CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 953263 CMS
District Director of Customs
555 Battery St.
P.O. Box 2450
San Francisco, CA 94126
RE: PRD 2809-92-101231; Pen Plotter Heads; Computer Aided Design;
Drafting; Drawing Instrument; Automatic Data Processing Machine
Output Unit; 9017.10.00; 9017.20.80
Dear District Director:
The following is our decision regarding the request for
further review of Protest No. 2809-92-101231, concerning your
action in classifying and assessing duty on certain plotter heads
under the Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States (HTSUS).
FACTS:
The merchandise is described in the protest as plotter heads
which are parts of drafting machines of heading 9017, HTSUS. The
machines with which the plotter heads are used are pen plotters
which draw color plots on "A" to "E" size paper, up to 31 feet in
length. The plotters work in conjunction with computer systems.
The product literature states that the systems are designed for
"geophysical mapping, oil and seismic; IC [integrated circuit]
design; and mechanical and electrical CAD [computer aided design]."
The entries were liquidated on May 8, 1992, under subheading
9017.90.00, which provides for parts and accessories of the
instruments of heading 9017. The protest was timely filed on
July 15, 1992.
The protestant agrees that the merchandise is classified under
subheading 9017.90.00, but argues that the applicable duty rate is
different from the rate under which the merchandise was liquidated.
The duty rate for the parts and accessories of subheading
9017.90.00 is the "rate applicable to the article of which it is
a part or accessory". The plotter heads were liquidated as parts
and accessories of other drawing instruments of subheading
9017.20.80, HTSUS. The protestant argues that plotter heads are
parts and accessories of drafting machines of subheading
9017.10.00, HTSUS.
The subheadings for the instruments of which the plotter heads
may be parts and accessories are as follows:
9017.10.00: Drawing...instruments (for example, drafting
machines...: Drafting...machines.
Parts and accessories of goods classifiable under this
provision are subject to a Column 1 General rate of duty of 4.9%,
ad valorem.
9017.20.80: Drawing...instruments (for example, drafting
machines...: ...Other drawing...instruments.
Parts and accessories of goods classifiable under this
provision are subject to a Column 1 General rate of duty of 5.8%,
ad valorem.
ISSUE:
Is the merchandise classified as parts and accessories of
drafting machines of subheading 9017.10.00, HTSUS, or as parts and
accessories of other drawing instruments of subheading 9017.20.80,
HTSUS?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The HTSUS provides that the classification of articles is
governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1
states in pertinent part that "...classification shall be
determined according to the terms of the headings and any
relative section or chapter notes..."
The classification and resulting duty rate of the products
under consideration is dependent on the classification of the goods
of which the products are parts and accessories.
It is not disputed that the pen plotters with which the
products under consideration are used are classified in heading
9017, HTSUS. Heading 9017 encompasses drawing instruments of the
type used in CAD and for other high precision applications.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Notes to heading 9017, paragraph (A)(2), provide
guidance on what products are intended to be classified in heading
9017 as "drafting machines". The pen plotters with which the
plotter heads are used, however, are not the type of drafting
machines such as those described in the Explanatory Notes. The
Explanatory Notes describe drafting machines, generally using a
system of parallelograms, which can be used in the actual designing
of an image.
Unlike drafting machines which can be used in the actual
designing of an image, the plotter heads under consideration are
for pen plotters that draw a hard copy of an image which has
already been created or designed on other CAD workstation
components.
In the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Compendium of Classification Opinions, No. 9017.10 (1), a CAD
system which included an automatic data processing machine, an
interactive design console on which drawings are drafted, and a
digitizer/plotter, were classified in subheading 9017.10, HTS.
In the instant protest, however, no interactive design console or
similar apparatus for such drafting of drawings is entered with the
plotter heads.
What is entered in the instant protest is not a type of CAD
drafting system or similar apparatus, but plotter heads for pen
plotters. The merchandise is not described as parts and
accessories of drafting machines of subheading 9017.10.00, HTSUS,
but is classified as parts and accessories of other drawing
instruments of subheading 9017.20.80, HTSUS.
Parts and accessories of such instruments are classified in
subheading 9017.90.00, HTSUS, subject to a duty rate of 5.8%, ad
valorem, which is the rate applicable to the subheading 9017.20.80
other drawing instruments of which the plotter heads are parts and
accessories.
HOLDING:
For the foregoing reasons, we find that the merchandise is
classified as parts and accessories of other drawing instruments
under subheading 9017.90.00, HTSUS, subject to a duty rate of
5.8%, ad valorem, which is the rate applicable to the subheading
9017.20.80 other drawing instruments of which the plotter heads are
parts and accessories.
The protest should be denied in full. A copy of this decision
should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and provided to the
protestant as part of the notice of action on the protest.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division