HQ 954375: Door, Window, and Mirror Control Panel; Chapter 90, Note 6; Explanatory Note 90.32; 9032.89.60

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 954375
                          June 25, 1993


CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 954375 DWS

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 8537.10.00

Mr. Angel A. Oliva-Hardison
Angelo International
265 E. 12th Street
P.O. Box 8378
Brownsville, TX 78520-8378

RE: Door, Window, and Mirror Control Panel; Chapter 90, Note 6;
    Explanatory Note 90.32; 9032.89.60

Dear Mr. Oliva-Hardison:

     This is in response to your letter of April 30, 1993, on
behalf of Eaton Corporation, concerning the classification of a
door, window, and mirror control panel under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

     The merchandise consists of a door, window, and mirror control
panel.  It is used to control the position of the windows, the door
locks, and, in some cases, the position of the side mirrors of a
motor vehicle.  The control panel is imported from Mexico.

     The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

     9032.89.60: [a]utomatic regulating or controlling instruments
                 and apparatus; parts and accessories: [o]ther
                 instruments and apparatus: [o]ther: [o]ther.

     The general, column one rate of duty is 4.9 percent ad
     valorem.

     8537.10.00: . . . panels (including numerical control panels)
                 . . . equipped with two or more apparatus of 
                 heading 8535 or 8536, for electric control or the
                 distribution of electricity, including those
                 incorporating instruments or apparatus of chapter
                 90, other than switching apparatus of heading   
                  8517: [f]or a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V.

     The general, column one rate of duty is 5.3 percent ad
     valorem. 

ISSUE:

     Whether the control panel is classifiable under subheading
9032.89.60, HTSUS, as an other automatic controlling instrument and
apparatus, or under subheading 8537.10.00, HTSUS, as a control
panel?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in accordance
with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's), taken in order.
GRI 1 provides that classification is determined according to the
terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

     Chapter 90, note 6, HTSUS, states that:

     [h]eading 9032 applies only to:

     (a) Instruments and apparatus for automatically controlling 
          the flow, level, pressure or other variables of liquids
or
         gases, or for automatically controlling temperature,
         whether or not their operation depends on an electrical
         phenomenon which varies according to the factor to be
         automatically controlled; and

     (b) Automatic regulators of electrical quantities, and      
          instruments or apparatus for automatically controlling
         non-electrical quantities the operation of which depends
         on an electrical phenomenon varying according to the    
          factor to be controlled.

     The control panel is not described by chapter 90, note 6,
HTSUS, because it is not used for automatically controlling the
flow, level, pressure of liquids or gases, or for automatically
controlling temperature, nor is it used for controlling non-
electrical quantities, the operation of which depends on a varying
electrical quantity.

     In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes may be
utilized.  The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive, are to
be used to determine the proper interpretation of the HTSUS.  54
Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).  In describing the goods
included under chapter 90, note 6(b), HTSUS, Explanatory Note 90.32
(p. 1535) states that:

     [t]he automatic regulators of this heading are intended for
     use in complete automatic control systems which are designed
     to bring quantity, electrical or non-electrical, to, and    
      maintain it at, a desired value, stabilised against any
     disturbances, by constantly measuring its actual value. . . 

     The control panel does not possess any sensing or measuring
devices, nor does it have the ability to compare a measured value
against a pre-programmed value.  It contains switches which must
be manually activated.

     It is our position that the merchandise is eo nomine
classifiable under subheading 8537.10.00, HTSUS, as a control
panel.

HOLDING:

     The door, window, and mirror control panel is classifiable
under subheading 8537.10.00, HTSUS, as a control panel.

     Goods classifiable under this provision and originating in
Mexico, upon meeting the requirements of sections 10.173 - 10.178,
Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.173 - 10.178), receive duty free
treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences.

                           Sincerely,



                           John Durant, Director