CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H252597 DSR
Mr. John A Bessich
Follick & Bessich
33 Walt Whitman Road
Suite 310
Huntington Station, NY 11746
RE: Ruling request concerning the tariff classification of TFT-LCD display module
Dear Mr. Bessich:
This is in response to your request on behalf of Jaco Electronic Inc. (“Jaco”) for a binding ruling on the tariff classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) of a TFT-LCD display module. The original request was dated December 18, 2012, with supplemental submissions on April 12, 2013, May 21, 2013, November 15, 2013, and April 8, 2014. We have examined the information submitted and our ruling follows.
FACTS:
The TFT-LCD display module is described as a color active matrix liquid crystal display with a screen diagonal measurement of 10.4 inches. The module is comprised of a TFT-LCD (thin film transistor-liquid crystal display), a driver circuit, multiple electrical connectors, a light emitting diode or cold cathode fluorescent (CCFL) backlight system, a light guide and an interface board with a flexible connection from the LCD. Jaco has provided a sample of the module. The module is encased in a metal frame with a metal cover. The screen format is a SVGA (super video graphics array) display of 800 horizontal pixels by 600 vertical pixels. All input signals to the module are low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) interface compatible. At importation, the module does not contain a touchscreen, tuner or any video recording or reproducing apparatus, and cannot be powered on or accept signals from any other device or equipment. The module can only accept signal inputs after components such as a controller, inverter, OSD board and cables are added after importation.
The module is intended for use in industrial display applications, including corporate financial data displays, industrial machine control displays, consumer interface/information displays, GPS displays and other applications. Jaco will install the module in computer-controlled sterilization systems after importation.
ISSUE:
Whether the subject module is classified under subheading 8528.52.00 as other monitors of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing system of heading 8471; subheading 8528.59.25 as an “other” color monitor with a flat panel screen and with a video display diagonal not exceeding 34.29 cm; subheading 8529.90.99 as a part suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of heading 8525 to 8528; subheading 9013.80.70 as a flat panel display other than for articles of heading 8528 (except headings 8528.51 or 8528.61); subheading 9013.80.90 as “other” devices, appliances and instruments; or subheading 9013.90.50 as a part of flat panel displays other than for articles of heading 8528, except subheadings 8528.52 or 8528.62.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs may then be applied. Under GRI 6, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to GRIs 1 through 5.
The HTSUS provisions at issue are as follows:
8528 Monitors and projectors, not incorporating television reception apparatus;
reception apparatus for television, whether or not incorporating radio-broadcast receivers or sound or video recording or reproducing apparatus: * * * Other monitors:
* * * 8528.52 Of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing
system of heading 8471: * * *
8528.59 Other:
Color:
* * *
With a flat panel screen:
* * *
Other:
8528.59.25 With a video display diagonal not exceeding 34.29 cm.
* * * 8529 Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus
of headings 8525 to 8528:
* * *
8529.90 Other:
* * *
Other:
* * *
8529.90.99 Other.
* * *
9013 Liquid crystal devices not constituting articles provided for more
specifically in other headings; lasers, other than laser diodes; other optical
appliances and instruments, not specified or included elsewhere in this
chapter; parts and accessories thereof: * * *
9013.80 Other devices, appliances and instruments:
* * * 9013.80.70 Flat panel displays other than for articles of heading 8528, except
subheadings 8528.52 or 8528.62. 9013.80.90 Other.
* * *
9013.90 Parts and accessories:
* * *
9013.90.50 Of flat panel displays other than for articles of heading 8528, except
subheadings 8528.52 or 8528.62. * * * *
We first note that in its December 18, 2012, submission, Jaco asserted that the module is classifiable in subheading 8528.51.00, HTSUS, which provides for other monitors of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing system of heading 8471. Alternatively, and also in the December 18, 2012 submission, Jaco asserted that the modules could be classified in subheading 8528.59.25, HTSUS, which provides for other color monitors with a flat panel screen and with a video display diagonal not exceeding 34.29 cm. Jaco argued that the module is an incomplete or unfinished article that has the essential character of a complete monitor, per General Rule of Interpretation 2(a), and “needs only the electrical cables and inverter and controller boards ... to complete the unit into a finished monitor for an ADP device.”
However, in its April 12, 2013, submission, Jaco stated that the module only displays information and cannot be a “standalone” monitor that receives, processes and transmits signals sent from a separate ADP machine, video camera, set top box, etc., and that it can only accept various types of input after components are added after importation. While requesting that CBP continue to consider the applicability of subheadings 8528.51.00 and 8528.59.25, HTSUS, Jaco introduced subheadings 8529.90.99 and 9013.80.70, HTSUS, as alternative classifications. Subheading 8529.90.99, HTSUS, covers parts suitable for use solely or principally with the apparatus of headings 8525 to 8528, other, other, other. Subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS, covers, in relevant part, flat panel displays other than for articles of heading 8528, except subheadings 8528.52 or 8528.62.
Finally, in its April 8, 2014, submission, Jaco introduced subheading 9013.90.50, HTSUS, as an alternative classification for the module. That subheading covers parts of flat panel displays other than for articles of heading 8528, except subheadings 8528.52 or 8528.62.
With regard to the applicability of both subheadings 8528.52 and 8528.59.25, HTSUS, the subject module is incapable of receiving, amplifying or processing video signals at the time of importation and, as such, cannot be classified as a monitor of heading 8528. See EN 85.28.
The text of subheading 9013.80.70 dictates that LCD display modules for monitors of heading 8528, HTSUS, are excluded from classification in subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS, with the exception of LCD display modules for monitors of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing machine of heading 8471, HTSUS, and LCD display modules for projectors capable of directly connecting to and designed for use with such an ADP machine. Thus, the question remains whether the subject module is properly classified as a flat panel display for monitors a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing machine of heading 8471, and thus still classifiable in subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS, or whether it falls to be classified as an “other” device of subheading 9013.80.90, HTSUS.
In HQ H071899, we determined that a similar fungible flat panel display could be used in many devices, including monitors of heading 8528, HTSUS, and the importer was unable to establish that the display was solely or principally for use in monitors for ADP machines of heading 8471. The display was therefore precluded from classification in subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS. HQ H071899 is distinguishable from NY N107241 (June 16, 2010), which has been cited by you as supportive of classification of the instant device in subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS. In NY N107241, CBP considered an item described as an LCD panel with 320 x 240 dots and that can display any combination of charts, graphs or alpha-numeric characters. Most importantly, the panel is designed to be a component of a single device identified as an Alaris PC 8000 Infusion Pump used in the medical industry, which gives it a different character from the instant device that is a fungible good as imported. The LCD panel of NY N107241 was classified in subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS, as a flat panel display other than for articles of heading 8528, except subheadings 8528.51 or 8528.61, HTSUS. The result reached in HQ H071899 applies to the instant merchandise because, at importation, the subject module can eventually be used in many different machines for many different applications and is therefore precluded from classification in subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS.
With regard to subheading 8529.90.99, HTSUS, in Sharp Microelectronics Technology, Inc. v. United States, 20 C.I.T. 793, 932 F.Supp. 1499 (1996), aff’d by Sharp Microelectronics Technology, Inc. v. United States, 122 F.3d 1446 (Fed. Cir. 1997), the court noted that Note 1(m) of Section XVI of the HTSUS, provides that "this section [which includes chapter 85] does not cover . . . Articles of Chapter 90." Note 1(m) thus states a rule of interpretation that articles which are described in Chapter 90 cannot be classified in Chapter 85. In addition, specifically with regard to the applicability of the parts provision of subheading 8529.90.99, HTSUS, a straightforward relative specificity analysis mandated by the terms of heading 9013 and also discussed in Sharp, reveals that the parts provision of subheading 8529.90.99 is less difficult to satisfy than the terms of heading 9013 because it is "easier to be classified as a part or accessory of any of the machines enumerated above than it is to be a liquid crystal device." 932 F. Supp. at 1507. See also GRI I ("The heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description."). Also, Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c) provides that "a provision for 'parts' or 'parts and accessories' shall not prevail over a specific provision for such part or accessory."
Applying the reasoning of Sharp to the classification of the subject module, the subject module is a liquid crystal device that is squarely covered by the text of heading 9013, HTSUS, and heading 9013, HTSUS, provides a more specific description of the article than the parts provision of subheading 8529.90.99, HTSUS. Therefore, the subject module is precluded from classification in subheading 8529.90.99, HTSUS. It is classified at the six digit level under subheading 9013.80, HTSUS, as it is an “other” liquid crystal device not described by any preceding six digit subheadings of heading 9013.80, HTSUS. It therefore falls to be classified under subheading 9013.80.90, HTSUS.
Jaco has also asserted that CBP has classified an article similar to the instant module in subheading 8529.90.99, HTSUS, citing to NY N007909 (March 20, 2007) However, the article under consideration in that ruling is described as being designed for a particular device (an outdoor commercial advertising billboard) as opposed to being a fungible good like the subject module. NY N007909 is therefore inapposite and does not apply to the instant module.
Jaco also asserts that the subject module can alternatively be classified in subheading 9013.90.50, HTSUS, as a part of flat panel displays other than for articles of heading 8528, except subheadings 8528.52 or 8528.62. We disagree. See Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c) (“In the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires: a provision for parts of an article covers products solely or principally used as a part of such articles but a provision for ‘parts’ or ‘parts and accessories’ shall not prevail over a specific provision for such part or accessory.”) The subject module is specifically described by subheading 9013.80.90, HTSUS, as an “other” liquid crystal device not constituting articles provided for more specifically in other headings and that subheading prevails over the competing parts provisions of subheading 9013.90, HTSUS.
Finally, we note that, in addition to the above, and with particular regard to subheading 9013.90.50, the module is described by Jaco as being unable to interface with any other device or equipment until a controller, inverter and an on-screen display board and cables are added to it. The type of controller that is connected to the module will determine the type of image that the module will display and the input that it will support. Furthermore, the module is described as being meant for use various commercial, industrial or consumer applications that requires an LCD display of the size, luminance, contrast ratio viewing angle and operating temperature of the module, and that can be interfaced with a microprocessor. Given the multiplicity of potential uses of the module, such that its principal use cannot be determined in its imported condition, it follows that the module does not possess characteristics that could identify the module as a part “of flat panel displays other than for articles of heading 8528, except subheadings 8528.52 or 8528.62.” Put another way, even if the module could be identified as a “part” of a flat panel display the subject module does not satisfy the restrictive clause “other than for articles of heading 8528, except subheadings 8528.52 or 8528.62.”
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the subject TFT-LCD display module is classified in subheading 9013.80.90, HTSUS, which provides for “Liquid crystal devices not constituting articles provided for more specifically in other headings; lasers, other than laser diodes; other optical appliances and instruments, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts and accessories thereof: Other devices, appliances and instruments: Other.” The 2017 column one, general rate of duty is 4.5 percent ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the U.S. International Trade Commission’s website at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts. A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to entry documents filed at the time the goods are entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction.
Sincerely,
Gregory Connor, Acting Chief
Electronics, Manufacturing, Automotive,
and International Nomenclature Branch