CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 087114 AJS
Mr. Kevin M. Diran
Armen Cargo Services Inc.
P.O. Box 280661
San Francisco, CA 94128
RE: Glass cubes, pyramids and bars for glass decorative articles.
Glass Products, Inc. v. U.S.; H. Rep. No.100-576; parts not
specifically provided for within a heading.
Dear Mr. Diran:
Your letter of April 4, 1990, requesting a tariff
classification ruling under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States Annotated (HTSUSA), has been referred to this
office for reply.
FACTS:
The articles in question include a 25x25 mm cube, 15x15 mm
cube, 20x20 mm pyramid and a 40x40 mm bar of glass. All of these
articles are used as components for the manufacture of decorative
glass articles such as trains, churches and spinning machines.
This ruling request is limited only to these components and not
the finished products. You stress that the articles are never
sold in their imported form and that they are only used to make
the finished articles.
ISSUE:
Whether the articles in question are classifiable within
heading 7013, HTSUSA, which provides for glassware of a kind used
for table, kitchen, toilet, office, indoor decoration or similar
purposes; or classifiable within heading 7020, HTSUSA, which
provides for other articles of glass.
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LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is governed
by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1 provides
that classification is determined first in accordance with the
terms of the headings of the tariff and any relative section or
chapter notes.
Heading 7013, HTSUSA, provides for glassware of a kind used
for indoor decoration. Explanatory Note (EN) 70.13 states that
this heading covers articles of glassware and lists as examples
of these items; table or kitchen glassware, toilet articles,
office glassware and glassware for indoor decoration. However,
parts of these articles are not specifically provided for within
this heading. The articles in question are parts of glassware
used for indoor decoration and are not decorative or ornamental
items in their own right. Therefore, they are not accurately
described by the terms of this heading and cannot be classified
therein.
The Court of International Trade (CIT) previously ruled in
a case covering merchandise very similar to that at issue. Glass
Products, Inc. v. United States (Glass Products), 10 CIT 253
(1986). This case involved the classification of crystal votive
cups chiefly used in the household as parts of decorative
articles. The competing tariff provisions at issue were item
546.60, Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS), which
provided for household glassware and item 548.05, TSUS, which
provided for articles not specially provided for of glass. As in
the present case, item 546.60 did not provide for parts of
household glassware. The CIT relied upon the well established
principle "that a tariff provision which does not specifically
provide for parts does not include them", and rejected the
classification of glassware parts as household glassware. Glass
Products at 255. See also Ruth F. Sturm, Customs Law and
Administration, section 54.9 at 38 (1990); Murphy & Co. et al.
v. United States, 13 Ct. Cust. Appls. 256, T.D. 41201 (1925);
Herman Miller Clock Co. v. United States, 22 CCPA 332, T.D. 47363
(1934); United States v. Lyons Transport, 45 CCPA 104, C.A.D. 681
(1958); United States v. Paul M.W. Bruckmann, 65 CCPA 90, C.A.D.
1211, 582 F.2d 622 (1978). Instead, the CIT classified the
crystal cups within item 548.05, TSUS, as articles of glass.
While this ruling is not binding precedent on Customs under
the HTSUSA, Congress has indicated that earlier tariff rulings
must not be disregarded in applying the HTSUSA. The conference
report to the 1988 Omnibus Trade Act states that "on a case-by-
case basis prior decisions should be considered instructive in
interpreting the HTS[USA], particularly where the nomenclature
previously interpreted in those decisions remain unchanged and no
dissimilar interpretation is required by the text of the
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HTS[USA]." H. Rep. No. 100-576, 100th Cong., 2D Sess. 548 (1988)
at 550. We consider the analysis in Glass Products instructive
in interpreting the HTSUSA in this instance. Glass Products
involves the predecessor provisions under the TSUS of the HTSUSA
headings at issue in the present case. Both the texts of item
546.60 and subheading 7013.99.50, and item 548.05 and subheading
7020.00.00 are substantially similar.
The established principle of "parts" classification relied
upon in Glass Products is also more than simply a prior decision
issued under the TSUS. In addition, it is a principle of
statutory interpretation whose application is not limited solely
to the TSUS but which can be applied to the HTSUSA as well. As
stated previously, TSUS decisions can only be instructive when
the text of the HTSUSA does not require a dissimilar
interpretation. The text of GRI 1, which mirrors the principle
of "parts" classification, requires classification to be
determined by the terms of the headings. In other words, if the
terms of a heading do not contain a provision for parts then
parts cannot be classified within that heading. Thus the
instructive use of the principle of "parts" classification is
appropriate in this case and required by the HTSUSA.
Subheading 7020.00.00, HTSUSA, provides for other articles
of glass. EN 70.20 states that "[t]his heading covers glass
articles (including glass parts of articles) not covered by other
headings of this Chapter or other Chapters of the Nomenclature."
The articles in question are glass parts of articles and not
covered by any other heading. Therefore, they satisfy the terms
of this heading and are classifiable therein.
A question has been raised as to whether these articles are
decorative in their own right and thus, even if not classifiable
as parts, should still be classified as decorative household
articles. Although this argument has merit, in view of the fact
that these articles are never sold individually, we find that
their use by themselves as decorative articles would be fugitive
at best. We must reject this argument.
HOLDING:
The glass parts in question are classifiable within
subheading 7020.00.00, HTSUSA, which provides for other articles
of glass dutiable at the rate of 6.6 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division