CBP Bulletin Proposes to Revoke Rulings on Docking Station Speaker Systems for MP3 Players
In the Sept. 4 issue of the CBP Bulletin (Vol. 47, No. 37), CBP published a notice proposing to revoke rulings and similar treatment regarding the tariff classification of docking stations with speaker systems for MP3 players.
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Comments on Proposed Revocations Due Oct. 4
CBP said consideration will be given to any written comments received by Oct. 4 before taking this action. In addition, any party who has received a ruling or decision on the merchandise that is subject to the proposed revocations, or any party involved with a substantially identical transaction, should advise CBP by the date that written comments on the proposed ruling are due. (An importer's failure to advise CBP of such rulings, decisions, or substantially identical transactions may raise issues of reasonable care on the part of the importer or its agents for importations subsequent to the effective date of the final decision in this notice.)
Proposed Revocations
CBP is proposing to revoke the rulings below, and any rulings on these products that may exist but have not been specifically identified. CBP is also proposing to revoke or modify any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
MP3 Player Docking Stations with Speaker Systems
| Item: Multiple types of MP3 player docking stations with speakers that can reproduce sound from removable solid state non-volatile media. The device is inserted into this base, and the docking stations serve both to charge the device, and to play the music files on it through the loudspeakers. |
| Current: 8518.22.00, 4.9%, (Microphones and stands therefor; loudspeakers, whether or not mounted in their enclosures; headphones and earphones, whether or not combined with a microphone, and sets consisting of a microphone and one or more loudspeakers; audio-frequency electric amplifiers; electric sound amplifier sets; parts thereof: Loudspeakers, whether or not mounted in their enclosures: Multiple loudspeakers, mounted in the same enclosure.) or 8518.40.20, 4.9% (Microphones and stands therefor; loudspeakers, whether or not mounted in their enclosures; headphones and earphones, whether or not combined with a microphone, and sets consisting of a microphone and one or more loudspeakers; audio-frequency electric amplifiers; electric sound amplifier sets; parts thereof: Audio-frequency electric amplifiers: Other.) |
| Proposed: 8519.89.30, Free, (Sound recording or reproducing apparatus: Other apparatus: Other: Other.) |
| Reason: Explanatory notes define sound recording or reproducing devices as functioning by way of semiconductor media. "In order for a device to be a sound-reproducing device, it must be able to read the recorded file, either from an internal memory or from a removable solid state non-volatile media, such as a USB flash memory apparatus," said CBP. Because the merchandise can reproduce sound from "removable solid state non-volatile media," they can be classified under heading 8519, the agency said. |
| Proposed for revocation: HQ H213705 (2012), NY R01884 (2005) |
| Proposed new ruling: HQ H213705 |