Bluetooth Connection Essential for Fitness Band Customs Duty Classification, CBP Says

The classification for the Microsoft Band is based upon the device's ability to connect to a smartphone, Customs and Border Protection ruled. Its ability to connect to a user's smartphone over Bluetooth is the "essential character" for classification purposes, the agency said Jan. 19 in a ruling it recently released. CBP previously made similar rulings on the Apple Watch and a Samsung smartwatch. The Microsoft Band can display phone call information, news, weather, heart rate, pedometer measurements and other things when connected to a smartphone, CBP said. When not paired, the wrist band lacks the ability to show much of that information, it said. Although the device allows "some basic sound reproducing functions," and other functions, "the Microsoft Band is primarily designed to display, manipulate, and store data via the use of various applications utilized by a Bluetooth-connected mobile telephone," CBP said. That classification means the band gets duty-free treatment when imported from most countries.