CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 952885 MBR
Mr. Jack Flynn
Rudolph Miles & Sons
4950 Gateway East
P.O. Box 11057
El Paso, Texas 79942
RE: Control System Digital Input/Output (I/O) Modules; Parts Of
A Control System; Parts Suitable For Use Solely or Principally
With The Apparatus Of Heading 8535, 8536 or 8537
Dear Mr. Flynn:
This is in reply to your letter of October 5, 1992, on behalf
of the Crouzet Corporation (formerly Gordos Arkansas, Inc.), to the
Area Director of Customs in New York Seaport, requesting
classification of control system digital Input/Output Modules,
under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
Your letter was referred to this office for response.
FACTS:
Digital Input/Output ("I/O") modules are solid state devices
which relay on and off electrical signals to and from a computer.
Input modules relay either AC or DC voltage converted to a DC logic
signal, depending upon the type of module, to a computer or "dumb"
system. Output modules work in the opposite direction, switching
either AC or DC circuits on or off in response to logic level
voltage commands from a computer or "dumb system."
You have submitted two samples described as models "PB-4" and
"PB-32Q." PB-4 has four I/O modules assembled on a printed circuit
board. Each module has an LED to indicate module status. PB-32Q
is a printed circuit board with connectors and circuit patterns.
Both articles are designed for use as I/O boards for programmable
logic controllers (PLCs) principally used in industrial process
control equipment.
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ISSUE:
What is the classification of I/O boards for industrial
process control equipment, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (HTSUS)?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) to the HTSUS
govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule. GRI 1
states, in pertinent part:
...classification shall be determined according to the terms
of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes...
In HQ 952101, dated September 29, 1992, we issued a decision
to you regarding similar digital I/O modules for the same
manufacturer. Information obtained by my staff from the Crouzet
Corporation, indicates that these digital I/O modules are used
almost exclusively in "industrial control systems," that they
control the flow of electricity, and that they are analogous to
relays. They are controlled either by an intelligent control
system (computer) or a "dumb" system (such as indication whether
a door is open or closed).
You argue that the section XVI Harmonized Commodity
Description System Explanatory Notes (ENs) to chapter 84, p. 1298,
"appear to correctly describe the input/output units of which the
input/output modules are an integral part [in chapter 84]."
However, the ENs are in fact describing input units for ADP
machines such as keyboards, and output units such as ADP display
CRTs and printers.
The digital I/O modules are parts of industrial control
systems, and as such are not "specifically designed as part of such
a [ADP] system," as required by chapter 84, Legal Note 5(B)(b),
HTSUS. See HQ 952101, dated September 29, 1992, and HQ 950126,
dated November 15, 1991, for similar holdings regarding similar
merchandise.
HOLDING:
The "PB-4" and "PB-32Q" digital Input/Output modules and PCBs
are parts of a control system, classifiable in subheading
8538.90.00, HTSUS, which provides for: "[p]arts suitable for use
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solely or principally with the apparatus of heading 8535, 8536 or
8537: [o]ther."
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director