CLA-2-85:RR:NC:MM:109 E86983
Mr. Thomas W. Phalen
Vice President, Tax and Customs
Plantronics Inc.
345 Encinal Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
RE: The tariff classification of the S10 Telephone Headset System from Mexico.
Dear Mr. Phalen:
In your letter dated August 24, 1999, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The merchandise is described in your letter and the submitted descriptive literature as the S10 Telephone Headset System. According to the submitted literature, the product consists or a telephone headset (microphone and earphone), a telephone adapter/amplifier with headset holder and an AC power adapter. You have stated that the headset is made in Mexico. The adapter is made in South Korea and the AC power adapter is made in China. The adapter and the AC power adapter are imported into Mexico. In Mexico all the components are boxed together for retail sale. The set is designed to provide hands-free telephone communication over a standard telephone set.
The adapter connects to a telephone and allows the headset to be used instead of a handset. It is compatible with virtually any single or multi-line telephone. It also includes the following features: transmit and receive volume control, tone control, mute, headset/handset switch. In rulings HQ 962370 and HQ 963156 similar telephone adapters/amplifiers were classified in subheading 8517.80.10, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), as “[e]lectrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy…[o]ther apparatus: [t]elephonic.”
The S10 Telephone Headset System is a set consisting of a telephone headset (microphone and earphone), a telephone adapter/amplifier with headset holder and an AC power adapter. General Rule of Interpretation 3 (b) states that the classification of a set is based on the material or component that gives the set its essential character. This set provides for hands-free telephone communication. Therefore, it is the headset that provides the essential character to the set. The other items in the set are subsidiary in nature.
The applicable subheading for the S10 Telephone Headset System will be 8518.30.2000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for “[h]eadphones, earphones and combined microphone/speaker sets: [o]ther.” The general rate of duty will be 4.9% ad valorem.
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 regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Eileen S. Kaplan at 212-637-7048.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division