Classification for GPS Tracking Devices Differs From Smartwatches, CBP Says

Tracking devices that use the Global Positioning System should be classified differently from smartwatches and other Bluetooth-connected devices that rely on a smartphone connection, CBP said in two recently released rulings. The Sept. 30 rulings both involve Globalstar products that use GPS signals and provide location updates. Neville Petersen lawyer Michael Tomenga requested the rulings for Globalstar, and said the trackers should be classified based on the wireless transceivers, similar to fitness tracking devices (see 1603070028).

One ruling involves two types of devices that “determine their GPS location using the internal GPS receiver and then transmit GPS location data to contacts who are tracking the user’s location.” The products are composite goods and “must be classified as if they consisted of the component which imparts their essential character,” CBP said. While both of the devices include some message-sending capability, the primary function is “to track the user’s GPS location when in remote locations that do not have cellular data service.” A device “must be able to discern its location via GPS receiver in order to transmit that location via transmitter,” CBP said. “Without the GPS receiver, the motion-activated tracking, emergency signal, and non-emergency signal cannot function as intended.“

Unlike wearable electronics that connect to other devices, the trackers “cannot be paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth and indeed, do not need to do so in order to perform their full range of tracking and communication functions,” CBP said. “They are capable of independently accessing GPS location data and transmitting such data, along with messages, without being connected to another device.“

The second ruling involves one Globalstar product that can be used to track large items being transported, such as containers or gas tanks, it said. The other GPS device at issue is used to send location information when there is a “theft alert.” CBP again said those trackers differ from smart devices that connect to a smartphone and should be classified differently.

The GPS trackers involved in both rulings, imported from China, should be classified as 8526.91.00 as radio navigational aid apparatus, CBP said. That subheading is also subject to the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China.

One other Globalstar product, which doesn't have a GPS receiver and “transmits a binary signal provided by a separate, external device,” is classifiable similar to fitness trackers, CBP said. That device “only performs one function, that of a transmitter” and should be classified in 8517.62.0090 as “Telephone sets .... ; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data ... .”