CLA-2-96:OT:RR:NC:2:231
Ms. Lea M. Ford
John S. Connor, Inc.
799 Cromwell Park Drive, Suites A-G
Glen Burnie, MD 21061
RE: The tariff classification of a hookah from Jordan.
Dear Ms. Ford:
In your letters dated November 9, 2010 and January 4, 2011, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of Crown Tobacco USA (Gaithersburg, MD).
Your inquiry was initially referred to our Cargo Security, Carriers & Immigration Branch (Regulations & Rulings, Headquarters) for a determination on the admissibility of the merchandise. Based on the information you submitted, that office has since found that the item in question is not considered prohibited drug paraphernalia and is therefore admissible.
The product is identified as a Khalil Momoun-brand water pipe weighing 4 pounds. In a photo accompanying your inquiry, it appears to be a Middle-Eastern style water pipe (hookah) of a kind traditionally used to smoke flavored tobacco (shisha). It consists of a water-holding vessel serving as the base, with a stem (pipe) that extends upright from within it. Near the top of the stem is an ash plate/tray, above which, at the very top, is a bowl, used to hold the tobacco. It is our understanding that smoldering charcoal is used to heat the tobacco within the bowl in order to produce smoke. A hose attached to the hookah allows smoke to be drawn through the water-filled vessel just before it is inhaled by the user.
In your initial letter, you stated that the hookah is made of plastic, stainless steel and glass. In response to a subsequent inquiry by this office, you stated that its bowl is made of ceramic materials.
The applicable subheading for the above-described Khalil Momoun water pipe, if its bowl is wholly of clay, will be 9614.00.26, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for smoking pipes…: pipes and pipe bowls: pipes and bowls wholly of clay and pipes with bowls wholly of clay. The duty rate will be 3% ad valorem.
The applicable subheading for the above-described Khalil Momoun water pipe, if its bowl is not wholly of clay, will be 9614.00.28, HTSUS, which provides for smoking pipes…: pipes and pipe bowls: other. The duty rate will be 0.3 cents each plus 3.2% 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 on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
Articles classifiable under subheadings 9614.00.26 and 9614.00.28, HTSUS, which are products of Jordan, may be entitled to duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) upon compliance with all applicable regulations. The GSP is subject to modification and periodic suspension, which may affect the status of your transaction at the time of entry for consumption or withdrawal from warehouse. To obtain current information on GSP, check our Web site at www.cbp.gov and search for the term “GSP”.
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 Nathan Rosenstein at (646) 733-3030.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division