OT:RR:CTF:CPMMA H293786 AJK
TARIFF NO: 9404.90.20
Mr. R. Kevin Williams
Rodriguez, O’Donnell, Gonzalez & Williams, P.C.
Attorneys & Counselors at Law
8430 West Bryn Mawr Avenue, Suite 525
Chicago, IL 60631
RE: Revocation of NY N132069, NY N245061, and NY N246761; Classification of Child Car Seat Cushions
Dear Mr. Williams:
This letter is in reference to your New York Ruling Letter (NY) N132069, issued to you by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on November 18, 2010, concerning the tariff classification of cushions for child car seats under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). We have reviewed your ruling classifying the cushions in subheading 9401.90.50, HTSUS, as parts of seats, and determined that the classification of the merchandise was incorrect.
We have also reviewed NY N245061, dated August 30, 2013, and NY N246761, dated November 13, 2013, classifying similar merchandise in subheading 9401.90.50, HTSUS, and have determined that the aforementioned rulings were incorrect. For the reasons set forth below, we revoke these three ruling letters.
Pursuant to section 625(c)(1), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1625(c)(1)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057), a notice of the proposed action was published in the Customs Bulletin, Volume 55, No. 15, on April 21, 2021. One comment was received in response to this notice. Although the proposed ruling discussed the classification of canopies for child car seats, we are declining to discuss the canopies in this final ruling.
FACTS:
The child car seat cushions with clips were described in NY N132069 as follows:
The merchandise at issue is two styles of infant car seat cushions, identified by Graco as the Comfort Sport and My Ride. Each of the seat cushions, are covers designed and shaped to go over a molded infant car seat shell with a molded foam insert. Each cushion is composed of polyurethane foam and polyester batting, and has two plastic clips per cushion that anchors the cushion to the bottom of the car seat frame. The seat cushions have two horizontal slits for each of the shoulders and one horizontal slit for the lap that secures the infant to the car seat by means of harness straps. The harness straps are not imported with the cushions. These cushions with their clips are imported together.
The child car seat cushions with clips were described in NY N245061 as follows:
The merchandise concerned pertains to five cover sets packaged for retail sales designed for attachment and use with Britax’s child safety seats. These cover sets have components that either cover over or attach to their respective child safety seat. All five cover sets have clips on the component identified as the {car seat cover} and these clips attach the cover to the frame of their respective child safety seat. To clarify, the car seat covers are upholstered cushion covers that form only part of the covering for child safety seats; the other components are needed to fully cover over and pad each of the child safety seats. From observation of the sample and an understanding of the illustrative literature only the car seat covers have clips to attach to the frame of the child safety seat, while the other components secure to the seat by means of Velcro, loops or slide-through slits.
Cover set # 1, Marathon 70-G3 consists of a one piece body pillow and car seat cover, a head pad, a body pillow, a belly pad and two comfort pads. Cover set # 2, Roundabout 55 consists of a car seat cover, body pillow, a belly pad and two comfort pads. Cover set # 3, Boulevard 70-G3 consists of a car seat cover, a head pillow, a body pillow, a belly pad and two comfort pads. Cover set # 4, Pavilion 70-G3 consists of a car seat cover, a head pad, a body pillow, a belly pad and two comfort pads. Cover set # 5, Advocate 70 consists of a car seat cover, a head pillow, a body pillow, a belly pad and two comfort pads.
The child car seat cushions with clips described in NY N246761 are substantially similar to the product described above.
ISSUE:
Whether the child car seat cushions with clips are classified in heading 9401, HTSUS, as parts of car seats; or heading 9404, HTSUS, as cushions.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of goods under the 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 of the tariff schedule 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 GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
* * * * * *
The HTSUS provisions at issue are as follows:
9401 Seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof:
9401.90 Parts:
Other:
9401.90.50 Other:
9404 Mattress supports; articles of bedding and similar furnishing (for
example, mattresses, quilts, eiderdowns, cushions, pouffes and pillows) fitted with springs or stuffed or internally fitted with any material or of cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered:
9404.90 Other:
Pillows, cushions and similar furnishings:
9404.90.20 Other
The Legal Note to Chapter 94, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent part:
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:
…
(b) Seats and beds.
3. …
(b) Goods described in heading 9404, entered separately, are not to be classified
in heading 9401, 9402 or 9403 as parts of goods.
* * * * * *
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the HS. While not legally binding or dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HS at the international level, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).
EN 94.01 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
Subject to the exclusions mentioned below, this heading covers all seats (including those for vehicles, provided that they comply with the conditions prescribed in Note 2 to this Chapter), for example:
Lounge chairs, arm chairs, folding chairs, deck chairs, infants’ high chairs and children’s seats designed to be hung on the back of other seats (including vehicle seats) ….
The Parts EN to heading 9401, HTSUS, provides:
The heading also covers identifiable parts of chairs or other seats, such as backs, bottoms and arm-rests (whether or not upholstered with straw or cane, stuffed or sprung), seat or backrest covers for permanent attachment to a seat, and spiral springs assembled for seat upholstery.
Separately presented cushions and mattresses, sprung, stuffed or internally fitted with any material or of cellular rubber or plastics whether or not covered, are excluded (heading 94.04) even if they are clearly specialised as parts of upholstered seats (e.g., settees, couches, sofas). When these articles are combined with other parts of seats, however, they remain classified in this heading. They also remain in this heading when presented with the seats of which they form part.
EN 94.04 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
This heading covers:
…
(B) Articles of bedding and similar furnishing which are sprung or stuffed or internally
fitted with any material (cotton, wool, horsehair, down, synthetic fibres, etc.), or are of cellular rubber or plastics (whether or not covered with woven fabric, plastics, etc.) ….
* * * * * *
In Bauerhin Techs. Ltd. Pshp. v. United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed cushions for child car seats and classified them under heading 9404, HTSUS. 110 F.3d 774, 775-6 (Fed. Cir. 1997), aff’g, 19 C.I.T. 1441 (1995). Similar to the instant child car seat cushions, the cushions in Bauerhin contained plastic clips that were sewn into the cushions, were in the shape and form of child car seats, and were imported separately from the car seats with which they were parts. See id. at 775. According to Note 3(b) of Chapter 94, which states that “[g]oods described in heading 9404, entered separately, are not to be classified in heading 9401, 9402 or 9403 as parts of goods”, the Federal Circuit held that goods—such as the instant child car seat cushions with clips—are excluded from heading 9401, if they are classifiable in both headings 9401 and 9404, HTSUS. See id. at 777. Furthermore, the Parts EN to heading 9401, HTSUS, provides that “[s]eparately presented cushions and mattresses … are excluded (heading 94.04) even if they are clearly specialised as parts of upholstered seats.” As stated in EN 94.04, heading 9404, HTSUS, covers “[a]rticles of bedding and similar furnishing which are stuffed or internally fitted with any material”. Specifically, subheading 9404.90.20, HTSUS, which provides for cushions, is an eo nomine provision that wholly characterizes cushions, such as those in the instant case. The Bauerhin court, therefore, classified the child car seat cushions with clips in subheading 9404.90.20, HTSUS, as cushions.
The instant child car seat cushions are similar to those described in HQ 953673, dated October 6, 1993, which was the ruling on the protested merchandise discussed in Bauerhin and affirmed by the Federal Circuit, as they contain clips, are imported separately from the child car seats, and are padded with other materials. In HQ 953673, CBP held that the clips that are sewn to cushions “are not part of the seats but rather form a unitary whole with the cushion.” Similarly, the clips that are part of the instant child car seat cushions are only utilized to secure the placement of the cushions in the child car seats and thus, do not form an actual part of the seats in which the cushions are used. In addition to HQ 953673, we found that similar child car seat cushions with clips were classified in subheading 9404.90.20, HTSUS, as cushions, in NY C85243, dated March 26, 1998, NY D83542, dated October 29, 1998, and NY F88897, dated July 14, 2000. Pursuant to GRI 1, therefore, the child car seat cushions with clips are classified in subheading 9404.90.20, HTSUS, as cushions.
As noted above, we received one comment in response to the notice of the proposed revocation. The commenter contends that the three rulings at issue concerning the classification of child car seat cushions were correct because the cushions and their clips constitute parts of the seat within heading 9401, HTSUS. The commenter argues that they should be classified as parts of the seat because they are designed and used solely for their respective seat structure, and neither the body of the car seats nor the cushions would function without the attached clips. As explained above, however, the Federal Circuit held in Bauerhin that child car seat cushions with clips are classified in heading 9404, HTSUS, as cushions. As the subject merchandise is substantially similar to the child car seat cushions with clips that were analyzed in Bauerhin, CBP is bound to follow this judicial precedent. The child car seat cushions with clips, therefore, are properly classified in heading 9404, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the child car seat cushions with clips are classified in heading 9404, HTSUS, specifically in subheading 9404.90.20, HTSUS, which provides for “[m]attress supports; articles of bedding and similar furnishing (for example, mattresses, quilts, eiderdowns, cushions, pouffes and pillows) fitted with springs or stuffed or internally fitted with any material or of cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered: [o]ther: [p]illows, cushions and similar furnishings: [o]ther”. The 2021 column one, general rate of duty is six percent ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
NY N132069, dated November 18, 2010; NY N245061, dated August 30, 2013; and NY N246761, dated November 13, 2013, are hereby revoked.
In accordance with 19 U.S.C. § 1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days from the date of publication in the Customs Bulletin.
Sincerely,
for
Craig T. Clark, Director Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division
CC: Mr. Chris Reynolds
Senior Manager, Trade Services
Barthco International, Inc., d/b/a OHL-International
5101 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19112