H313620

U.S. Customs and Border Protection HQ H313620 December 29, 2020 CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H313620 PF CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 7015.90.10 Deborah B. Stern Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. 1000 NW 57th Court, Suite 600 Miami, FL 33126 RE: Tariff classification of a Watch Glass Face Dear Ms. Stern: This is in reply to your request, on behalf of your client Garmin LTD. (Garmin), for a prospective ruling on the tariff classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), of a glass face for the Garmin Forerunner® 645 Wearable Electronic Fitness Tracker (Forerunner 645). Your request was forwarded by the National Commodity Specialist Division to this office for a response. In addition to your written submission, our decision takes into consideration a teleconference meeting held with your office on November 24, 2020 and a supplemental submission received on December 12, 2020. FACTS: The merchandise is described as a glass face for the Forerunner 645. In New York Ruling (NY) N302738, dated March 4, 2019, we described the Forerunner 645 as follows: The Forerunner® 645 is a multifunctional electronic wearable device, which pairs its bi-directional open wireless Bluetooth technology with a smartphone, tablet or computer. The primary purpose of the web and mobile applications are storing and displaying longer term activity data and statistics, connecting users to a social community, and providing added value wellness functionality to Forerunner® 645 users. The Forerunner® 645 automatically syncs to Garmin’s proprietary tool to save, plan, share, and connect with the user’s community. The Forerunner® 645 is worn on a person’s wrist and designed to both manage data and to support personal fitness. The Bluetooth capability is essential to the use and operation of the device because the Forerunner® 645 has limited functionality until it has been paired and properly configured. The radio transceiver enables the Forerunner® 645 to communicate wirelessly with a paired, internet connected mobile device to display, manipulate, and store data via the use of executable wearable apps. Continued synching allows for the full utilization of all product features and, importantly, the social networking connectivity. The subject glass face consists of a circular flat optical glass coated with antireflective film and foam gasket tape that is attached on the back of the glass face. According to your supplemental submission, the “foam gasket is required for impact protection, case fit, prevention of water intrusion, case sealing, and cover glass/case attachment. It does not contribute to the function of the LCD itself.”* Moreover, the glass face protects the electronic display and face of the Forerunner 645 and provides the user with greater clarity in viewing the contents of the display screen. In its condition as imported, it fits directly onto the Forerunner 645 as the cover for the face of the device. The glass face is round in shape and is printed with the device’s function button text and the Garmin logo in non-conductive ink. The subject glass face is made by a fusion-draw process. The glass component is aluminosilicate and the cushion tape is a man-made foam material. The glass face is composed of chemically strengthened tempered glass. The glass component is polished, edge-worked, artwork printed and coated, but without any bending rate. Multiple layers are coated on the glass component so that it has additional functions of anti-reflection and easier to clean. Anti-fouling and anti-fingerprint optical characteristics are added to the glass. The glass face does not play a role in touch control functionality nor does it contribute to the Forerunner’s 645 transmission or reception. Images of the front and back of the article at issue in its condition as imported are shown below: Front Back  
 
   ISSUE: Whether the glass face is classified in heading 7015, HTSUS, as watch glass or in heading 8517, HTSUS, as a part of other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data. LAW AND ANALYSIS: 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 (AUSR). The GRIs and the AUSR are part of the HTSUS, and are 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 and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRIs taken in order. 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. The HTSUS headings under consideration are as follows: 7015 Clock or watch glasses and similar glasses, glasses for noncorrective or corrective spectacles, curved, bent, hollowed or the like, not optically worked; hollow glass spheres and their segments, for the manufacture of such glasses: 7015.90 Other: Watch glasses: 7015.90.10 Round… 8517 Telephone sets, including telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network), other than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528; parts thereof: 8517.70 Parts… Note 2(a) – (b) to Section XVI (Chapters 84-85) states that: Subject to note 1 to this section, note 1 to chapter 84 and note 1 to chapter 85, parts of machines (not being parts of the articles of heading 8484, 8544, 8545, 8546 or 8547) are to be classified according to the following rules: * * * Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading 8479 or 8543) are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading 8409, 8431, 8448, 8466, 8473, 8503, 8522, 8529 or 8538 as appropriate. However, parts which are equally suitable for use principally with the goods of headings 8517 and 8525 to 8528 are to be classified in heading 8517 … In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (ENs) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUS at the international level, may be utilized. The ENs, although not dispositive or legally binding, provide a commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989). In your letter, you assert that the subject glass face is a part of the Forerunner 645 and is properly classified in heading 8517, HTSUS, as other apparatus for the transmission of voice, images, or other data. When considering classification of a particular product in a “parts” provision of the HTSUS, we must apply AUSRI 1(c), which states as follows: In the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires— * * * (c) 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… Pursuant to AUSRI 1(c), the glass face is classifiable as a part if it cannot be established that it is prima facie classifiable in a heading that specifically provides for it. See Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 967233, dated February 18, 2005 (citing Mitsubishi Int’l Corp. v. United States, 182 F.3d 884 (Fed. Cir. 1999), Sharp Microelectronics Tech., Inc. v. United States, 1

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 (AUSR). The GRIs and the AUSR are part of the HTSUS, and are 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 and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRIs taken in order. 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. The HTSUS headings under consideration are as follows:7015 Clock or watch glasses and similar glasses, glasses for noncorrective or corrective spectacles, curved, bent, hollowed or the like, not optically worked; hollow glass spheres and their segments, for the manufacture of such glasses:7015.90 Other: Watch glasses:7015.90.10 Round…8517 Telephone sets, including telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network), other than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528; parts thereof:8517.70 Parts…Note 2(a) – (b) to Section XVI (Chapters 84-85) states that: Subject to note 1 to this section, note 1 to chapter 84 and note 1 to chapter 85, parts of machines (not being parts of the articles of heading 8484, 8544, 8545, 8546 or 8547) are to be classified according to the following rules: * * *Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a num