CLA-2-85:OT:RR:NC:N4:109
Nina Carrico
Global Trade Compliance Manager
USL, LLC
181 Bonetti Drive
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
RE: The tariff classification of closed caption equipment from China
Dear Ms. Carrico:
In your letter dated December 2, 2016, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The items concerned are described as your line of hearing and visual accessibility solutions. The line includes product numbers, CCH-100 Captionwear, CCR00 Closed Caption Display, IRH-280 Headphones, and IRC-28C Infrared Audio and Caption Emitter. Each product concerned is for use by the hearing and visually impaired for use in movie theaters and similar venues.
The CCH-100 Captionwear are closed captioning glasses. They receive captions (text) via infrared (IR) technology. Text is projected onto the lens within the user’s field of view. The user can adjust the position of the text. The engineered optics makes the caption appear at a distance. This minimizes eye strain due to refocusing between the text and the movie image.
The CCR00 Closed Caption Display is a seat mount closed caption display. It provides the user with a private display which is mounted via a gooseneck stand to the arm of a seat. The display receives and displays the closed captions (text) delivered from the digital cinema package.
The IRH-280 Headphones are two channel IR headphones for HI and VI-N audio. The headphones receive audio via infrared technology. High quality sound ensures maximum intelligibility for the hearing impaired. The IRH-280 headphones provide DC and AC magnetic fields to drive automatically switching tele coils in hearing aids. They also include a 3.5 mm jack to neck loops or direct audio inputs on hearing aids and implants.
The IRC-28C are infrared audio and caption emitters. They transmit two channels of audio (HI and VI-N) into an auditorium (theater) using IR technology. The IR reflects off the movie screen to cover the entire auditorium without leaking into other theaters. Captions are retrieved from the digital cinema server using SMPTE protocols of the Ethernet. The captions are them transmitted within the theater for us by the various close caption display units that may be in use.
The applicable subheading for the CCH-100 Captionwear closed captioning glasses will be 9004.90.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Spectacles, goggles and the like, corrective, protective or other: Other.” The rate of duty is 2.5 percent ad valorem.
The applicable subheading for the CCR00 Closed Caption Display will be
8543.70.8700, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere…: Other machines and apparatus: Other: Other: …;flat panel displays other than for articles of heading 8528, except for subheadings 8528.51 or 8528.61.” The rate of duty will be Free.
The applicable subheading for the IRH-280 Headphones will be 8518.30.2000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “ Microphones and stands therefor; loudspeakers, whether or not mounted in their enclosures; headphones and earphones, whether or not combined with a microphone…: Headphones and earphones, whether or not combined with a microphone…: Other.” The rate of duty will be 3.6 percent ad valorem.
The applicable subheading for the IRC-28C infrared audio and caption emitters will be 8517.62.0050, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “…other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network…: Other apparatus for transmission or reception of voice, images or other data…: Machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data…: Other.” The rate of duty will be Free.
You also request for consideration of the instant products under the Nairobi Protocol. Specifically, you ask whether the items listed above are "specially designed or adapted" for the handicapped within the meaning of the Nairobi Protocol, and, therefore, eligible for duty-free treatment under subheading 9817.00.96, HTSUSA. The Nairobi Protocol to the Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Materials Act of 1982, established the duty-free treatment for certain articles for the handicapped. Presidential Proclamation 5978 and Section 1121 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, provided for the implementation of the Nairobi Protocol into subheadings 9817.00.92, 9817.00.94, and 9817.00.96, HTSUSA. These tariff provisions specifically state that "[a]rticles specially designed or adapted for the use or benefit of the blind or other physically or mentally handicapped persons" are eligible for duty-free treatment. U.S. Note 4(a), subchapter XVII, Chapter 98, HTSUSA, states that, "the term 'blind or other physically or mentally handicapped persons' includes any person suffering from a permanent or chronic physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, or working." U.S. Note 4(b), subchapter XVII, Chapter 98, HTSUSA, which establishes limits on classification of products in these subheadings, states as follows: (b) Subheadings 9817.00.92, 9817.00.94 and 9817.00.96 do not cover-- (i) articles for acute or transient disability; (ii) spectacles, dentures, and cosmetic articles for individuals not substantially disabled; (iii) therapeutic and diagnostic articles; or (iv) medicine or drugs. The primary issue is whether the article is specially designed or adapted for the “use or benefit of the handicapped” within the meaning of Nairobi Protocol. Although the legislative history of the Nairobi Protocol discusses the concerns of Congress that the design, modification or adaptation of an article must be significant so as to clearly render the article for use by handicapped individuals, no specific definition of these terms was established by Congress. See, Senate Report (Finance Committee) No. 97-564, September 21, 1982). See also, Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 951004 dated March 3, 1992. Since it is difficult to establish a clear definition of what is “specially designed or adapted," various factors must be utilized on a case-by-case basis to determine whether a given article is "specially designed or adapted" within the meaning of this statute. Based on the information supplied, it is the opinion of this office that a secondary classification will apply for the CCH-100 Captionwear closed captioning glasses, the CCR00 Closed Caption Display, the IRH-280 Headphones and the IRC-28C infrared audio and caption emitters in subheading 9817.00.96, HTSUS, as specially designed or adapted for the use or benefit of the permanently or chronically physically or mentally handicapped, free of duty and user fees (if any). Note that the requirement that the importer prepare and file a U.S. Department of Commerce form ITA-362P has been eliminated via a notice from the International Trade Administration, published in the Federal Register of June 1, 2010.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
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 Steven Pollichino at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division