CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 959138 RFA
Port Director
U.S. Customs Service
300 S. Ferry Street
Terminal Island, CA 90731
RE: Protest 2720-96-100340; Decoder Printed Circuit Board
Assembly (PCBA); Television Reception Apparatus; Electrical
Machines and Apparatus Not Specified or Included Elsewhere;
HQs 088255, 953369, 953370, 952791, 087724, 957442 and
083967
Dear Port Director:
The following is our decision regarding Protest 2720-96-100340, which concerns the classification of a decoder printed
circuit board assembly (PCBA) under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
FACTS:
The subject merchandise is a Comstream L-Band Receiver Board
signal decoder (demodulator) model Dbs Qpsk with FEC TCE, part
number XX15042-000. It is a printed circuit board assembly
(PCBA) card that converts an analog waveform which has been
transmitted from a television satellite or cable transmission
into a demodulated digital data stream. The decoder PCBA is
capable of demodulating a 24 MHZ transponder channel within the
L-Band frequency range from 950 MHZ to 1450 MHZ. The decoder
PCBA will then be used by television set-top receiver
manufacturers. It is claimed that the subject merchandise is
unusable without other electronic components for its output.
The merchandise was entered in 1995 under subheading
8543.90.55, HTSUS, as parts of electrical machines and apparatus
not specified or included elsewhere. The entries were liquidated
on December 15 and 22, 1995, under subheading 8525.10.20, HTSUS,
as other radio broadcasting reception apparatus. The protest was
timely filed on March 14, 1996.
The 1995 subheadings and their corresponding duty rates
under consideration are as follows:
8525.10.20: Transmission apparatus for radiotelephony, radiotelegraphy, radiobroadcasting or television, whether or not incorporating reception apparatus or sound recording or reproducing apparatus. . . : [t]ransmission
apparatus: [t]elevision. . . .
Goods classifiable under this provision have a column
one, general rate of 3.3 percent ad valorem.
8543.90.55: Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or
included elsewhere in this chapter; parts
thereof: [p]arts: [o]ther: [p]rinted circuit
assemblies. . . .
Goods classifiable under this provision have a column
one, general rate of duty of 3.6 percent ad valorem.
ISSUE:
Is the decoder PCBA classifiable as television transmission
apparatus under heading 8525, HTSUS, or as parts of electrical
machines and apparatus not specified or included elsewhere under
heading 8543, HTSUS?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI
1 provides that classification shall be determined according to
the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter
notes.
The merchandise was classified by Customs under heading
8525, HTSUS, as television transmission apparatus. The
protestant claims that this provision has very specific
parameters and that the subject merchandise must be combined with
other components in order to decode an incoming television
signal. The scope of heading 8525 as it relates to components of
satellite television apparatus has been the subject of numerous
rulings. In HQ 088255, dated December 17, 1990, Customs dealt
with the classification of an integrated receiver/decoder (IRD)
unit under the HTSUS. In that ruling, Customs determined that:
[t]he IRD is in the transmission path, but it is not at
the end of the transmission path where final reception
and viewing takes place. Its function is to receive
and decode a scrambled signal that is subsequently
transmitted or relayed, in the form of a NTSC signal,
to be received and displayed at the end of the
transmission path. Therefore, the IRD cannot be
considered a "television receiver", as provided for
under heading 8528, HTSUS. [see also HQ 953369, dated
February 10, 1993].
Because the subject IRD unit operated as a transmission
apparatus, we held in these rulings that the IRD unit was
classifiable under subheading 8525.10.20, HTSUS. See also HQ
953370, dated February 10, 1993, HQ 952791, dated February 8,
1993, and HQ 087724, dated April 2, 1991, for other rulings on
similar goods.
The subject merchandise is a decoder which converts an
analog waveform which has been transmitted from a television
satellite or cable transmission into a demodulated digital data
stream. Based upon HQ 088255, we find that the subject
merchandise is classifiable under heading 8525, as transmission
apparatus, because the decoder is in the transmission path of the
signal.
The protestant claims that its decoder is similar to the
decoders which were the subject of HQ 083967, dated June 21,
1989, and HQ 957442, dated March 10, 1995. The decoders in these
rulings converted audio signals from digital readers found in
digital sound reproducing apparatus such as compact disc players
and motion picture sound systems. Because the signals converted
by the decoders are not radio or television signals, they were
not considered to be articles of heading 8525. The subject
merchandise is not similar to the merchandise in these rulings
because the subject merchandise is receiving a television
transmission signal. Heading 8543 provides for electrical
machines and apparatus not specified or included elsewhere in
this chapter. As stated earlier, the subject merchandise meets
the terms of heading 8525, as transmission apparatus. Therefore,
they cannot meet the terms of heading 8543, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The Comstream Decoder is classifiable under subheading
8525.10.20, HTSUS, which provides for: "[t]ransmission apparatus
for radiotelephony, radiotelegraphy, radiobroadcasting or
television, whether or not incorporating reception apparatus or
sound recording or reproducing apparatus. . . : [t]ransmission
apparatus: [t]elevision. . . ." Goods classifiable under this
provision have a column one, general rate of 3.3 percent ad
valorem.
The protest should be DENIED. In accordance with Section
3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4,
1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision, together
with the Customs Form 19, should be mailed by your office to the
protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter.
Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision
must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision. Sixty
days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and
Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs
personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and the public
via the Diskette Subscription Service, Freedom of Information Act
and other public access channels.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division