Fossil Watches With Bluetooth Timekeeping Best Classified as Smartwatches, Says CBP
Fossil watches that depend on a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone for timekeeping are best classified as smartwatches based on the radio transceiver, said Customs and Border Protection in a newly posted April 30 ruling. Fossil lawyers asked CBP in…
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.
October 2016 for a “binding ruling” on the classification of Fossil Q hybrid smartwatches under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, said the agency. CBP responded that the Fossil Q lacks mechanical or quartz watch movements and instead uses its Bluetooth connection to set the time. Before a Bluetooth connection is made, "the watch hands are completely inactive,” it said. “Not only are they unmoving, but they cannot be actuated or manually adjusted by the user." Once the watch is paired via Bluetooth to a mobile device, the time is automatically synchronized, CBP said. "From that point forward, the Fossil Q autonomously keeps the time of that zone throughout any interruptions to the connection with the mobile application," it said. "However, even following initial synchronization, the time cannot be adjusted manually by the user. Instead, any adjustments to the watch hands -- based, for example, on a change in time zone -- are orchestrated automatically by the mobile application." Friday, the company didn’t comment.