CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 088941 AJS
District Director
U.S. Customs Service
P.O. Box 17423
Dulles International Airport
Washington, D.C. 20041
RE: Protest number 5401-90-100068; Rotortuner system; Data
management unit; Operator Console; Line scan camera; Subheading
9031.80.00; Chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3; subsidiary;
Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary.
Dear District Director:
Protest for further review number 5401-90-100068 dated
10/31/90, was filed against the tariff classification of the
Rotortuner System within subheading 9031.40.00, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
FACTS:
The merchandise under protest is the Rotortuner System (RS).
It essentially consists of the Data Management Unit (DMU),
Operator Console (OC), Line Scan Camera (LSC), accelerometers and
related accessories.
The RS is a portable, fully integrated, computerized
vibration management system used to reduce or manage vibration in
rotating machinery (such as helicopters) and its rotating
components (such as rotors, shafts, engines, gear boxes, cooling
fans, etc.). It senses, measures and analyzes vibration
problems.
The RS operates in the following manner. The DMU contains
all signal conditioning and processing, the computing system,
hard copy printer, and cassette. It accepts signal input from
the OC, remote control unit, accelerometers, optical and
-2-
magnetic pick-ups, the LSC, and the strobe. The OC is built as a
unit into the DMU. It contains the control keys and a flat panel
screen for data display.
The LSC is a hand-held, fixed focus, infrared transducer for
automatically tracking the tip path of helicopter rotor blades,
and rotating assemblies on other machines.
In the helicopter application, the LSC is pointed by the
operator at the main rotor tip path plane. LEDs on the back of
the camera indicate correct sighting of the blades. The LSC is
controlled by firmware within the DMU and will automatically
identify the blades correctly, calculate their relative heights
about a mean, and measure each blade. The high accuracy of the
timing data enables damper problems to be identified. The blade
track pattern is derived statistically from a number of
measurements and eliminates the need for subjective judgement by
the operator.
ISSUE:
Whether the RS is properly classifiable within subheading
9031.40.00, HTSUS, which provides for "[m]easuring or checking
instruments, appliances and machines, not specified or included
elsewhere . . . [o]ther optical instruments and appliances."; or
classifiable within subheading 9031.80.00, HTSUS, which provides
for "other instruments, appliances and machines" of heading 9031,
HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Heading 9031, HTSUS, provides for "[m]easuring or checking
instruments, appliances and machines, not specified or included
elsewhere in this chapter . . ." The RS satisfies the terms of
this heading. It is used to measure and check vibrations.
Accordingly, the RS is properly classifiable within heading 9031,
HTSUS.
Subheading 9031.40.10, HTSUS, provides for other optical
instruments and appliances. For the purposes of chapter 90, the
terms "optical appliances" and "optical instruments" refer only
to those appliances and instruments which incorporate one or more
optical elements, but do not include any appliances or
instruments in which the incorporated optical element or elements
are solely for viewing a scale or for some other subsidiary
purpose. Chapter 90, Additional U.S. Note 3. The RS satisfies
this description of "optical". In its condition as imported, the
RS is a system which incorporates an optical device (i.e., LSC).
The term "subsidiary" is described as "[s]erving to
supplement or assist . . . [s]econdary in importance:
subordinate." Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary,
-3-
p. 1155 (1984). The LSC is not used for a subsidiary purpose.
When the LSC is used, it certainly is not used in a supplemental
manner nor is it secondary in importance. It performs a function
that is not performed by any other components of the RS. The
submitted literature states that the LSC is used "primarily for
automatic tracking of the tip path of helicopter rotor blades and
is also applicable to other positional measurement systems."
Furthermore, the literature states that the LSC is one of the
devices from which the DMU accepts signal input. Accordingly,
the RS satisfies the terms of subheading 9031.40.00, HTSUS, and
is properly classifiable therein.
The protestant appears to be of the view that the LSC serves
a subsidiary purpose because it is not used all of the time that
the RS is used. But this is not our understanding regarding the
meaning of "subsidiary" as set forth in Note 2. The meaning of
"subsidiary" has nothing to do with the amount of time optics are
used in the overall use of a device, but it relates more to the
type of task which the optics perform when being used in the
operation of the device. As discussed previously, the task
performed by the LSC is clearly not subsidiary when the main
rotor is being balanced.
The protestant claims that the RS is classifiable within
subheading 9031.80.00, HTSUS, which provides for "other
instruments, appliances or machines". This claim is premised on
the argument that the RS is not an optical instrument. As
discussed previously, the RS is an optical instrument.
Therefore, classification within this subheading is precluded.
HOLDING:
The RS is properly classifiable within subheading
9031.40.00, HTSUS, which provides for other optical measuring or
checking instruments and appliances, dutiable at the General
Column 1 rate of 10 percent ad valorem. You should deny the
protest in full. A copy of this decision should be attached to
the Customs Form 19, Notice of Action, and provided to the
protestant.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division