CLA-2-93:RR:NC:2:224 J87966
Jeanette Woo
Impact Games LLC
1232 Center Street
Honolulu, HI 96816
RE: The tariff classification of airsoft guns from Japan.
Dear Ms. Woo:
In your letter dated August 1, 2003, you requested a ruling on the tariff classification of airsoft guns.
The merchandise consists of an assortment of airsoft guns. These guns shoot plastic bb projectiles that are normally 6 millimeters in diameter and come in various weights ranging from 0.12g to 0.36g. They operate either by compressed gas that is expelled through a series of valves to propel the bb down the barrel or by a spring powered piston which is pulled back using an electric motor and gears. Both methods involve the release of pressurized air as a propellant. The guns are fabricated mostly out of plastic and cast aluminum parts.
The Explanatory Notes to Heading 93.04, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), state that this heading covers, inter alia, “(4) Air Guns, rifles and pistols. These resemble normal rifles, pistols, etc. but they have a provision for compressing a column of air which is released into the barrel of the weapon when the trigger is pulled, thus ejecting the ammunition.” The airsoft guns subject of this ruling are similar in design and operating characteristics to air guns and are similarly classifiable in heading 9304 of the HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the airsoft guns depends on their configuration. The subheading for airsoft rifles will be 9304.00.2000, HTSUS, which provides for “Other arms (for example, spring, air or gas guns and pistols, truncheons)…Pistols, rifles and other guns which eject missiles by release of compressed air or gas, or by the release of a spring mechanism or rubber held under tension: Rifles.” The duty rate is 3.9 percent ad valorem. The subheading for an airsoft pistol configuration will be 9304.00.4000, HTSUS, which provides for “Other arms (for example, spring, air or gas guns and pistols, truncheons)…Pistols, rifles and other guns which eject missiles by release of compressed air or gas, or by the release of a spring mechanism or rubber held under tension: Other.” The rate of duty is free.
You have also inquired as to what constitutes a rifle for purposes of subheading 9304.00.20, HTSUS. An air rifle is described as “a rifle using compressed air or gas to propel a pellet or bb from its barrel.” C. Mueller & J. Olson, Small Arms Lexicon and Concise Encyclopedia, (1968). This description supports the meaning of the term “rifle” as used in the text of the HTSUS. Heading 9303 of the HTSUS describes rifles that operate by the firing of an explosive charge while subheading 9304.00.20, HTSUS, provides for rifles which eject missiles by the release of compressed air or gas.
In most instances, an airsoft gun will be classified on the basis of the configuration of the real firearm the airsoft gun is intended to duplicate. Thus, we will classify the electric powered MP5SD5 airsoft gun as a rifle in subheading 9304.00.2000, HTSUS, since it is intended to be a replica of the real submachine firearm classifiable as a rifle in heading 9303 of the HTSUS. In addition, the MP5SD5 is meant to be a shoulder fired weapon, another defining feature of rifles. It appears from a review of your descriptive literature that the large majority of the subject airsoft guns included in the ruling request will be classified as rifles in subheading 9304.00.2000, HTSUS.
You also ask whether air soft guns must meet special marking requirements.
Title15 of the U.S. Code, Section 5001 (15 USC 5001) mandates that any toy, look-
alike, or imitation firearms shall have a permanently affixed blaze orange plug
inserted in the barrel of such an imported article and recessed no more than six (6)
millimeters from the muzzle end of the barrel. See also Title 15 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, Part 1150 (15 CFR Part 1150). The term “look-alike firearm”
defined in the statute to mean any imitation of any original firearm “including
and limited to toy guns, water guns, replica nonguns, and air-soft guns firing
nonmetallic projectiles. Such term does not include…traditional B-B, paint-
ball, or pellet-firing air guns that expel a projectile through the force of air pressure.“
See 15 USC 5001(c). Thus, your air soft guns and all imitation or “look-alike”
nonmetallic projectile-firing air guns are subject to the statutory mandate of 15 USC
5001 and should be marked in conformance with the special marking requirements
of 15 CFR Section 1150.3.
Finally, you ask about the marking of the country of origin for the imported soft
guns. The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 USC 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article. In you instance, the mark “Made in Japan” permanently marked in a conspicuous location on the air soft guns will meet the requirements of the marking statute. A marking of “USA” on a gun that is manufactured in Japan or some other country is clearly in violation of the statute and must be removed or obliterated before entry into the U.S.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Tom McKenna at 646-733-3025.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division