CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 966458 RSD
Port Director
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
P.O. Box 619050 Dallas, Texas 75261
RE: Internal Advice 03/003; Classification of Top Tracks and Hanging Standards Used in Constructing Wall Shelving Systems for Closets
Dear Director:
This is in response to your memorandum dated March 13, 2003, addressed to the Customs Information Exchange regarding Internal Advice Request 03/003. DJS international Services, Inc., initiated the internal advice request on behalf of the Container Store, by sending a letter dated December 11, 2002, to your office. The internal advice request concerns the classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) of top tracking and hanging standards used in constructing shelving systems for storage in closets. The Chief, Metals and Machinery Branch, National Commodity Division, forwarded your memorandum to our office and his own accompanying memorandum dated April 18, 2003. Sample brochures and product literature with pictures and illustrations was submitted for examination.
FACTS:
The subject merchandise consists of top tracks and hanging standards that are used in constructing a wall shelving system for storage. Both of these articles are made of steel. The top tracks have a small lip at their bottom and are affixed to a wall by means of screws. The hanging standards are specifically made to hook onto the top tracks, with a small slot that fits into the lip of the top tracks. In constructing the shelving systems, the standards are placed against a wall, but they are not affixed to the wall by means of screws or by any other type of fasteners. Once the standards have been hung, brackets can be attached to them at various desired levels. Shelves are secured to the brackets to form a shelving unit. It appears that the shelving systems are primarily intended for use as storage units in closets.
The top tracks are imported in 32 inch, 56 inch and 80 inch lengths and can be cut to any size to fit the users’ needs. The hanging standards also come in three lengths: 36 inch, 60 inch and 84 inch. The top tracks and the hanging standards are not necessarily imported together because a purchaser may buy different sizes depending on the size of the shelving that will be built. In other words, these items are not imported as a unit because the shelving is designed to custom fit a customer’s needs. The parts are pulled to create and build a shelving unit.
ISSUE:
Whether the top tracks and hanging standards are classified under heading 8302, HTSUS, as base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture, or as other furniture and parts thereof under heading 9403, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI’s may then be applied.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes ("EN’s") constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the EN’s provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
Base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles
suitable for furniture, doors, staircases, windows, blinds, coachwork, saddlery, trunks, chests, caskets
or the like; base metal hat racks, hat-pegs, brackets and similar fixtures; castors with mountings of base metal; automatic door closers of base metal; and base metal parts thereof:
Other mountings, fittings and similar articles, and parts thereof:
8302.41 Suitable for buildings:
Other:
8302.41.60 Of iron or steel, of
aluminum or of zinc.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Other furniture and parts thereof:
Parts:
Other:
9403.90.80 Other.
It is the position of the Container Store that the top tracks and hanging standards used to make the wall shelves should be classified in subheading 9403.90.80, HTSUS as parts of metal furniture. Legal Note (LN) 2 to Chapter 94, HTSUS, reads as follows:
2. The 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 following are, however, to be classified in the above-mentioned headings even if they are designed to be hung, to be fixed to the wall or to stand one on the other: (a) Cupboards, bookcases, other shelved furniture and unit furniture;
(b) Seats and beds.
The General EN to chapter 94, HTSUS, provides in pertinent part as follows:
For the purposes of this Chapter the term "furniture" means:
(A) Any "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, to equip private dwellings, hotels, theatres, cinemas, offices. . . (B) The following:
Cupboards, bookcases, other shelved furniture and unit furniture, designed to be hung, to be fixed to the wall or to stand one on the other or side by side, for holding various objects or articles (books, crockery, kitchen utensils, glassware, linen, medicaments, toilet articles, radio or television receivers, ornaments, etc.) and separately presented elements of unit furniture.
(b) Seats or beds designed to be hung or to be fixed to the wall.
Customs has previously considered when shelving would be regarded as shelving furniture which would be classified in heading 9403, HTSUS. In HQ 088958 dated June 18, 1991, we stated that:
It is now our view that our interpretation of the term "other shelved furniture" is overly broad and is creating problems in classification uniformity for articles which have never been considered "furniture" by previous tariffs or by the furniture trade. Furthermore, it is our opinion that it was not the intent of the drafters of the Harmonized System (HS) to classify small furnishings or fixtures as "furniture" simply because a shelf is incorporated in their construction.
In addition, it appears that in HRL 083435 the term "other shelved furniture" was taken and used out of context. When placed in the proper context of the Chapter Notes and the EN, it becomes clear that it was not the intent of the HS to include under the furniture headings of Chapter 94 small furnishings, which have essentially the character of utensils, fixtures, and ornaments rather than furniture.
With respect to the intent of the drafters of the HS, General EN to Chapter 94 at page 1574 [EN page number has subsequently changed to 1900] makes the following relevant comments:
Except for the goods referred to in subparagraph (B) above, the term "furniture" does not apply to articles used as furniture but designed for placing on other furniture or shelves or for hanging on walls or from the ceiling.
In HQ 964503 dated August 14, 2001, Customs held that glass wall shelves were not “other furniture” within the meaning of heading 9403, HTSUS and were not “cupboards, bookcases, and other shelved furniture” within the meaning of Note 2 to Chapter 94. We further explained that further confirmation that an article which is “itself no more than a shelf” is not to be included within the term “furniture” as found in EN 94.03 which reads as follows:
This heading does not include:
(c) Builders’ fittings (e.g., frames, doors and shelves) for cupboards, etc. to be built into walls (heading 44.18 if of wood).
Based on the foregoing, in HQ 964503, we ruled that LN 2(a) to Chapter 94, HTSUSA, should be interpreted to mean that only articles which are “furniture” similar to cupboards and bookcases in that they are substantial articles having the essential characteristic that they are used to equip a home, office, etc., and incorporate shelves in their construction, whether or not they are designed to be hung or fixed to the wall, are classifiable as “furniture” under heading 9403, HTSUS.
In accordance with these decisions, we find that the top tracks and hanging standards for the closet shelving systems are not described as parts of furniture under heading 9403, HTSUS.
An alternative classification for these articles was set forth in
NY E8966, dated December 1, 1999, which held that single wall standards, double wall standards, heavy duty wall standards, recessed standards, outriggers and pullout rods were classified under subheading 8302.41.60, HTSUS. Heading 8302 covers base metal mountings, fittings, and similar articles suitable for furniture, doors, staircases, windows, blinds, coachwork, saddlery, trunks, chests, caskets or the like; fixtures; castors with mountings of base metal; automatic door closers of base metal; and base metal parts thereof.
In analyzing heading 8302, HTSUS, the question that arises is whether the tracking and hanging standards are considered mountings. In this instance, neither the HTSUS, nor the ENs provide a definition of the term "mountings". A tariff term that is not defined in the HTSUS or in the ENs is construed in accordance with its common and commercial meanings, which are presumed to be the same. Nippon Kogasku (USA) Inc. v. United States, 69 CCPA 89, 673 F. 2d 380 (1982). Common and commercial meaning may be determined by consulting dictionaries, lexicons, scientific authorities and other reliable sources. C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 69 CCPA 128, 673 F. 2d 1268 (1982). The term "mounting" is described as "something serving as a backing, support, setting etc." See Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, 2nd, Edition p.931 (1974). In addition, The American Heritage Dictionary, (4thed; 2000) defines “mounting” as “…something that serves as a support setting or backing: mounting for a gem….”
In viewing the product literature, we note that the top tracking is affixed to a wall usually inside a closet by drilling holes into the wall and by inserting screws in holes in the tracking to tighten the tracking to the wall. The standards are hooked onto the top tracks so that the brackets and shelves can then be attached. Although the standards are not screwed into the wall, they are nevertheless securely placed onto the wall and serve as supports and as a backing to secure the shelving system. Accordingly, the tracking and standards are base metal articles that will serve as a support, backing or a setting for the closet shelving system, and thus fit within the definitions for mountings mentioned above. Therefore, we find that the top tracking and the hanging standards for the shelving system are described in heading 8302, HTSUS, and are classified in subheading 8302.41.60, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The top tracking and metal standards for closet shelving systems are classified in subheading 8302.41.60, HTSUS, which provides for: “Base metal mountings, fittings, and similar articles…: Other mountings, fittings, and similar articles, and parts thereof: Suitable for buildings: Other: Of iron or steel, of aluminum or of zinc.”
Sincerely,
Myles B Harmon, Director
Commercial Rulings Division