CLA-2-90:OT:RR:NC:N4:405
Mr. Gene Carleton
Performance Bicycles 144 Old Lystra Road Chapel Hill, NC 27517
RE: The tariff classification of bicycle related items from China.
Dear Mr. Carleton:
In your letter dated October 11, 2010, you requested a tariff classification ruling. No sample was submitted.
The merchandise at issue is a collection of three bicycle related items which you indicate will be packaged together as a set for retail sale prior to importation. The set consists of a flashing Cat Eye EL120 headlight, a flashing Cat Eye LD170 taillight, and a Cat Eye Vectra Wireless bicycle computer. The Cat Eye EL120 is a white LED headlight powered by two AA batteries. It is capable of emitting continuous light or flashing light, depending on the user’s preference. The headlight comes with a specially designed strap mount to affix the light to a bicycle’s handlebars. The Cat Eye LD170 is a taillight that consists of three LEDs. Like the EL120, it is powered by two AA batteries and has a special strap to affix it to a bicycle. You indicate in your submission that the LD170 is also capable of flashing.
The Cat Eye Vectra Wireless is an electronic device you describe as a bicycle computer. The Vectra Wireless is designed to be affixed to the bicycle’s handlebars and can perform several functions. The Vectra Wireless can determine a rider’s current speed, maximum speed, trip distance, total distance (as in an odometer), and it shows this information on an LCD display on the face of the device. The device also contains a clock and can display the time of day. Per the information found in the Vectra Wireless’s manual, the device determines a rider’s speed and distance traveled by means of a sensor placed on the front fork of a bicycle. A small magnet is placed on a spoke of the front wheel and the sensor can read each revolution of the wheel when the magnet passes it. The user will then manually enter the circumference of the wheel into the Vectra Wireless, allowing it to accurately determine and display the rider’s speed and distance (in miles or kilometers, depending on the user’s preference). In this respect, the Vectra Wireless is similar to the cycling computer described in New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) N059219, dated May 14, 2009.
Like the cycling computer in NYRL N059219, the Vectra Wireless devotes the majority of its display to the user’s current speed. Fully 2/3rds of the LCD display is dedicated to the current speed. The other functions, such as maximum speed, distance traveled, etc. are displayed individually on the bottom third of the display (only one can be shown at the time, a user cycles through those options by pressing a button on the device). Consequently, HTSUS Heading 9029, which describes both speedometers and odometers, provides the essential character of the Vectra Wireless. Within Heading 9029, the speedometer function is, at minimum, described by the later subheading which equally merits consideration in providing its essential character.
In certain importations, the Cat Eye headlight, taillight, and bicycle computer will be packaged together for retail sale prior to importation. We see that each is routinely sold separately on the internet. Moreover, each works completely independently of each other and, unlike, the bicycle computer, the lights are intended for use only when it is dark out. We do not consider the combination of the three to “meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity” as required by the Harmonized System Explanatory Note regarding General Rule of Interpretation 3-b.
The applicable subheading for the headlight will be 8512.10.2000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for Electrical lighting . . . for cycles . . . . The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the taillight will be 8512.10.4000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for Electrical lighting or signaling equipment (excluding articles of heading 8539), windshield wipers, defrosters and demisters, of a kind used on cycles or motor vehicles; parts thereof: Lighting or visual signaling equipment of a kind used on bicycles: visual signaling equipment. The rate of duty will be 2.7% ad valorem.
The applicable subheading for the bicycle computer will be 9029.20.2000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for bicycle speedometers. The rate of duty in Column One is 6%.
HTSUS 9902.24.65 provides temporarily for a .9 % rate of duty for bicycle speedometers (provided for in subheading 9029.20.20).
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions specifically regarding the lights’ classification within HTSUS 8512, contact National Import Specialist R. Laman at (646) 733-3017. If you have any other questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist J. Sheridan at (646) 733-3012.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division