CLA-2-94:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Gary Charles Bailey
Space Pro USA Inc.
10130 Perimeter Parkway, Suite 200
Charlotte, NC 28216
RE: The tariff classification of the Relax bedroom storage kit with 25 mm white shelves from China.
Dear Mr. Bailey:
In your letter dated June 6, 2013, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Illustrative literature was provided.
Model number 2297-WT-US is described as the Relax bedroom storage kit with 25 mm white shelves. The kit contains: one long shelf, model number not specified; five narrow shelves, model number 2687-550-WT-US; three Relax closet rods including fixings, model number SSR-2022-048-US; three Relax side wall bracket attachment kits with end-caps; and six pairs of Relax shelf brackets, model number SSR-2263-US. This item is packaged in a single retail box and is imported as a complete kit.
A company provided specification table indicates that the floor to wall stanchion, closet rods and side wall bracket are made from aluminum; the shelf brackets are made from zinc; and the one long shelf and five narrow shelves are made from wood. There is also a packaging box of unspecified material(s). The one long shelf composed of wood comprises 11% of the total material cost and the five narrow shelves composed of wood comprise 25% of the total material cost; the floor to wall stanchion composed of aluminum comprises 22%, of the total material cost; the closet rods composed of aluminum comprise 14% of the total material cost, the side wall bracket composed of aluminum comprises 2% of the total material cost; the shelf brackets composed of zinc comprise 19% of the total material cost; and the packaging box of unspecified material(s) comprises 7% of the total material cost.
Under the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), specifically at GRI 2 (a), “any reference to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled.”
By application of GRI 2 (a), the one long shelf and five narrow shelves, made from wood, imparts the essential character to the Relax bedroom storage kit with 25 mm white shelves. We recognize that cost of the aluminum floor to wall stanchion (consisting of four individual pieces) and zinc shelf brackets are substantial, but neither of these components provide any functionality for the placement and storage of dry goods and various other sundries. The one long shelf and five narrow shelves, taken together, not only represent 36% of the total cost of the bedroom storage kit, but also far exceed that of the cost of the three closet rods, taken together. It is the shelving that allow for both dry goods and various other sundries to be directly placed onto the shelved furniture, over that of dry goods being merely hung. With the shelving cost exceeding that of the closet rods and the greater functionality attributed to the shelves, the bedroom storage kit is classified in subheading 9403.50 – the subheading for wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom.
The applicable subheading for the Relax bedroom storage kit with 25 mm white shelves will be 9403.50.9080, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof: Wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom: Other: Other; Other.” The rate of duty will be free.
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/.
The Relax bedroom storage kit with 25 mm white shelves from China may be subject to Antidumping Duties (AD). Specifically, the storage kit may be subject to AD for wooden bedroom furniture from China under the Department of Commerce case number A-570-890. Written decisions regarding the scope of AD orders and Countervailing Duties (CVD) are issued by the Import Administration in the Department of Commerce, and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection. You can contact them at http://www.trade.gov/ia/ (click on “Contact Us”). For your information, you can view a list of current AD/CVD cases at the United States International Trade Commission website at http://www.usitc.gov (click on “Antidumping and countervailing duty investigations”), and you can search AD/CVD deposit and liquidation messages using the AD/CVD Search tool at http://addcvd.cbp.gov/.
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 Neil H. Levy at (646) 733-3036.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Russo
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division