CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 089376 AJS
District Director
U.S. Customs Service
300 South Ferry Street
Terminal Island
Room 2017
San Pedro, CA 90731
RE: Pre-Entry Classification PC 849595; Resistor network; Heading
8533; Chapter 85, note 4; EN 85.34; H. Conf. Rep. No. 576;
printed circuit; McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and
Technology; EN 85.33; resistor.
Dear District Director:
This is in reference to your memorandum of May 6, 1991,
which appeals the classification of merchandise described as a
resistor network within subheading 8534.00.00, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).
FACTS:
The subject resistor network is composed of printed
conductors on a ceramic substrate with dimensions of
approximately 1" x 3". The bottom edge possesses gold plated
finger contacts for insertion into a connector. In addition, the
device contains resistors which form a network that is applied by
a printing process.
ISSUE:
Whether the resistor network is properly classifiable within
heading 8533, HTSUSA, which provides for electrical resistors; or
classifiable within heading 8534, HTSUSA, which provides for
printed circuits.
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LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Subheading 8534.00.00, HTSUSA, provides for printed
circuits. For the purposes of this heading these devices are
"circuits obtained by forming on an insulating base, by any
printing process (for example, embossing, plating-up, etching) or
by the 'film circuit' technique, conductor elements, contacts or
other printed components (for example, inductances, resistors,
capacitors ['passive' elements]) alone or interconnected
according to a pre-established pattern, other than elements which
can produce, rectify, modulate or amplify an electrical signal
(for example, semiconductor elements)." Chapter 85, note 4. See
also Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Notes (ENs) 85.34, p. 1386 (1991). The subject
resistor network satisfies this description. It is a ceramic
circuit substrate with printed conductors, and resistors that
forms a network which was applied by a printing process.
Accordingly, the subject resistor networks are properly
classifiable within this subheading.
This conclusion is also supported by the Explanatory Notes
to heading 85.34. They state that this heading also covers thin-
or thick-film circuits consisting solely of passive elements.
ENs 85.34. The subject resistor network satisfies this
description. It is a thick or thin-film circuit consisting
solely of resistors (i.e., passive elements). While the
Explanatory Notes are not dispositive, they provide a commentary
on the scope of each heading and offer guidance for
interpretation of the HTSUSA. H. Conf. Rep. No. 576, 100th
Cong., 2d Sess., p. 549, reprinted in 1988 U.S. CODE CONG. &
ADMIN. NEWS p. 1582. We find the above note instructive for
determining that the subject resistor network is classifiable as
a printed circuit.
This conclusion is additionally supported by the common and
commercial meaning of the term "printed circuit". Resistor
networks are described as types of both thick-film and thin-film
printed circuits. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and
Technology, vol. 14, p. 272 (1987). This language lends further
support for the classification of the subject resistor network as
a printed circuit.
Heading 8533, HTSUSA, provides for electrical resistors.
These are described as conductors whose function is to provide a
given electrical resistance in a circuit (e.g., to limit the
current flowing). ENs 85.33, p. 1385 (1991). They vary greatly
in size and shape, and in the materials of which they are made.
They may be made of metals (in the form of bars, shapes or wire,
often coiled in bobbins) or of carbon in the form of rods, or of
carbon, silicon carbide, metal or metal oxide film. Certain
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resistors may be fitted with a number of terminals allowing the
whole or part to be included in the circuit. The subject article
is a resistor network made by a printing process described in
Chapter 85, note 4. The above ENs do not describe these types of
articles as electrical resistors. We find this instructive for
determining that resistor networks made by a printing process are
not classifiable within heading 8533, HTSUSA.
This conclusion is also supported by the common and
commercial meaning of the term "resistor". McGraw-Hill
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, vol. 15, p. 380-81
(1987). No reference is made to resistor networks produced by a
printing process as a type of resistor. This language lends
additional support for the preclusion of the subject resistor
network from classification within heading 8533, HTSUSA.
HOLDING:
The subject resistor network is properly classifiable within
subheading 8534.00.00, HTSUSA, which provides for printed
circuits. Pre-Entry Classification PC 849595 is affirmed.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division