CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H218085
Port Director, Pembina Service Port
US Customs and Border Protection
112 W. Stutsman Street
Pembina, ND 58271-4102
ATTN: Cindy Clinton-Lofberg, Import Specialist
Re: Protest/Application for Further Review No. 3401-12-100022; Classification of a Control Electronics Panel
Dear Port Director:
This is in response to the Application for Further Review of Protest 3401-12-100022, dated March 13, 2012, filed by Global Trade Compliance on behalf of Kidde Technologies, Inc. (“Protestant”), in response to your classification of a Control Electronics Panel under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. We have also considered arguments presented by teleconference with a member of my staff on October 26, 2015.
FACTS:
The item at issue is referred to as a Control Electronics Panel (“CEP”). It is described as the “brains behind a land vehicle’s fire detection and extinguishing system.” The CEP is installed in the driver panel of a land vehicle. It is composed of three electronic wiring boards inside of a main housing, two toggle switches, three push button switches and light emitting diode (“LED”) indicator lights. It is designed to connect to a series of fire sensors and corresponding fire extinguishers through various cable harnesses to create the vehicle’s automatic fire extinguishing system (“AFES”). Once connected, the CEP can automatically trigger the fire extinguishers, and the two toggle switches allow the vehicle’s crew to manually activate the fire extinguishers. The LED indicator lights provide visual indicators to the driver of the vehicle as to the status of the vehicle’s power, fire system output signals and fire extinguishers. Protestant contends that the CEP is classified under subheading 8531.10.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2010, 2011) (“HTSUS”), which provides for “Electric sound or visual signaling apparatus (for example, bells, sirens, indicator panels, burglar or fire alarms), other than those of heading 8512 or 8530; parts thereof: Burglar or fire alarms and similar apparatus: Other.” You contend that the item is classified under subheading 8537.10.90, HTSUS (2010, 2011), which provides for “Boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases, equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536, for electric control or the distribution of electricity, including those incorporating instruments or apparatus of chapter 90, and numerical control apparatus, other than switching apparatus of heading 8517: For a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V: Other.” The entries at issue in this protest were liquidated on November 25, 2011, and December 2, 2011, and the protest was filed on March 13, 2012, which is within 180 days of the dates of liquidation. The protest thus meets the timely filing requirements of 19 U.S.C. §1514(c)(3), and the Application for Further Review was properly accorded.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. In addition, in interpreting the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (ENs) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System may be utilized. The ENs, although not dispositive or legally binding, provide a commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. See T.D. 89 80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).
The HTSUS (2010, 2011) provisions under consideration in this case are as follows:
8531 Electric sound or visual signaling apparatus (for example, bells,
sirens, indicator panels, burglar or fire alarms), other than those of
heading 8512 or 8530; parts thereof:
8531.10.00 Burglar or fire alarms and similar apparatus:
Other:
* * *
8537 Boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases, equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536, for electric control or the distribution of electricity, including those incorporating instruments or apparatus of chapter 90, and numerical control apparatus, other than switching apparatus of heading 8517:
8537.10 For a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V:
* * *
8537.10.90 Other:
* * * *
EN 85.31 explains that, with some exceptions, heading 8531, HTSUS, “covers all electrical apparatus used for signaling purposes, whether using sound for the transmission of the signal (bells, buzzers, hooters, etc.) or using visual indication (lamps, flaps, illuminated numbers, etc.), and whether operated by hand (e.g., door bells) or automatically (e.g., burglar alarms).” Some examples given are electric bells, door chimes, electrical signaling apparatus for vehicles, burglar alarms, and fire alarms. However, the presence of an LED display does not in and of itself qualify the CEP as an article of heading 8531, HTSUS.
Protestant identifies certain rulings issued by CBP in support of its position – HQ 071612, dated July 25, 1985; HQ 088595, dated September 12, 1991; HQ 951797, dated August 17, 1992; HQ 957697, dated June 21, 1995; and HQ H071900, dated December 29, 2010. In HQ 957697 (modified by HQ 559391, dated August 18, 1995, for reasons related to the applicability of certain country of origin marking requirements), the merchandise was an unassembled residential burglar/fire alarm system consisting of several components. The components worked together to control and power such a system. The system was classified in subheading 8531.10.00, HTSUS, which covers burglar or fire alarms, and similar apparatus.
In HQ 088595, the electronic burglar alarm control panels under consideration consisted of a remote keypad and a control unit. The remote keypad unit consisted of a case containing the keypad buttons, a built-in sounder, and a multi-functional LED indicator panel. The control unit consisted of a metal cabinet housing a printed circuit board, fuses, EEPROM memory, and the power supply for the system. The circuit board contained (1) a built-in digital communicator which connects to a telephone line and transmits alarm signals and system status information to a remote monitoring station; (2) the system circuitry which operates the internal timers, accepts input from the keypad and other remote sensors, and stores the programming information for controlling the signaling mechanisms in the keypad, the digital communicator, and other remote warning devices; and (3) circuitry for operating a siren or bell. The item was classified in subheading 8531.10.00, HTSUS, as well.
In HQ 951797, the merchandise consisted of an incomplete automotive burglar alarm (printed circuit board with microcomputer chips, diodes, capacitors, relays, transistors, and amplifiers). After importation, the following components were to be added: wiring, a switch, terminals, an instruction sheet, and packaging. The system triggered an alarm by sensing a change in the electrical current usage from the battery, which would be caused by opening a door and triggering the dome light, starting the car, or turning on the radio. The merchandise was also classified in subheading 8531.10.00, HTSUS.
HQ H071900 an item described as a “siren amplifier board” consisted of a printed circuit board assembly that is a part of the SoundBlaster High Power Speaker Station (“SoundBlaster”). The item included an amplifier, “an embedded modem, an analog to digital converter, a serial port interface, as well as a wireless and hardwired communication interface,” and a sine wave tone generator. According to the Soundblaster’s user manual, the item’s microprocessor interfaces with a wireless radio (not included) used “to send and receive wireless messages to and from the [siren’s] Central Control Unit [ ] (CCU). The board will perform specific activations dependent upon the wireless messages sent by the CCU in addition to responding to other types of service messages.” The item only produced a sound when it was inside of the siren, attached to the message board, and receiving commands from the CCU through the wireless radio. The item was classified in subheading 8531.90.30, which covers “Electric sound . . . signaling apparatus . . . ; parts thereof: Parts: Printed circuit assemblies: Other.”
First, HQ 957697 has no precedential value here because that ruling addresses the country of origin of the merchandise and the applicability of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), noting that “[i]t is assumed only for purposes of this issues in [the] ruling that the cited HTSUS classifications for the above components are correct.” Additionally, Protestant mischaracterizes the reason for CBP not classifying the siren amplifier board of HQ H071900 under 8537, HTSUS. Protestant states that the siren amplifier board “was more than an ‘apparatus for electric control or the distribution of electricity … In addition to controlling or distributing electricity, the board has amplification abilities.’” HQ H071900 actually states that the item was “not just an apparatus for electric control or the distribution of electricity.” Notwithstanding the misquote, the proper interpretation of H071900 is that the siren amplifier board fit squarely within the terms of 8531, HTSUS, because its “amplification abilities” pertain to its electric sound and signaling functions, which are precisely the functions covered by heading 8531, HTSUS. The ruling also notes that the item was also not “equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536,” as required by the text of heading 8537, HTSUS. Regardless, in each of the rulings cited by Protestant (with the exception of HQ 071612), the considered items were designed to act as signaling apparatus, or were parts thereof, and squarely met the terms of heading 8531, HTSUS, not those of heading 8537.
In HQ 071612, CBP classified four models of printed circuit boards “contain[ing] all the circuitry and connectors needed to automatically run an alarm system” and several indicator lights that were “ordinarily lit when the burglar alarm systems . . . [were] activated” under subheading 685.70 of the Tariff Schedule of the United States (TSUS), the predecessor to heading 8531, HTSUS. One of the models had a built-in siren. The merchandise was entered without remote sensors, bells, and sirens. CBP determined that the devices were “‘more than’ indicator panels or other visual signaling apparatus” because the lights were not designed to “alert persons to the presence of a potential hazard, and activate or function in temporary or abnormal situations only” and “the devices perform[ed] other significant functions which [were] at least of equal, if not greater, importance in comparison with the function performed by the lights.”
The CEP at issue here signals that a fire is present by way of its LED display (and also signals the status of the vehicle’s power system and fire system output signals). However, those capabilities are intermediate steps that inherently tied to the ultimate function of controlling fire extinguishers. If a fire is detected, the CEP’s LED display takes the intermediate step of illuminating to signal the presence of the fire and the CEP ultimately triggers automatic fire extinguishers, or allows the vehicle’s operator to manually trigger fire extinguishers. Indeed, EN 85.31 provides that heading 8531, HTSUS, does not include switches and switch-panels, whether or not incorporating simple indicating lights (headings 8536 or 8537). Thus, we find that the CEP is not within the scope of heading 8531, HTSUS.
Heading 8537, HTSUS, provides, in relevant part, for boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases, equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536, for electric control or the distribution of electricity, including those incorporating instruments or apparatus of chapter 90, HTS. As EN 85.37 explains, articles of heading 8537, HTS, vary from “vary from small switchboards with only a few switches, fuses, etc. (e.g., for lighting installations) to complex control panels for machine-tools, rolling mills, power stations, radio stations, etc., including assemblies of several of the articles cited in the text of this heading.” Regardless of Protestant’s assertion that the CEP is the “brains behind a land vehicle’s fire detection and extinguishing system,” the evidence before us speaks to the actual capabilities of the CEP and that evidence shows that the CEP possesses switches that ultimately provide for the electric control or distribution of electricity to apparatus designed to distinguish fires. We therefore find that the CEP is a good of heading 8537, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, the CEP is classifiable under subheading 8537.10.90, HTSUS (2010, 2011), which provides for “Boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases, equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 8535 or 8536, for electric control or the distribution of electricity, including those incorporating instruments or apparatus of chapter 90, and numerical control apparatus, other than switching apparatus of heading 8517: For a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V: Other: Other.” The corresponding 2010 and 2011 rates of duty for articles of this subheading were 2.7 % ad valorem.
You are instructed to DENY the protest. In accordance with Sections IV and VI of the CBP Protest/Petition Processing Handbook (HB 3500-08A, December 2007, pp. 24 and 26), you are to mail this decision, together with the CBP Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision.
Sixty days from the date of the decision, the Office International Trade, Regulations and Rulings, will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public on the CBP website located at www.cbp.gov by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Joanne Roman Stump
Acting Director, Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division