CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 083289 JMH
TARIFF NO.S: 9209.92.80
Mr. Philip Scott
President
IVL Technologies Ltd.
3318 Oak Street
Victoria, British Columbia
CANADA V8X 1R2
RE: Guitar harmonizers
Dear Mr. Scott:
Your letter of November 28, 1988, requesting a
classification ruling for the Smart Shift IPS-33 harmonizer
(Smart Shift) and the Pitchrider 7000 System (Pitchrider) has
been referred this office for a reply.
FACTS:
The merchandise in question are two devices for use with
electric guitars. Both items are manufactured and imported from
Canada.
The first apparatus, the Smart Shift, is a digital
electronic pitch shifter. It is a 16-bit real time sampler and
computer. The Smart Shift allows the user to program harmonies
by defining the key and scale type to be used. The user may add
one or two additional notes to each one played and select how
far above or below the original note the extra notes should play.
The second apparatus, the Pitchrider, is an electronic
digitizer. The device allows the instrumentalist to control a
MIDI synthesizer with the guitar. A MIDI synthesizer is a
digital electronic musical instrument which generates and/or
stores music in the form of digital data. This allows the user
to manipulate the data and create variations of the output. Such
variations includes sounds made by the flute, organ, piano, and
other instruments. The Pitchrider also allows the
instrumentalist to play one or two additional notes for each note
played on the guitar, thereby playing in three part harmony. The
Pitchrider includes a foot switch controller.
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ISSUE:
Whether the Smart Shift and the Pitchrider should be
classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUSA) as computer equipment within Chapter 84, HTSUSA,
or within Chapter 92, HTSUSA, as musical instruments, or whether
they are excluded from classification within Chapter 92 by reason
of Chapter 92, Note 1(b), and thus classifiable within Chapter
85 as electrical apparatus.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is governed
by the General Rules of Classification (GRI's). GRI 1 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..."
The importer suggests that the equipment should be
classified as computers, therefore within the headings of Chapter
84, HTSUSA, presumably heading 8471 inasmuch as the musical
devices contain microprocessors. However, Note 5 (A), Chapter
84, defines "automatic data processing machines" for the purposes
of the Chapter. The Smart Shift and the Pitchrider do not meet
the requirements of the note, therefore they do not fall within
Chapter 84.
The other relevant heading in this case is heading 9209,
HTSUSA. The heading describes:
9209 Parts..and accessories...of musical
instruments; metronomes, tuning forks and
pitch pipes of all kinds...
9209.92.80 Parts and accessories for the musical
instruments of heading 9202...Other.
Chapter 92, HTSUSA, covers "Musical Instruments; Parts and
Accessories of Such Articles." Chapter 92, Note 1(b) states
that:
"This chapter does not cover...Microphones, amplifiers,
loudspeakers...or other accessory instruments,
apparatus or equipment of Chapter 85 or 90, for use
with but not incorporated in or housed in the same
cabinet as instruments of this chapter."
It is the view of this office that the Smart Shift and the
Pitchrider are not "other accessory instruments, apparatus or
equipment of Chapter 85 or 90" and thus are not within the
exclusionary language of Note 1(b). Although the Smart Shift and
the Pitchrider are not "incorporated in or housed in the same
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cabinet" as musical instruments, the items in question are
indisputably accessories to guitars.
HOLDING:
The Smart Shift IPS-33 and the Pitchrider 7000 System are
classifiable within subheading 9209.92.80, HTSUSA. The rate of
duty is 5.9 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division