CLA 2 RR:CR:GC 962144 AML
Erik D. Smithweiss, Esquire
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz & Silverman, LLP
245 Park Avenue
33rd Floor
New York, New York 10167-3397
RE: Keyboard storage drawer
Dear Mr. Smithweiss:
In a letter to the Customs National Commodity Specialist Division, New York, dated August 10, 1998, on behalf of Staples, Inc., you request reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (NY) 886420, dated May 27, 1993, concerning the classification of a keyboard storage drawer under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Your request has been forwarded to this office for reply, and a sample was submitted for our review. In preparing this decision, consideration was also given to arguments you presented in a meeting held on December 16, 1998.
Pursuant to section 625(c)(1), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1625(c)(1)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2186), notice of the proposed revocation of NY 886420 was published on March 3, 1999, in the CUSTOMS BULLETIN, Volume 33, Number 8/9. No comments were received in response to this notice.
FACTS:
The subject article is a keyboard storage drawer that is designed for use with automatic data processing machines. It measures 15 and 1/2 inches deep, 22 inches wide and 3 and 3/4 inches high, and is comprised of a rectangular, metal housing which encloses a plastic drawer. The plastic drawer, which measures 9 and 7/8 inches deep, 20 and 3/4 inches wide and 3 and 1/4 inches high, is molded to hold a computer keyboard. The article is composed of 83% metal and 17% plastic by value, and is designed to enhance the use of and house the keyboard by means of the drawer, which is extended while in use and retracted within the housing when not in use. The sturdy metal housing acts as a stand for the monitor of the computer.
ISSUE:
Whether the keyboard storage drawer is properly classifiable within subheading 8304.00.00, HTSUS, which provides for desk top filing or card index cabinets . . . and similar office or desk equipment . . . of base metal, other than office furniture of heading 9403; 8473.30.50, HTSUS, which provides for other parts and accessories suitable for use solely or principally with the machines of heading 8471, not incorporating a CRT; or 9403.10.00, HTSUS, which provides for other furniture of metal of a kind used in offices.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of imported merchandise is accomplished pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Classification under the HTSUS is guided by the General Rules of Interpretation of the Harmonized System (GRI's). GRI 1, HTSUS, 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 applicable subheadings under consideration are as follows:
8304.00.00 Desk top filing or card index cabinets, paper
trays, paper rests, pen trays, office stamp
stands and similar office or desk equipment
and parts thereof, of base metal, other than
office furniture of heading 9403.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
8473 Parts and accessories (other than covers,
carrying cases and the like) suitable for use
solely or principally with machines of headings
8469 to 8472:
8473.30 Parts and accessories of the machines of
heading 8471:
Not incorporating a cathode ray tube:
8473.30.50 Other.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
9403 Other furniture and parts thereof:
9403.10.00 Metal furniture of a kind used in offices.
When interpreting and implementing the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (EN’s) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System may be utilized. The EN’s, while neither legally binding nor dispositive, provide a guiding commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See, T.D. 89-90, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
Classification of the subject article within subheading 9403.10.00 has been suggested. We address this heading first because, if the article is described in this heading, classification in either of the other headings is precluded by the specific exclusion of office furniture of heading 9403 enumerated in heading 8304, and EN 84.73. Heading 9403, HTSUS, provides for other furniture and parts thereof. Chapter 94, Note 2 provides that in order to be classified within this heading, an article must be designed for placing on the floor or ground, unless the articles are “[c]upboards, bookcases or other shelved furniture and unit furniture” or “[s]eats and beds” which are “designed to be hung, to be fixed to the wall or to stand one on the other.” The subject article does not satisfy this requirement; it is designed to be placed onto a desk. Nor does it fall within the exception, i.e., it is not designed to “be hung, to be fixed to the wall or to stand one on the other.” Accordingly, classification in heading 9403, HTSUS, is precluded.
EN 83.04, p. 1215 states:
The heading covers filing cabinets, card index cabinets, sorting boxes and similar office equipment used for the storage, filing or sorting of correspondence, index cards or other papers, provided the equipment is not designed to stand on the floor or is not otherwise covered by Note 2 to Chapter 94 (heading 94.03) (see the General Explanatory Note to Chapter 94). The heading also includes paper trays for sorting documents, paper rests for typists, desk racks and shelving, and desk equipment (such as bookends, paperweights, inkstands and ink pots, pen trays, office stamp stands and blotters).
In HQ 089415, dated November 7, 1991, Customs classified a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Valet within subheading 8473.30.40, HTSUS, which provided “for parts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471 which do not incorporate a CRT.” In that ruling, consideration was given to classification of the CRT Valet in subheading 8304, HTSUS, which provided for "[d]esk top filing or card index cabinets . . . and similar office or desk equipment . . . of base metal, other than furniture of heading 9403." In that ruling we interpreted the scope of subheading 8304.00.00, HTSUS, vis-a-vis the rule of statutory construction, ejusdem generis, as follows:
[t]he Court of International Trade (CIT) has stated that the canon of construction ejusdem generis, which means literally, of the same class or kind, teaches that “where particular words of description are followed by general terms, the latter will be regarded as referring to things of a like class with those particularly described.” Nissho Iwai American Corp. v. United States (Nissho), 10 CIT 154, 156 (1986). Heading 8304, HTSUS, consists of particular words (i.e., paper trays, paper rests etc.) followed by general terms (i.e., similar office or desk equipment). Therefore, this heading requires an ejusdem generis method of construction.
The CIT further stated that “[a]s applicable to Customs classification cases, ejusdem generis requires that the imported merchandise possess the essential characteristics or purposes that unite the articles enumerated eo nomine in order to be classified under the general terms.” Nissho, p. 157. The subject CRT valets are not ejusdem generis with the articles described within heading 8304, HTSUS. They are not equipment used to hold or store similar desk or office articles (i.e., index cards, files, paper, pens etc.). The valets are more accurately described as stands for the machines of heading 8471, HTSUSA. Accordingly, the subject valets do not satisfy the terms of heading 8304, HTSUSA, and are not, therefore, properly classifiable therein.
The rule of statutory construction ejusdem generis has been further explained in the treatise Customs Law and Administration as follows:
[a]nother rule of statutory construction is that of ejusdem generis, the substance of which is that where particular words of description are followed by general terms, the latter will be regarded as referring to things of like class with those particularly described. It is invoked as an aid to statutory construction and is applicable when doubt arises as to whether a given article is to be placed in a class of which some individual objects are named. United States v. Damrak Trading Co., Inc., 43 CCPA 77, 79, C.A.D. 611 (1956) (citations omitted); Merck and Co. (Inc.) v. United States, 19 CCPA 16, 18, T.D. 44852 (1931), (citations omitted). It may not be resorted to where there is no doubt as to the meaning of a term. John V. Carr & Son v. United States, 77 Cust. Ct. 103, C.D. 4679 (1976).
* * *
The rule may not be invoked to narrow, limit or circumscribe an enactment and is never applied if the intention of the legislature can be ascertained without resort thereto. Sandoz Chemical Works, Inc. v. United States, 50 CCPA 31, 35, C.A.D. 815 (1963). Sturm, Ruth; Customs Law & Administration, 3rd Edition, section 51.10, p. 67.
The subject article is designed specifically to house a computer keyboard. Although the drawer itself is manufactured with compartments intended to hold pens and paper clips, its fundamental design feature is the drawer manufactured with an impression designed to hold the keyboard and act as a stand for the computer monitor. This design feature keeps both in close proximity of each other as they are normally used with the computer. Further, by virtue of the compartment manufactured specifically to house and stabilize the keyboard, the product cannot be deemed to be a paper organizer or desk top holder of papers or supplies as contemplated by heading 8304, HTSUS. Accordingly, classification in heading 8304, HTSUS, is precluded.
EN 84.73 at pp. 1411 and 1412, states in pertinent part:
Subject to the general provisions regarding the classification of parts (see the General Explanatory Note to Section XVI), this heading covers parts and accessories suitable for use solely or principally with the machines of headings 84.69 to 84.72.
The accessories covered by this heading are interchangeable parts or devices designed to adapt a machine for a particular operation, or to perform a particular service relative to the main function of the machine, or to increase its range of operations.
* * * * * * * * * * *
But the heading excludes covers, carrying cases and felt pads; these are classified in their appropriate headings. It also excludes articles of furniture (e.g., cupboards and tables) whether or not specially designed for office use (heading 94.03). However, stands for machines of headings 84.69 to 84.72 not normally usable except with the machines in question, remain in this heading.
We note that the HTSUS does not contain a specific, uniform definition for the term “accessory.” EN 84.73, above, defines “accessories” as “interchangeable parts or devices designed to adapt a machine for a particular operation, or to perform a particular service relative to the main function of the machine, or to increase its range of operations.”
In Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 087704, dated September 27, 1990, we noted the absence of a definition of the term “accessory.” We reached the following conclusion as to the meaning of the term “accessory” which we believe may be properly used as guidance in this instance:
An accessory is generally an article which is not necessary to enable the goods with which it is used to fulfill their intended function. An accessory must be identifiable as being intended solely or principally for use with a specific article. Accessories are of secondary or subordinate importance, not essential in and of themselves. They must, however, somehow contribute to the effectiveness of the principal article (e.g., facilitate the use or handling of the principal article, widen the range of its uses, or improve its operations.)
The article houses a keyboard in a drawer which is molded to snugly house and stabilize the keyboard. The article also protects the keyboard when not in use, by shielding the keyboard within the metal housing. The metal housing is capable of acting as a stand for the ADP monitor, further confirming that the intended and practical uses of the article are as a storage drawer for a computer keyboard. Thus, in several ways the keyboard storage drawer is “designed to adapt a machine for a particular operation, or to perform a particular service relative to the main function of the machine, or to increase its range of operations.” The keyboard storage drawer is classified in heading 8473, HTSUS.
This decision comports with HQ 089415, dated November 7, 1991, which classified a CRT Valet pursuant to subheading 8473.30.40, HTSUS, 1991. The similarity with the instant matter is that the CRT Valet enhances the use and operation of the ADP monitor by enabling the user to reposition the monitor while the computer is in use, thereby enhancing the use and function of the computer. The keyboard storage drawer performs a similar function; it houses the keyboard when the computer is or is not in use, and may serve as a stand for the monitor, thereby enhancing the use and function of the computer.
HOLDING:
The subject keyboard storage drawer is properly classifiable within subheading 8473.30.50, HTSUS, which provides for, inter alia, other parts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with computers.
By HQ 962730 of this date, NY 886420 was revoked.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division