CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 955510 RFA
Mr. Joseph S. Kaplan
Ross & Hardies
Park Avenue Tower
65 East 55th Street
New York, NY 10022-3219
RE: Global Positioning System Cards ["GPSCards"]; Navigational
Aid System; Satellites; Personal Computer Control or Adapter
Units; Section XVI, Legal Note 5; Heading 8471; EN 85.26
Dear Mr. Kaplan:
This is in response to your letter dated June 9, 1993, to
the Area Director of Customs in New York, on behalf of NovAtel
Communications, Ltd., concerning the tariff classification of the
Global Positioning System Cards ("GPSCard") under the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). In preparing this
ruling, we also considered arguments provided in our meeting on
February 15, 1994, and the information provided with your letter
of March 9, 1994.
FACTS:
The Global Positioning System [GPS] allows a user to know
the exact location of an object on the earth's surface (i.e., a
truck, automobile, or ship) using the information provided by the
NAVSTAR [NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging] satellites. In
its final constellation, the system will consist of 21
operational NAVSTAR satellites and 3 active spares to provide the
user with a 6 to 10 satellite coverage at all times. A minimum
of 4 satellites in view allows the GPSCard to compute its current
latitude, longitude, altitude with reference to mean sea level
and the system time.
The GPS satellite signal identifies the particular satellite
by providing the positioning, timing, ranging data, satellite
status and the corrected ephemerides (orbit parameters) of the
satellite to the users. The GPS satellite transmits on two L-band frequencies centered on 1575.42 MHz (L1) and 1227.60 MHz
(L2). The L1 carrier has a sequence superimposed on the carrier
frequency by modulations in the forms of codes: a Precision (P)
code; and a Coarse/Acquisition (C/A) code. The GPSCard has the
capability to receive the L1 carrier and the C/A code.
The subject merchandise is the Global Positioning System
Cards [GPSCard], which is designed for use in a personal computer
(PC). The GPSCard is an L1 frequency, Coarse/Acquisition (C/A)
code receiver. It uses a personal computer to control the
receiver and provide solutions. The data output by the receiver
include satellite code and carrier phase data using standard
serial interfaces. It is the end-user portion of the GPS.
ISSUE:
Is the GPSCard classifiable as radio navigational aid
apparatus or as an adapter unit of an automatic data processing
machine under the HTSUS?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's),
taken in order. GRI 1 provides that classification shall be
determined according to the terms of the headings and any
relative section or chapter notes.
According to the literature provided, the GPSCard receives
radio signals from the satellite system to calculate its current
latitude, longitude, altitude with reference to mean sea level
and the system time. This information can be used for air,
marine, and land navigation, as well as for surveying. Radio
navigational apparatus are prima facie classifiable under
subheading 8526.91.00, HTSUS, which provides for: "Radar
apparatus, radio navigational aid apparatus and radio remote
control apparatus: [o]ther: [r]adio navigational aid apparatus
. . . "
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Notes (EN) constitute the Customs Cooperation
Council's official interpretation of the HTSUS. While not
legally binding, the ENs 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. 89-80, 54
Fed.Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). EN 85.26(1), page
1375, states as follows:
This heading includes: [r]adio navigational aid
equipment (e.g., radio beacons and radio buoys, with
fixed or rotating aerials; receivers, including radio
compasses equipped with multiple aerials or with a
directional frame aerial).
Customs recognizes that the GPSCard is not specifically
listed in EN 85.26(1) as an example of radio navigational aid
equipment. However, we note that: "[i]t must also be remembered
that the tariff statutes were enacted 'not only for the present
but also for the future, thereby embracing articles produced by
technologies which may not have been employed or know to commerce
at the time of the enactment * * *.'" Nec America, Inc. v. United
States, 8 CIT 184, 186(1984), citing Corporacion Sublistatica,
S.A. v. United States, 1 CIT 120, 126, 511 F.Supp. 805, 809
(1981); See also Davis Turner & Co. v. United States, 45 CCPA 39,
41, C.A.D. 669 (1957). Furthermore, this list is not intended to
be exclusive.
Customs finds that the GPSCard is a technological
improvement in the area of radio navigational equipment and is
therefore classifiable under subheading 8526.91.00, HTSUS. See
Simmon Omega, Inc. v. United States, 83 Cust.Ct. 14, C.D. 4815
(1979), and Trans-Atlantic Co. v. United States, 471 F.2d 1397,
60 CCPA 100, C.A.D. 1088 (1973), in which the courts have held
that technological advancements and "improvement in the design of
an article does not militate against its continuing to be a form
of the named articles."
You contend that the GPSCard is classifiable under
subheading 8471.99.15, HTSUS, as control or adapter units,
because it serves the function of processing external signals,
enabling them to be understood by a personal computer. To be
classified under heading 8471, HTSUS, the merchandise must meet
the requirements of Chapter 84, Legal Note 5, which states in
pertinent part:
Heading 8471 does not cover machines incorporating or
working in conjunction with an automatic data
processing machine and performing a specific function.
Such machines are classified in the headings
appropriate to their respective functions, or, failing
that, in residual headings.
The GPSCard is dedicated to performing the specific function
of a radio navigational device. Based upon Chapter 84, Legal
Note 5, we find that the subject merchandise is precluded from
classification under heading 8471, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The GPSCards are classifiable under subheading 8526.91.00,
HTSUS, which provides for: "Radar apparatus, radio navigational
aid apparatus and radio remote control apparatus: [o]ther:
[r]adio navigational aid apparatus . . . " The general, column
one rate of duty is 4.9 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division