Loudspeaker Function, Not Wireless Connection, is Principal Use of Speaker Set, CBP Rules
A home theater sound bar set with wireless connectivity features is best classified based on its loudspeaker functions, rather than other features, said CBP in HQ H250308, a Dec. 8 ruling (here). The importer, Venturer Electronics, filed a request for further review of protest for the RCA sound bar package. At import, the sound bar is packaged together with a remote control, a user manual, a wall mounting bracket, batteries for the remote control, a power cord, and a quick start guide.
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Venturer, through its broker at Metro Customs Brokers, entered two sound bar packages in 2012. Those entries were classified by the port under heading 8518 as a loudspeaker with a 4.9 percent duty rate. The importer asserted that the set is instead best classified under either 8519 as a sound reproducing apparatus, or under heading 8517 as an apparatus for communication in a wireless network. The company pointed to a past CBP ruling in which a sound bar with Bluetooth connectivity was classified in heading 8519. But that ruling involved a sound bar that could read audio files from a USB drive, said CBP. "This ability to read files off of a semiconductor medium is what lead CBP" to that classification decision, it said.
While the sound bar can receive data wirelessly, it also contains five built-in speakers, said CBP. As a result, the product can be considered a composite machine "designed for the purpose of performing two or more complementary or alternative functions," it said. The home theater has several ports for connecting MP3 players and other devices to play music, which means the wireless connectivity isn't necessary to play music, said CBP. As a result, "we are of the view that the loudspeaker function is the principal function of the sound bar," the agency said.