HQ 953508

June 21, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 953508 MMC

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 9403.60.80

District Director

U.S. Customs Service

909 First Ave, Rm 2039

Seattle, WA 98174

RE: Protest No. 3004-92-100148; speaker stand pedestals;

8518.90.30; Note 1(g) and 2 to Chapter 94; EN 85.18(B), Gen 4(A)

to Chapter 94

Dear District Director:

The following is our decision regarding the request for

further review of Protest No. 3004-92-100148 concerning your

action in liquidating entries of \"speaker stands\" under the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The merchandise subject to this protest consists of three

types of \"wooden speaker stands\", model nos. SS 660, SPST 600,

and SPST 300. Protestant submitted pictures of the \"speaker

stands\" and detailed diagrams of models SS 660 and SPST 600. All

have \"feet\" on their top surfaces for holding completed

loudspeakers in place.

The merchandise was entered under subheading 9403.60.80,

HTSUS, as other wooden furniture. However, the entries were

liquidated, on July 31, 1992, under subheading 8518.90.30, HTSUS,

as parts of loudspeakers. The protest was timely filed on

October 8, 1992.

The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

9403.60.80 Other furniture and parts thereof: \[o\]ther

wooden furniture: \[o\]ther (2.5%)

8518.90.30 Microphones and stands therefor;

loudspeakers, whether or not mounted in their

enclosures; headphones, earphones and

combined microphone/speaker sets; audio-

frequency electric amplifiers; electric sound

amplifier sets; parts thereof: \[p\]arts:

\[o\]ther (4.9%)

ISSUE:

Whether the articles are classifiable under subheading

9403.60.80, HTSUS, as other wooden furniture or under subheading

8518.90.30, HTSUS, as parts of loudspeakers?

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, HTSUS, states in part that for legal

purposes, classification shall be determined according to the

terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

Note 1(g) to Chapter 94 states in pertinent part: \[t\]his

chapter does not cover: \[f\]urniture specially designed as parts

of apparatus of heading 8518\... Therefore, it must be determined

if the articles in question are pieces of furniture specially

designed for apparatus of heading 8518, HTSUS.

In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized

Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes may be

consulted. The Explanatory Notes (EN), although not dispositive,

are to be used to determine the proper interpretation of the

HTSUS. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128, (August 23, 1989). EN

85.18(B), p. 1364, states in pertinent part:

LOUDSPEAKERS, WHETHER OR NOT MOUNTED

IN THEIR ENCLOSURES

Loudspeakers may be mounted on frames, chassis or in

cabinets of different types (often acoustically designed),

or even in articles of furniture. They remain classified in

this heading provided the main function of the whole is to

act as a loudspeaker. Separately presented frames, chassis,

cabinets, etc., also fall in this heading provided they are

identifiable as being mainly designed for mounting

loudspeakers; articles of furniture of Chapter 94 designed

to receive loudspeakers in addition to their normal function

remain classified in Chapter 94.

It is our position that the speaker stands are not mainly

designed for mounting the loudspeaker itself, but for supporting

a loudspeaker which has already been mounted in a frame, chassis

or an acoustically designed cabinet. The speaker stands do not

aid in reproducing or amplifying sound, as would the speakers,

baffles, or the cabinet, chassis, or frame which enclose them.

Furthermore, models SPST 600 and 300 are capable of supporting

articles other than speakers. Essentially they are merely wooden

pedestal stands. Because the articles do not aid the functioning

of the loudspeaker itself, but rather only support loudspeakers

already enclosed in frames, chassis or cabinets, they are not

considered parts of loudspeakers and therefore are classifiable

in Chapter 94.

Chapter 94 provides for furniture. EN Gen 4 (A) for chapter

94, p. 1574, states in pertinent part that:

\[f\]or the purposes of this Chapter, the term \"furniture\"

means:

\[a\]ny \"movable\" articles (not included under other more

specific headings of the Nomenclature), which have the

essential characteristic that they are constructed for

placing on the floor or ground, and which are used, mainly

with a utilitarian purpose\...

Heading 9403, HTSUS, provides for other furniture and parts

thereof. Note 2 to chapter 94 states in pertinent part that:

articles (other than parts) referred to in headings 9401 to 9403

are to be classified in those headings only if they are designed

for placing on the floor or ground. The speaker stands are

designed for placing on the floor or ground. Therefore, the

speaker stands are classifiable under heading 9403, specifically,

subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

For the foregoing reasons, we find that the speaker stands

are classifiable as other wooden furniture under subheading

9403.60.80, HTSUS.

Accordingly, the protest should be granted in full. A copy

of this decision should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and

provided to the protestant as part of the notice of action on the

protest.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

Commercial Rulings Division