CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 950317 NLP
Ms. Linda A. Galbraith
Trans-Trade, Inc.
P.O. Box 612369
DFW Airport, TX 75261-02369
RE: chairs with wood frames; bent-wood chairs; subheading
9401.69.60; subheading 9401.69.20; Shelby Williams Mfg.,
Inc. vs. United States; NYRL 861469
Dear Ms. Gailbraith:
This is in response to your letter of August 23, 1991, on
behalf of Sidex International Furniture, requesting the
classification of chairs under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (HTSUS). Color photographs of the chairs were
submitted for our examination.
FACTS:
Styles LC 3014 and 6014, the windsor chair model, are wood
chairs that have straight legs, solid cut seats, straight backs
composed of 8 rods and a curved piece that connects and holds the
seats and backs. These chairs will be used principally for
dining furniture.
Styles CC 327 and CC 627, the country windsor chair model,
are the same as the above chairs, except that the legs have been
turned on a lathe to make detailed cuts on them.
ISSUE:
Are the subject chairs classified in subheading 9401.69.60,
HTSUS, which provides for other seats, with wooden frames,
other, chairs, other, or in subheading 9401.69.20, HTSUS, which
provides for other seats, with wooden frames, other, bent-wood
seats.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's),
taken in order. GRI 1 provides that classification shall be
determined according to the terms of the heading and any
relative section or chapter notes.
Heading 9401, HTSUS, provides for seats (other than those
of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts
thereof. The competing subheadings for the classification of the
subject chairs are the following: subheading 9401.69.20, HTSUS,
which provides for other seats, with wooden frames, other, bent-
wood seats and subheading 9401.69.60, HTSUS, which provides for
other seats, with wooden frames, other, chairs, other.
Headquarter's Ruling Letter (HRL) 043859, dated May 17,
1976 dealt with the issue of whether certain styles of chairs
were considered to be bent-wood furniture. In discussing what
the term, bent-wood, meant HRL 043859 stated the following:
For tariff purposes, the term, bent-wood, means sold wood
made pliable. Bent-wood is wood that is brought to a curved
shape by bending it while made pliable with moist heat or
other agency, and then set by cooling or drying, with or
without special finishing. As used in this context, bent-
wood does not include bent or molded plywood, or curved
constructions made from flexible laminations, or curved wood
formed by making close incisions with a cutter on one or
both of the surfaces being bent, without plasticizing. In
addition, bent-wood does not include wood that has been made
to appear curved by sawing.
Furthermore, HRL 043859 held that bent-wood furniture is wooden
furniture the framework of which is constructed principally of
bent-wood parts; that is, furniture in which the bent-wood parts
predominate. The predominate parts give the article its name,
form, shape and determine its character and use.
In Shelby Williams Mfg., Inc. vs. United States, C.D. 2581,
dated October 20, 1965, the United States Customs Court dealt
with the classification of a chair that had a plywood back which
was bandsawn, shaped, and attached to a bent-wood seat frame and
had four straight turn front legs. The chair also had an
understructure, called a U stretcher, attached to all four legs.
The seat frame and the U stretcher consisted of bent-wood. The
court held that where only two parts of the chair out of eight
were of bent-wood and those parts did not control the design of
the chair, the bent-wood parts did not predominate and the chair
was not considered to be bent-wood furniture.
New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 861469, dated March 25, 1991,
dealt with the issue of whether the Bridge Armchair, model 36-A,
was considered bent-wood for tariff classification purposes under
the HTSUS. This chair had a wood frame and legs with wood arms.
Only the arms were made of bent-wood. NYRL 861469 held that for
a chair to be considered bent-wood, the chair must be constructed
of at least 50% bent-wood parts. Since only the arms were made
of bent-wood, the chair was not considered to be bent-wood
furniture and it was classified in subheading 9401.69.60, HTSUS.
Therefore, for the chairs to be classified in subheading
9401.69.20, HTSUS, as bent-wood seats, the bent-wood must
predominate. A reasonable guideline would seem to be that a
chair must be at least 50% bent-wood parts. Although the chairs
under consideration are described by you as bent-wood, only the
curved piece is made of bent-wood. As a result, bent-wood parts
do not predominate in the chairs and they are not considered
bent-wood furniture. The correct classification for the subject
chairs is in subheading 9401.69.60, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The chairs are classified in subheading 9401.69.60, HTSUS,
which provides for other seats, with wooden frames, other,
chairs, other. The rate of duty is 5.3 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division