CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 953508 MMC

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
909 First Ave, Rm 2039
Seattle, WA 98174

RE: Protest No. 3004-92-100148; speaker stand pedestals; 8518.90.30; Note 1(g) and 2 to Chapter 94; EN 85.18(B), Gen 4(A) to Chapter 94

Dear District Director:

The following is our decision regarding the request for further review of Protest No. 3004-92-100148 concerning your action in liquidating entries of "speaker stands" under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The merchandise subject to this protest consists of three types of "wooden speaker stands", model nos. SS 660, SPST 600, and SPST 300. Protestant submitted pictures of the "speaker stands" and detailed diagrams of models SS 660 and SPST 600. All have "feet" on their top surfaces for holding completed loudspeakers in place.

The merchandise was entered under subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS, as other wooden furniture. However, the entries were liquidated, on July 31, 1992, under subheading 8518.90.30, HTSUS, as parts of loudspeakers. The protest was timely filed on October 8, 1992.

The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

9403.60.80 Other furniture and parts thereof: [o]ther wooden furniture: [o]ther (2.5%)

8518.90.30 Microphones and stands therefor; loudspeakers, whether or not mounted in their enclosures; headphones, earphones and combined microphone/speaker sets; audio- frequency electric amplifiers; electric sound amplifier sets; parts thereof: [p]arts: [o]ther (4.9%)

ISSUE:

Whether the articles are classifiable under subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS, as other wooden furniture or under subheading 8518.90.30, HTSUS, as parts of loudspeakers?

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, 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.

Note 1(g) to Chapter 94 states in pertinent part: [t]his chapter does not cover: [f]urniture specially designed as parts of apparatus of heading 8518... Therefore, it must be determined if the articles in question are pieces of furniture specially designed for apparatus of heading 8518, HTSUS.

In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes may be consulted. The Explanatory Notes (EN), although not dispositive, are to be used to determine the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128, (August 23, 1989). EN 85.18(B), p. 1364, states in pertinent part:

LOUDSPEAKERS, WHETHER OR NOT MOUNTED IN THEIR ENCLOSURES

Loudspeakers may be mounted on frames, chassis or in cabinets of different types (often acoustically designed), or even in articles of furniture. They remain classified in this heading provided the main function of the whole is to act as a loudspeaker. Separately presented frames, chassis, cabinets, etc., also fall in this heading provided they are identifiable as being mainly designed for mounting loudspeakers; articles of furniture of Chapter 94 designed to receive loudspeakers in addition to their normal function remain classified in Chapter 94.

It is our position that the speaker stands are not mainly designed for mounting the loudspeaker itself, but for supporting a loudspeaker which has already been mounted in a frame, chassis or an acoustically designed cabinet. The speaker stands do not aid in reproducing or amplifying sound, as would the speakers, baffles, or the cabinet, chassis, or frame which enclose them. Furthermore, models SPST 600 and 300 are capable of supporting articles other than speakers. Essentially they are merely wooden pedestal stands. Because the articles do not aid the functioning of the loudspeaker itself, but rather only support loudspeakers already enclosed in frames, chassis or cabinets, they are not considered parts of loudspeakers and therefore are classifiable in Chapter 94.

Chapter 94 provides for furniture. EN Gen 4 (A) for chapter 94, p. 1574, states in pertinent part that:

[f]or the purposes of this Chapter, the term "furniture" means: [a]ny "movable" articles (not included under other more specific headings of the Nomenclature), which have the essential characteristic that they are constructed for placing on the floor or ground, and which are used, mainly with a utilitarian purpose...

Heading 9403, HTSUS, provides for other furniture and parts thereof. Note 2 to chapter 94 states in pertinent part that: articles (other than parts) referred to in headings 9401 to 9403 are to be classified in those headings only if they are designed for placing on the floor or ground. The speaker stands are designed for placing on the floor or ground. Therefore, the speaker stands are classifiable under heading 9403, specifically, subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

For the foregoing reasons, we find that the speaker stands are classifiable as other wooden furniture under subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS.

Accordingly, the protest should be granted in full. A copy of this decision should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and provided to the protestant as part of the notice of action on the protest.


Sincerely,


John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division