CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H256543 EGJ
TARIFF NO: 9013.80.90
Port Director
U.S Customs and Border Protection
5600 Pearl Street
Rosemont, IL 60018
Attn: Jeffrey Kiekenbush, Senior Import Specialist
RE: Internal Advice Request: Tariff classification of a TFT-LCD Module for Agricultural Vehicles and Machinery
Dear Port Director:
This letter is in reply to your request for Internal Advice, initiated by a letter dated June 4, 2014, by counsel for Kyocera Industrial Ceramics Corp. (Kyocera). At issue is the tariff classification of a flat panel display module by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
FACTS:
The instant 12.1 inch thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) module, Kyocera part number TCG121XGLP*PNN-AN*43, is a component of the Ag Leader Integra display used to control agricultural vehicles and machinery. The display is part of a system which allows the user to monitor, map, and control all field activities. The display also has a wireless connection which can be used to store, access and share field data using a cloud-based network platform. Some of the functions performed by the display are as follows: automated GPS steering, sprayer height control, video camera inputs, mapping of tillage operations, and fertilizer application.
A picture of the Ag Leader Integra display is provided below:
The instant TFT-LCD module is equipped with a TFT-LCD panel, driver integrated circuits (ICs), a timing controller IC, a backlight unit and a printed wiring board. At importation, the TFT-LCD module is not yet equipped with a touch panel; the touch panel is added to the display after importation into the United States. Pictures of the TFT-LCD module are provided below:
Kyocera made several entries of the subject merchandise between March 22, 2007, and May 15, 2013. Some of the entries have since liquidated, and Kyocera has not filed any protests with regard to the instant merchandise.
ISSUE:
What is the classification of the TFT-LCD module for the Ag Leader Integra display under the HTSUS?
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:
8528.51 Of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing system of heading 8471:
* * *
Projectors:
8528.61 Of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing system of heading 8471:
* * *
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 8528.51 or 8528.61.
9013.80.90 Other.
* * *
It is undisputed that the TFT LCD module is properly classified at the six-digit level under subheading 9013.80, HTSUS. However, the question remains whether the TFT LCD module is properly classified as a flat panel display for certain devices under subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS, or whether it falls to be classified as an “other” device of subheading 9013.80.90, HTSUS.
According to Kyocera, the TFT-LCD module for the Ag Leader Integra display is a fungible flat panel display. It is fungible because it can be used in many different applications. CBP analyzed a similar flat panel display in Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) H071899, dated August 2, 2013. In HQ H071899, we determined that a fungible flat panel display could not be classified under subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS, because the subheading excludes certain monitors of heading 8528, HTSUS. A fungible flat panel display is not a display “other than for articles of heading 8528.” Therefore, it is precluded from classification in subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS.
As the instant TFT-LCD module is fungible, it is not described by subheading 9013.80.70, HTSUS. Therefore it falls to be classified under subheading 9013.80.90, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the TFT-LCD module for the Ag Leader Integra display 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 2016 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.
You are to mail this decision to the Internal Advice requester no later than 60 days from the date of the decision. At that time, the Office of International Trade, Regulations and Rulings, will make the decision available to CBP personnel and the public on the CBP website located at www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division