CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 951966 KCC
J.L. Pierce
Spartus Clocks
Highway 15 South
Louisville, Mississippi 10048
RE: LED alarm clock with detachable light; 871869 reconsidered;
GRI 3(b); composite good; EN Rule 3(b)(IX); mutually
complementary; form a whole which would not normally be
offered for sale in separate parts
Dear MR. Pierce:
This is in reference to your letter dated April 15, 1992, to
Customs in New York, requesting reconsideration of New York (NY)
871869 dated March 6, 1992, concerning the tariff classification
of an LED alarm clock with detachable light under the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). A photograph of
the LED alarm clock with detachable light was submitted for
examination. Your letter and photograph were forwarded to this
office for a response.
FACTS:
The article under consideration is the Hero Alarm Clock,
style 120661 (tan) and style 121161 (black). The alarm clock is
battery powered with a quartz digital LED display and a
detachable light. NY 871689 determined that the alarm clock and
light were separately classified under the HTSUS. The alarm
clock was classified under subheading 9105.11.40, HTSUS, which
provides for "Other clocks...Alarm clocks...Battery or AC
powered...With opto-electronic display only", which is dutiable
at the rate of 3.9 percent ad valorem on the movement and case
plus 5.3 percent ad valorem on the battery. The light was
classified under subheading 8513.10.20, HTSUS, which provides for
"Portable electric lamps designed to function by their own source
of energy (for example, dry batteries, storage batteries,
magnetos), other than lighting equipment of heading 8512; parts
thereof...Lamps...Flashlights." This tariff provision is
dutiable at the rate of 25 percent ad valorem.
You contend that the alarm clock and light are properly
classified as a composite article under subheading 9105.11.40,
HTSUS, as an alarm clock. You state that your marketing
approach is not to manufacture and sell flashlights, but you are
marketing and manufacturing an alarm clock with a portable
light.
ISSUE:
Is the alarm clock with detachable light classified
separately, or is it classified as a composite article pursuant
to GRI 3(b), HTSUS?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is
governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). 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...." When goods are prima
facie classifiable under two or more headings GRI 3 is
applicable. In this case GRI 3(b) is applicable and provides:
Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials
or made up of different components...which cannot be
classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if
they consisted of the material or component which gives them
their essential character, insofar as this criterion is
applicable.
Explanatory Note (EN) Rule 3(b)(IX) of the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System (HCDCS) states that:
For the purposes of this Rule, composite goods made up of
different components shall be taken to mean not only those
in which the components are attached to each other to form a
practically inseparable whole but also those with separable
components, provided these components are adapted one to
the other and are mutually complementary and that together
they form a whole which would not normally be offered for
sale in separate parts.
The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive, are to be looked
to for the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. 54 Fed. Reg.
35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).
In order for the alarm clock with detachable light to be
considered a composite good for purposes of GRI 3(b), the
components must be adapted one to the other, mutually
complementary, and together form a whole which would not
normally be offered for sale in separate parts. In this case,
the alarm clock and light have been adapted one to the other.
The light is functional on demand as part of the alarm clock
until the consumer removes it for use as a flashlight.
However, the two components are not mutually complementary,
nor do they form a whole which would not normally be offered for
sale in separate parts. The removable light is predominately
designed to function separately from the alarm clock as a
flashlight, whereas the clock is designed to display and alert
the consumer of the time. These two functions are not mutually
complementary. The two components are also normally offered for
sale in separate parts, an alarm clock and a flashlight.
Therefore, as the two components are not mutually complementary
and are usually offered for sale separately, they are properly
classified separately under their respective headings in the
HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The alarm clock and detachable light are classified
separately under the HTSUS. The alarm clock is properly
classified under subheading 9105.11.40, HTSUS, which provides for
"Other clocks...Alarm clocks...Battery or AC powered...With opto-
electronic display only." The alarm clock is dutiable at the
rate of 3.9 percent ad valorem on the movement and case plus 5.3
percent ad valorem on the battery. The flashlight is properly
classified under subheading 8513.10.20, HTSUS, which provides for
"Portable electric lamps designed to function by their own source
of energy (for example, dry batteries, storage batteries,
magnetos), other than lighting equipment of heading 8512; parts
thereof...Lamps...Flashlights", and is dutiable at the rate of 25
percent ad valorem.
NY 871869 is affirmed.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division