LED Tail Lights Classifiable as Motor Vehicle Lighting Equipment, Not LED Lamps, CBP Says

Light-emitting diode tail lights for trucks are classifiable as lighting equipment for motor vehicles under heading 8512, and not as LED lamps of heading 8539, CBP said in a ruling issued months ago but not publicly released on the Customs Rulings Online Search System until Aug. 11. The reference to “lamps” in heading 8539 refers to what would be called bulbs in the U.S., so the tail light assemblies are beyond that heading's scope, CBP said in HQ H301947, issued in January.

CBP’s Automotive and Aerospace Center of Excellence and Expertise requested the ruling as internal advice, at the urging of Yourtruckstopshop, which does business as Trux Accessories. Trux had imported the LED tail lights under subheading 8512.20.20, a duty-free provision for lighting equipment for motor vehicles. CBP instead took the position that they were classifiable in subheading 8512.20.40 as visual signaling equipment for motor vehicles, dutiable at 2.5%.

Trux subsequently argued that the LED tail lamps should be classifiable in heading 8539, which provides for lamps, including LED lamps, which are dutiable at 2%. Goods of heading 8539 are excluded from classification in heading 8512.

CBP noted that the provision for LED lamps in heading 8539 is a new one, having been added to the Harmonized System in the 2017 update. But, as indicated by the types of non-LED lamps already classifiable in heading 8539 as of 2017, the new provision was intended to be narrower. “Lamps” in the Harmonized System “may also be understood as 'bulbs' in the U.S. The heading covers, inter alia, replacement incandescent or filament bulbs, as well as the next generation of these products, LED bulbs,” CBP said.

The explanatory note to heading 8539 supports this interpretation, saying LED lamps “consist of a glass or plastic envelope, one or more light-emitting diodes (LED), circuitry to rectify AC power and to convert voltage to a level useable by the LEDs, and a base (e.g., screw, bayonet or bi-pin type) for fixing in the lamp-holder.” The structure of subheading 8539.50 also supports that the heading refers to bulbs, as it is subdivided into different bulb shapes, the agency said.

“The products in question are finished LED tail lights for trucks. The LEDs are covered by a lens specifically colored to meet [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] standards, they are shaped for use with a vehicle and connect to the vehicle’s power by virtue of a wire harness,” CBP said. “They are marketed and sold through the auto accessory market. They are beyond the scope of the goods of heading 85.39 and thus are not precluded from classification under heading 85.12, which provides for electrical lighting or signaling equipment of a kind used for cycles or motor vehicles.”

The LED tail lights are instead classifiable in subheading 8512.20.20 as electrical lighting equipment, and are duty-free, CBP said. The agency did not explain its decision to classify them in that subheading, rather than in CBP's previously preferred subheading 8512.20.40 as visual signaling equipment.