In Brief
A cable network operator imported multiple electronic components and declared them as separate items under different tariff headings. Customs authorities found that the components were actually parts of a unified cable-TV head-end system intended to function together, and that values of embedded software and pre-shipment integration services had been suppressed. The Supreme Court upheld the Department's rejection of the individual classification and undervalued declarations. The Court held that when imported components are designed to work together to achieve a single defined function, they must be classified under the heading appropriate to that composite function, and the value must include pre-importation software integration costs. The appeal was dismissed."
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