CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 956363 BC
Marty Langtry
Castelazo & Associates
5420 W. 104th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90045
RE: Reconsideration of NYRL 893902; classification of hardwood
flooring; tongued and grooved on the edges and ends; HRL 955712;
HRL 952940; builders' carpentry and joinery of wood
Dear Ms. Langtry:
This responds to your letter of April 29, 1994, wherein you
requested that we reconsider the classification decision made in
New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 893902, dated February 2, 1994.
The ruling classified solid hardwood flooring from Australia. We
have reviewed the matter, and our decision follows.
FACTS:
The merchandise at issue is hardwood cypress flooring from
Australia (Callitris glauca). The sample submitted with this
request for reconsideration is a board measuring 20 inches x 3
1/4 inches x 3/4 of an inch thick. It is tongued along one edge
and end and grooved along the other edge and end. Along the
bottom face (or surface), two grooves run the length of the
board. According to NYRL 893902, the boards will be imported in
various lengths and widths, from 10 inches to 84 inches x 2 1/2
to 5 1/4 inches.
The boards were classified in NYRL 893902 in subheading
4418.90.4090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Annotated (HTSUSA), which provides for builders' joinery and
carpentry of wood . . . : other: other: other. You contend that
they should be classified in subheading 4409.20.2560, HTSUSA,
which provides for wood . . . continuously shaped (tongued,
grooved, rebated, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded
or the like) along any of its edges or faces, whether or not
planed, sanded or finger-jointed: nonconiferous: wood flooring:
other.
ISSUE:
What is the proper classification for the subject hardwood
flooring that is tongued and grooved on the edges and ends?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS) is accomplished in accordance with the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). The systematic detail
of the Harmonized System is such that virtually all goods are
classified by application of GRI 1, that is, according to the
terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative
section or chapter notes. In the event that goods cannot be
classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if headings and
legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI's will
then be applied in numerical order.
Further, the Explanatory Notes (EN's) to the Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System, which represent the
official interpretation of the tariff at the international level,
facilitate classification under the HTSUS by offering guidance in
understanding the scope of the headings and GRI's. Accordingly,
the GRI's and EN's are utilized as the basis for the
classification determination discussed below. (See T.D. 89-80,
quoting from a report of the Joint Committee on the Omnibus Trade
and Competitiveness Act of 1988, endorsing use of the EN's in the
classification of goods. 23 Cust. Bull. 379 (1989), 54 Fed. Reg.
35,127 (August 23, 1989).) (See also Totes, Inc. v. United
States, No. 91-09-00714, slip op. 92-153 (CIT September 4, 1992),
26 Cust. Bull. No. 40, 35, 37 n. 3 (September 30, 1992), citing
T.D. 89-80 and acknowledging the authority of the EN's.)
In Headquarters Ruling Letter 955712, dated April 20, 1994,
we classified hardwood flooring similar to the flooring at issue;
it was tongued and grooved on both the edges and the ends. The
flooring was classified in subheading 4418.90.4090, HTSUSA, as
other builders' joinery and carpentry of wood. In explaining why
the flooring was not classifiable in heading 4409, HTSUSA, the
ruling cited the EN's for heading 4409, as follows (see EN's,
HCDCS, Vol. 2, p.629):
This heading covers timber, particularly in the form of
boards, planks, etc., which, after sawing or squaring,
has been continuously shaped along any of its edges or
faces either to facilitate subsequent assembly or to
obtain the moldings or beadings described . . . below,
whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed
[italics added].
The ruling then stated that the EN's use of the terms "edges" and
"faces" is significant and limiting. Its exclusion of the term
"ends" clearly indicates that the heading includes boards that
have been worked along the edges or faces but not along the ends.
This conclusion is supported later in the same EN where the
following is provided:
The heading also excludes:
(b) Wood which has been mortised or tenoned,
dovetailed or similarly worked at the ends and wood
assembled into panels being builders' carpentry or
joinery (underlining added).
Thus, heading 4409, HTSUSA, provides for wood that is
continuously worked along any of its edges or faces, but not
along the ends. Wood that is worked along the ends is beyond the
scope of heading 4409, HTSUSA. (See also HRL 952940, dated March
24, 1993, for a similar conclusion.)
Based on the foregoing, the flooring at issue, being tongued
and grooved on the ends, is not classifiable in heading 4409,
HTSUSA. Like the flooring classified in the rulings cited above,
the flooring at issue here is classifiable in subheading
4418.90.4090, HTSUSA.
HOLDING:
The hardwood flooring at issue, tongued and grooved on the
edges and the ends, is classifiable in subheading 4418.90.4090,
HTSUSA, as other builders' joinery and carpentry of wood; other;
other. Thus, NYRL 893902 is affirmed.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division