CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:CPM: HQ H252610 MAB
Ms. Erin Carrico
Customs Compliance Analyst
Dollar Tree Stores, Inc.
500 Volvo Parkway
Chesapeake, VA 23320
RE: Revocation of NY N106619; tariff classification of document holder with a memorandum pad from China
Dear Ms. Carrico:
On June 15, 2010, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., New York Ruling Letter (NY) N106619. The ruling pertains to the tariff classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) of a document holder with a memorandum pad imported from China, also referred to as a multi-function folder (SKU 26596). We have reviewed your request for reconsideration dated January 15, 2014, in regard to the instant merchandise at issue. We have also examined the sample you provided. We find NY N106619 to be in error with respect to the tariff classification. For the reasons set forth below, we are revoking NY N106619.
Pursuant to Section 1625(c), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1625(c)), 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), this notice advises interested parties that CBP is revoking the above noted ruling concerning the classification of a document holder with a memorandum pad imported from China, under the HTSUS. Similarly, CBP is revoking any treatment previously accorded by it to substantially identical transactions. Notice of the proposed revocation was published on August 2, 2017, in Volume 51, Number 31, of the Customs Bulletin. No comments were received in response to the notice.
FACTS:
In NY N106619 CBP found the following:
The submitted sample is product SKU number 26596, described as a plastic document case containing a pad of 30 sheets of lined paper. The case itself has a plastic accordion file with tabs, a mesh pocket with a zipper closure, three pockets that can hold cards measuring up to 4 ¼ inches in width and pockets to fold pencils/pens on the inside left of the case and the pad is on the inside right when the case is opened. The case measures approximately 13 ½ inches by 11 ½ inches it is closed. It is approximately 1 ½ inches deep.
The applicable subheading for the plastic document case with notepad will be 4820.10.2040, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)….the rate of duty will be Free.
Additional information provided with your submission asserts that subsequent to NY N106619, NY rulings N179575 (dated September 9, 2011) and N245528 (dated August 20, 2013) addressed similar items. Both rulings found the essential character of this type of merchandise to be the note pad, therefore classifying them in 4820.10.2020, HTSUSA (Annotated), as a note pad and not a note book.
ISSUE:
Whether the subject document holder with a memorandum pad is considered “Memorandum pads, letter pads and similar articles” of subheading 4820.10.2020, HTSUS, or “Other note books with dimensions of 5-381 mm (6” – 15”), inclusive (small side) X 222.5-381 mm (8.75” – 15”), inclusive (large side)” of subheading 4820.10.2040, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods 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 may then be applied. The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
4820 Registers, account books, notebooks, order books, receipt
books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries and similar
articles, exercise books, blotting pads, binders (looseleaf or
other), folders, file covers, manifold business forms, interleaved
carbon sets and other articles of stationery, of paper or
paperboard; albums for samples or for collections and book
covers (including cover boards and book jackets) of paper or
paperboard:
4820.10 Registers, account books, notebooks, order books, receipt
books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries and similar
articles:
4820.10.20 Diaries, notebooks and address books, bound;
memorandum pads, letter pads and similar articles
4820.10.2020 Memoradum pads, letter pads and similar
articles
4820.10.2040 Other note books with dimensions of
152.4-381 mm (6” -15”), inclusive (small side) X
222.5-381 mm (8.74” – 15”), inclusive (large side)
Because the instant classification dispute occurs beyond the four-digit heading level, GRI 6 is implicated. GRI 6 states:
For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes, and mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter, and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.
There is no dispute that the goods at issue are document holders and are properly classified in heading 4820, HTSUS. Further, there is no dispute they are classified in subheading 4820.10.20 as “Diaries, notebooks and address books, bound; memorandum pads, letter pads and similar articles.” Therefore, CBP’s analysis turns to whether the subject document holders or multi-function folders are classified at the 10-digit level under subheading 4820.10.2020, HTSUSA, which provides for “Memorandum pads, letter pads and similar articles” or under subheading 4820.10.2040, HTSUSA, which provides for “Other note books with dimensions of 5-381 mm (6” – 15”), inclusive (small side) X 222.5-381 mm (8.75” – 15”), inclusive (large side).”
The HTSUS does not define the term “memorandum pads” but the terms of the HTSUS are construed according to their common commercial meaning. See Millennium Lumber Distrib. Ltd. v. United States, 558 F.3d 1326, 1329 (Fed. Cir. 2009). To ascertain the common commercial meaning of a tariff term, CBP, “may rely on its own understanding of the term as well as lexicographic and scientific authorities.” See Len-Ron Mfg. Co. v. United States, 334 F.3d 1304, 1309 (Fed. Cir. 2003). A memorandum pad is defined as a “pad of paper intended for writing memos” or it can be “a block with tear-off pages for writing notes on.”
CBP has had occasion to distinguish between similar products and has been consistent with its classification of document holders or portfolios. See NY N245528, dated August 30, 2013, which classified two (2) black zippered portfolios, each with a removable writing pad that measured 8 ½’ x 11 3/4”, under subheading 4820.10.2020, HTSUSA, which provides for “Memorandum pads, letter pads and similar articles.” See also NY N179575, dated September 9, 2011, where CBP classified a portfolio with a notepad measuring 7” x 9” and removable tablet holder measuring 7 ½” x 9 ¾” under subheading 4820.10.2020, HTSUSA, as “Memorandum pads, letter pads and similar articles.” In both NY N245528 and NY N179575, CBP applied the GRI 3(b) analysis, finding that although the portfolios were multi-functional, their essential character was imparted by the writing pad.
We find the importer’s description of the article to be accurate as compared to the sample provided. The document holder or multi-function folder’s specific use is the facilitation of taking and organizing notes. The article’s use is centered on the memorandum pad, a named exemplar under heading 4820. The article’s other parts, its sheeting, pouches and folder, merely serve to enhance the article’s primary use, which is to provide a convenient and organized method by which to take notes in various locations in a variety of circumstances. The article has three small punches and a hold for a pen and pencil or other small supplies. Its tabbed folders restrict use of the multi-function folder to holding or organizing papers, such as notes from the memorandum pad, and its sheeting protects the memorandum pad folders. For these reasons, we find that the imported article, as a whole, exhibits characteristics of an article of stationery, of paper or paperboard, and shares the common characteristics of a memorandum pad. Thus, instant merchandise is properly classified under subheading 4820.10.2020, HTSUSA, which provides for, “Memorandum pads, letter pads and similar articles.”
Additionally, please note that the subject document holder with a memorandum pad from China may fall within the scope of antidumping order, A-570-901, published on October 31, 2013, from China. See 78 FR 65274. We highly recommend that you obtain a scope ruling from the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA), which issues written decisions regarding the scope of antidumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) orders. Scope rulings issued by the ITA are separate from tariff classification rulings issued by CBP. You may contact the ITA at http://www.trade.gov/ia/ (click on “Contact Us”). For further information, you may 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/.
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRIs 1 and 6, the subject document holder is properly classifiable under subheading 4820.10.2020, HTSUSA, which provides for “Memorandum pads, letter pads and similar articles.” The 2017 column one general rate of duty is 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 the internet at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
NY N106619, dated June 15, 2010 is hereby REVOKED.
In accordance with 19 U.S.C. §1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Customs Bulletin.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division