H298418

HQ H298418 January 17, 2023 CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H298418 PF CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 9013.80.90 Director, Service Port – Otay Mesa U.S. Customs and Border Protection 9777 Via De La Amistad San Diego, CA 92154 Attn: Helene Mikes, Supervisory Import Specialist Re: Protest and Application for Further Review No: 2506-2017-100064; Classification of a Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System Dear Port Director: The following is our decision as to Protest and Application for Further Review (“AFR”) No. 2506-2017-100064, which was filed on January 25, 2017, on behalf of Cubic Defense Applications (“Cubic” or “protestant”). The protest pertains to the classification of a Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (“MILES”) under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). The subject merchandise was entered by protestant on September 17, 2015. On July 29, 2016, CBP at the Port of Otay liquidated the entry under 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.” On January 25, 2017, protestant filed a protest and AFR regarding the tariff classification of the subject merchandise and claiming that the correct classification of the subject merchandise should be in subheading 9023.00.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Instruments, apparatus and models, designed for demonstrational purposes (for example, in education or exhibitions), unsuitable for other uses, and parts and accessories thereof.” FACTS: The MILES kit is imported in its Individual Weapons System (“IWS”) configuration. The MILES IWS is described as an enhanced laser engagement system intended for use by military forces in infantry combat training exercises. The MILES operates as an advanced networked laser tag, where soldiers equipped with MILES gear can train in realistic battlefield conditions while accurately recording kills and casualties in a non-lethal manner. Each MILES kit contains a textile harness and headpiece, which incorporate twelve laser detector modules, and a Small Arms Transmitter (“SAT”). The harness contains a Harness Control Unit (“HCU”) which is an electronic device that provides decoding, hit outcome determination, data storage, user interface, and control mode for maintenance purposes. The HCU contributes to the system’s ability to record hit data (i.e., when a soldier wearing the harness is hit by someone else’s laser) and records other relevant data. The SAT contains an optical window and is attached to the barrel of a soldier’s rifle and emits a color-coded laser beam when a soldier “fires” their rifle (for training purposes, the rifle would be loaded with blank ammunition, and the SAT’s laser will emit a pulse when it detects the flash and noise of a blank round being discharged). The target’s harness records the time and date of the shot, the data coder in the laser beam, and the outcome of the casualty event. The MILES is imported with the harness, headpiece, and the SAT. Protestant describes the MILES IWS on its website as follows: I-MILES IWS uses laser transmitters attached to military weapons and body sensors to detect hits and perform real-time casualty assessments to replicate combat and record data for later review. The user friendly system features small, lightweight components for individual soldiers and requires less time to attach the [SAT] and align to the weapon than previous versions. It also maintains alignment during an entire exercise. A training presentation of the MILES IWS describes the system as having a “pulsed infrared laser beam to simulate bullets. The SAT is described as using a visible laser activated by a controller gun or HCU to align the SAT on a weapon via the “iron sights or optics.” The presentation further specifies that: When the SAT fires the laser, it sends MILES coded laser containing information such as small arms or heavy machine gun, near miss codes, and Player Identification (of the attacker harness). The harness laser detection system, which receives the laser shot, decodes and displays the outcome as kill, hit, or near miss. ISSUE: Whether the MILES is classified in heading 9013, HTSUS, as an optical device and instrument or in heading 9023, HTSUS, as an instrument or apparatus designed for demonstrational purposes. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Initially, we note that the matters protested are protestable under 19 U.S.C. §1514(a) (2) as decisions on classification. The protest was timely filed, within 180 days of liquidation of the first entry. (Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub.L. 108-429, § 2103(2) (B) (ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c) (3) (2006)). Further Review of Protests No. 2506-2017-100064 is properly accorded to Protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because the decision against which the protest was filed is alleged to involve questions of law or fact, which have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of Customs or his designee, or by the courts. Merchandise imported into the United States is classified under the HTSUS. Tariff classification is governed by the principles set forth in the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”) and, in the absence of special language or context which requires otherwise, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation. The GRIs and the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation are part of the HTSUS and are to be considered statutory provisions of law for all purposes. GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first 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 heading and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. GRI 2(b) states, in pertinent part, that “[a]ny reference to goods of a given material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance” and that “classification of goods consisting of more than one material or substance shall be according to the principles of rule 3.” GRI 3(b) provides that "composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components” are to be classified, where possible, “as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character.” The 2015 HTSUS headings under consideration are as follows: 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 9023 Instruments, apparatus and models, designed for demonstrational purposes (for example, in education or exhibitions), unsuitable for other uses, and parts and accessories thereof Note 4 to Section XVI, HTSUS, states: Where a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of individual components (whether separate or interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings in Chapter 84 or Chapter 85, then the whole falls to be classified in the heading appropriate to that function. Note 3 to Chapter 90, HTSUS, provides that: The provisions of notes 3 and 4 to section XVI apply also to this chapter. Additional U.S. Note to 3 to Chapter 90, HTSUS, provides: For the purposes of this chapter, the terms "optical appliances" and "optical instruments" refer only to those appliances and instruments which incorporate one or more optical elements, but do not include any ap

Initially, we note that the matters protested are protestable under 19 U.S.C. §1514(a) (2) as decisions on classification. The protest was timely filed, within 180 days of liquidation of the first entry. (Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub.L. 108-429, § 2103(2) (B) (ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c) (3) (2006)). Further Review of Protests No. 2506-2017-100064 is properly accorded to Protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because the decision against which the protest was filed is alleged to involve questions of law or fact, which have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of Customs or his designee, or by the courts. Merchandise imported into the United States is classified under the HTSUS. Tariff classification is governed by the principles set forth in the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”) and, in the absence of special language or context which requires otherwise, by the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation. The GRIs and the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation are part of the HTSUS and are to be considered statutory provisions of law for all purposes.GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first 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 heading and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. GRI 2(b) states, in pertinent part, that “[a]ny reference to goods of a given material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance” and that “classification of goods consisting of more than one material or substance shall be according to the principles of rule 3.” GRI 3(b) provides that "composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components” are to be classified, where possible, “as if they