley Justice
Circle International, Inc.
9620 N.E. Colfax Street
Portland, Oregon 97220
RE: Fusion glass for electroluminescent flat panel displays; part; Additional U.S. Rule of
Interpretation 1(c); 7004; drawn glass; Note 2, chapter 70; EN 70.04; EN 70.06; cutting
to shape; absorbent or reflecting layer; edge working; other glass of heading 7004, bent,
edgeworked, engraved, drilled, enameled or otherwise worked, but not framed or fitted
with other materials
Dear Ms. Justice:
This is in response to your letter dated January 20, 1995, to the Regional Commissioner of
Customs, New York, on behalf of Planar Systems, concerning the tariff classification of fusion
glass for electroluminescent flat panel displays under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS). A sample was submitted for our examination. Additional information
obtained via a telephone conversation with a member of my staff and contained in a letter dated
March 27, 1995, was considered in rendering this decision.
FACTS:
The article at issue is various sized fusion glass designed and used for electroluminescent
flat panel displays. The fusion glass is drawn glass which is cut to shape. You state that the edge
work is performed to remove the sharp edges left from the cut which is done only to protect the
handler of the glass from dangerous sharp edges. Each piece will be 1.1 mm in thickness. The
glass is then layered with Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO). The ITO layer is a conductor that makes up
the matrix of lines that carry current to each pixel in the electroluminescent flat panel display.
The ITO layer is patterned using photolithography methods, similar to those used to make
semiconductor chips and printed circuit boards, which results in a pattern of vertical lines on the
display. Next, phosphors, which are the light emitting layers of the electroluminescent flat panel
display, i.e. Zinc-Sulfide, are applied. Additionally, you state that the fusion glass is not suited for
liquid crystal displays. You contend that the fusion glass is classifiable under subheading
8473.30.50, HTSUS, which provides for "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...Other."
ISSUE:
What is the tariff classification of the fusion glass for electroluminescent flat panel displays
under the HTSUS?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of
Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1, HTSUS, states, in part, that "for legal purposes, classification shall
be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes...."
Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c) states that:
[A] provision for parts of an article covers products solely or principally used as a part of
such articles but a provision for "parts" or "parts and accessories" shall not prevail over a
specific provision for such part or accessory.
Therefore, if the fusion glass is specifically provided for in a tariff provision within the HTSUS, it
cannot be classified under a tariff provision for "parts" or "parts and accessories." Since the
article at issue is glass, we must examine chapter 70, HTSUS, for applicable tariff provisions. The
following must be considered:
7004 Drawn glass and blown glass, in sheets, whether or not having an absorbent or reflecting
layer, but not otherwise worked....
7006 Glass of heading 7003, 7004 or 7005, bent, edgeworked, engraved, drilled, enameled or
otherwise worked, but not framed or fitted with other materials.
Note 2, chapter 70, HTSUS, states that for purposes of heading 7004, HTSUS:
(a) Glass is not regarded as "worked" by reason of any process it has under gone
before annealing;
(b) Cutting to shape does not affect the classification of glass in sheets;
(c) The expression "absorbent or reflecting layer" means a microscopically thin
coating of metal or of a chemical compound (for example, metal oxide) which
absorbs, for example infrared light or improves the reflecting qualities of the glass
while still allowing it to retain a degree of transparency or translucency.
In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description
and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) may be consulted. The ENs, although not
dispositive nor 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. See, T.D. 89-90, 54
Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). EN 70.04 (pg. 929), states, in pertinent part,:
This heading is restricted to drawn glass and blown glass which must be unworked and
in sheets (whether or not cut to shape)...
The glass of this heading may be of various thicknesses but, in general, is less thick than
cast glass of heading 70.03. It may be coloured or opacified in the mass, or flashed with
glass of another colour during manufacture or may be coated with an absorbent or
reflecting layer.
Drawn glass and blown glass are frequently used in the form in which they are originally
produced, without any further working. In addition to their main use as glass for
windows, doors, display cases, greenhouses, clocks, pictures, etc., these types of glass are
also used as parts of articles of furniture, for photographic plates, plain spectacle glass, etc
(emphasis in original).
EN 70.06 (pgs. 930-931), states that:
This heading covers glass of the types referred to in headings 70.03 to 70.05 which has
been subjected to one or more of the process mentioned below...
(B) Glass with worked edges (ground, polished, rounded, notched, chamfered,
beveled, profiled, etc.) thus acquiring the character of articles such as slabs for
table-tops, for balances or other weighing machinery, for observation slits and the
like, for signs of various kinds, fingerplates, glass for photograph frames, etc.,
window panes, glass frontes for furniture, etc...(emphasis in original).
The fusion glass is cut to shape. Pursuant to Note 2(b), chapter 70, HTSUS, cutting to
shape does not affect the classification of drawn glass in sheet form. Therefore, although cut to
shape, the fusion glass is classifiable under heading 7004, HTSUS.
Heading 7004, HTSUS, glass may have an "absorbent or reflecting layer." However, we
are of the opinion that the Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) applied to the fusion glass is not the type of
"absorbent or reflecting layers" contemplated by Note 2(c), chapter 70, HTSUS. The ITO is not
a layer or coating; it is applied in a pattern of vertical lines with a photolithography process similar
to that used in the semiconductor industry. In our opinion this is a working operation, not the
simple type of layering operation contemplated by Note 2(c), chapter 70, HTSUS, and heading
7004, HTSUS.
Moreover, the fusion glass is edgeworked. You state that the edge working is performed
to remove the sharp edges left from the cut and that this is done only to protect the handler of the
glass from dangerous sharp edges. A visual examination of the submitted sample, indicates that
the edge working entails removal of the four sharp corners and beveling the both the top and
bottom four sides. We are of the opinion that this edge working removes the fusion glass from
classification under heading 7004, HTSUS. Pursuant to EN 70.06, this type of "worked edges" is
the type of "edgeworked" contemplated by heading 7006, HTSUS. Therefore, we are of the
opinion that the fusion glass is classifiable under subheading 7006.00.40, HTSUS, which provides
for:
Glass of heading 7003, 7004 or 7005, bent, edgeworked, engraved, drilled, enameled or
otherwise worked, but not framed or fitted with other materials...Other...Other....
Because the fusion glass is specifically provided for under subheading 7006.00.40,
HTSUS, as other glass of heading 7004, bent, edgeworked, engraved, drilled, enameled or
otherwise worked, but not framed or fitted with other materials, it is not classifiable as a "part",
pursuant to Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c), HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The fusion glass for electroluminescent flat panel displays is classified under subheading
7006.00.40, HTSUS, as other glass of heading 7004, bent, edgeworked, engraved, drilled,
enameled or otherwise worked, but not framed or fitted with other materials. The corresponding
duty rate for articles classified under this tariff provision is 4.9 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division.