October 25, 2006 CBP Bulletin Notice on Certain Plasma Modules
In the October 25, 2006 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin)(Vol. 40, No. 44), CBP published a notice revoking two rulings and a treatment as follows:
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Revocation of rulings; revocation of treatment. CBP is revoking two rulings regarding the classification of certain plasma modules. CBP is also revoking any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
According to CBP, these revocations are effective for merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after December 24, 2006.
Plasma modules: The merchandise at issue is described as Pioneer Electronics Technology plasma display panel modules for color television displays (plasma modules which are actually the gas plasma screens for the monitors of televisions). (See bulletin for specific part numbers.) The items consist of a glass sandwich containing the necessary gas typical of such flat panel gas plasma monitors. They also contain electronic assemblies described as "the address assembly, the scan A & B assemblies, and various connector assemblies".
CBP is issuing HQ967693 to revoke NY K83248 and NY K83886 to reflect the proper classification of the subject plasma modules under subheading 8529.90.89, which provides for other subassemblies for color television receivers, rather than under subheading 8529.90.53, which provides for flat panel screen assemblies for certain apparatus.
According to CBP, the subheading for flat panel screen assemblies (8529.90.53) was added to the tariff as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Implementation Act in order to implement the NAFTA rules of origin.
As NAFTA does not provide a definition or description of ''flat panel screen assemblies", the NAFTA Customs Subgroup, after much discussion, issued a clarification which stated that in order to have a flat panel screen assembly of subheading 8529.90.53, three elements must be present: 1) a display device (other than LCD); 2) drive electronics; and 3) control electronics.
CBP concludes that the modules at issue are not ''flat panel screen assemblies'' for tariff classification purposes, as they only contain two of the three required elements; i.e., the display device and drive electronics. The panels, as imported, do not contain ''control'' electronics, that is, electronics that send data, such as timing and order signals, to the drive electronics. Therefore, the modules cannot be classified under subheading 8529.90.53.
By application of General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) 1 and 6, the subject plasma modules are classified in subheading 8529.90.89, as other subassemblies for color television receivers.
New: 8529.90.8900, duty-free; previous: 8529.90.5300, 2.9%
(See text of proposed ruling in December 21, 2005 CBP Bulletin (Vol. 39, No. 52) available at: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/legal/bulletins_decisions/bulletins_2005/vol39_12212005_no52/)
October 25, 2006 CBP Bulletin (Vol. 40, No. 44) available athttp://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/legal/bulletins_decisions/bulletins_2006/vol40_10252006_no44/