OT:RR:CTF:FTM H301903 PJG
Jessey Tsai
Ching Feng Home Fashions Co., Ltd.
No. 373, Sec. 4, Yen Hai Road
Fu Hsing, Taiwan 506
Re: Country of origin marking and tariff classification of rechargeable motorized cellular window shades
Dear Mr. Tsai:
This is in response to your letter, dated February 24, 2020, filed on behalf of L G Sourcing, Inc. (“L G Sourcing”), requesting a binding ruling on the country of origin marking and tariff classification of rechargeable motorized cellular window shades (model numbers 78619-78648). Your request was forwarded by the National Commodity Specialist Division to this office for a response. You submitted a sample of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shade, which we will not be returning.
FACTS:
The motorized cellular window shades at issue (model numbers 78619-78648) are battery powered and operated by a remote control. The item includes polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”) head and bottom rails; a nonwoven cellular polyester shade, completely covered with a layer of plastic on one side; plastic accessories; an electric motor; a battery compartment that includes a rechargeable battery; a remote control; a charger; and USB cable. Each package also contains mounting brackets and screws to attach the motorized cellular window shade to the window frame or wall. The various model numbers are differentiated by size and color only.
According to your submission, the 100 percent PVC head and bottom rails, recycled polyester shade body and plastic accessories are made in Taiwan. The cost of the components produced in Taiwan account for 31.9 percent of the total cost of all shade components. The electric motor, battery compartment, rechargeable battery, remote control, charger, and USB cable are made in China. The total cost of the components produced in China account for 68.1 percent of the total cost of all shade components. All of the components are assembled in Taiwan into a motorized cellular window shade and exported directly to the United States.
ISSUES:
What is the tariff classification of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades?
What is the country of origin for marking purposes of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
What is the tariff classification of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades?
The classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) is governed by 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 2020 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
6303 Curtains (including drapes) and interior blinds; curtain or bed valances:
8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof:
GRI 3(a) and (b) provide as follows:
When, by application of rule 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are, prima facie, classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows:
The heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods.
Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes
(“ENs”) constitute the “official interpretation of the Harmonized System” at the international level. See 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989). While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs “provide a commentary on the scope of each heading” of the HTSUS and are “generally indicative of [the] proper interpretation” of these headings. See id.
The EN to GRI 3(b) states, in pertinent part:
(VI) This second method relates only to :
(i) Mixtures.
(ii) Composite goods consisting of different materials.
(iii) Composite goods consisting of different components.
(iv) Goods put up in sets for retail sales.
It applies only if Rule 3 (a) fails.
(VII) In all these cases the goods are to be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.
(VIII) The factor which determines essential character will vary as between different kinds of goods. It may, for example, be determined by the nature of the material or component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of a constituent material in relation to the use of the goods.
(IX) For the purposes of this Rule, composite goods made up of different components shall be taken to mean not only those in which the components are attached to each other to form a practically inseparable whole but also those with separable components, provided these components are adapted one to the other and are mutually complementary and that together they form a whole which would not normally be offered for sale in separate parts.
Examples of the latter category of goods are :
(1) Ashtrays consisting of a stand incorporating a removable ash bowl.
(2) Household spice racks consisting of a specially designed frame (usually of wood) and an appropriate number of empty spice jars of suitable shape and size.
As a general rule, the components of these composite goods are put up in a common packing.
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The subject merchandise is made up of different components, i.e., polyvinyl chloride (PVC) head and bottom rails, a nonwoven cellular polyester shade completely covered in plastic on one side, plastic accessories, an electric motor, a battery compartment that includes a rechargeable battery, a remote control, a charger, USB cable, as well as mounting brackets and screws, which are classified in various headings of the HTSUS. When by application of GRI 2, HTSUS, goods are prima facie classifiable under two or more headings, GRI 3, HTSUS, is applicable. According to EN IX for GRI 3(b), a “composite good” is a good that is “made up of different components,” which may be “adapted one to the other and [be] mutually complementary and . . . together . . . form a whole which would not normally be offered for sale in separate parts.” The subject merchandise is a composite good; therefore, GRI 3(b) requires that classification be based on the product that provides the composite good with its essential character.
The EN to GRI 3(b) (VIII) lists factors to help determine the essential character of such goods: “the nature of the material or component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of a constituent material in relation to the use of the goods.” The U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) has indicated that the factors listed in the EN to GRI 3(b) (VIII) are “instructive” but “not exhaustive” and has indicated that the goods must be “‘reviewed as a whole.’” The Home Depot, U.S.A., Inc. v. United States, 30 Ct. Int’l Trade 445, 459-460 (2006) (citing A.N. Deringer, Inc. v. United States, 66 Cust. Ct. 378, 384 (1971) (citation omitted)). With regard to the good which imparts the essential character, the CIT has stated that it is “‘that which is indispensable to the structure, core or condition of the article, i.e., what it is.’” Id. at 460 (citing A.N. Deringer, Inc., 66 Cust. Ct. at 383).
Although in this case, the motor represents the component with the greatest cost, its function is ancillary to the function of the shade, which protects a space from sunlight and provides privacy. Accordingly, the shade provides the essential character of the merchandise. See New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N293716 (Feb. 21, 2018) (stating that the shade provided the essential character to the motorized window shade because “the lifting and lowering mechanisms of the window shade are ancillary to the protection the shade provides”); see also HQ 955432 (Aug. 4, 1994) (stating that the screening material imparts the essential character to the shade and heat retention systems because it “controls the environment of the structures in which the shade and heat retention systems at issue operate”). The subject merchandise, therefore, is classified in heading 6303, HTSUS, and specifically, under subheading 6303.92.20, HTSUS, which provides for “Curtains (including drapes) and interior blinds; curtain or bed valances: Other: Of synthetic fibers: Other.”
What is the country of origin for marking purposes of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades?
The marking statute, Section 304(a), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C.
§ 1304(a)), provides that unless excepted, every article of foreign origin imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit in such manner as to indicate to an ultimate purchaser in the United States the English name of the country of origin of the article. Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. § 1304 was “that the ultimate purchaser should be able to know by an inspection of the marking on imported goods the country of which the goods is the product. The evident purpose is to mark the goods so that at the time of purchase the ultimate purchaser may, by knowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy them, if such marking should influence his will.” United States v. Friedlaender & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297, 302 (1940). Part 134 of Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 C.F.R. Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. § 1304.
Section 334 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (“URAA”) (codified at 19 U.S.C. § 3592), enacted on December 8, 1994, provides rules of origin for textiles and apparel products entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after July 1, 1996. Section 102.21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 C.F.R. § 102.21), implements the URAA. The country of origin of a textile or apparel products is determined by sequential application of paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 102.21 (19 C.F.R. § 102.21(c)(1) – (5)).
Paragraph (c)(1) of section 102.21 (19 C.F.R. § 102.21(c)(1)) states that “[t]he country of origin of a textile or apparel product is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which the good was wholly obtained or produced.” The subject merchandise was not wholly obtained or produced in a single country, therefore, 19 C.F.R. § 102.21(c)(1) is inapplicable.
Paragraph (c)(2) of section 102.21 (19 C.F.R. § 102.21(c)(2)) states that “the country of origin of the good is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which each foreign material incorporated in that good underwent an applicable change in tariff classification, and/or met any other requirement, specified for the good in paragraph (e) of this section. Paragraph (e) of section 102.21 (19 C.F.R. § 102.21(e)) states, in relevant part, that “[t]he following rules will apply for purposes of determining the country of origin of a textile or apparel product under paragraph (c)(2) of this section:”
HTSUS Tariff shift and/or other requirements
6301-6306 Except for goods of heading 6302 through 6304 provided for in paragraph (e)(2) of this section, the country of origin of a good classifiable under heading 6301 through 6306 is the country, territory, or insular possession in which the fabric comprising the good was formed by a fabric-making process.
Paragraph (e)(2) (19 C.F.R. § 102.21(e)(2)), states, in relevant part, as follows:
For goods of HTSUS headings 6213 and 6214 and HTSUS subheadings 6117.10, 6302.22, 6302.29, 6302.52, 6302.53, 6302.59, 6302.92, 6302.93, 6302.99, 6303.92, 6303.99, 6304.19, 6304.93, 6304.99, 9404.90.85 and 9404.90.95, except for goods classified under those headings or subheadings as of cotton or of wool or consisting of fiber blends containing 16 percent or more by weight of cotton:
(i) The country of origin of the good is the country, territory, or insular possession in which the fabric comprising the good was both dyed and printed when accompanied by two or more of the following finishing operations: bleaching, shrinking, fulling, napping, decating, permanent stiffening, weighting, permanent embossing, or moireing;
(ii) If the country of origin cannot be determined under paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section, except for goods of HTSUS subheading 6117.10 that are knit to shape or consist of two or more component parts, the country of origin is the country, territory, or insular possession in which the fabric comprising the good was formed by a fabric-making process; or . . .
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In this case, subparagraph (e)(2)(i) (19 C.F.R. § 102.21(e)(2)(i)) is inapplicable because the fabric for the shade was not dyed and/or printed. As such, we apply subparagraph (e)(2)(ii) (19 C.F.R. § 102.21(e)(2)(ii)). Paragraph (b)(2) (19 C.F.R. § 102.21(b)(2)) defines “fabric-making process” as “any manufacturing operation that begins with polymers, fibers, filaments (including strips), yarns, twine, cordage, rope, or fabric strips and results in a textile fabric.” According to the submitted ruling request, the nonwoven cellular polyester shade fabric is made in Taiwan. Therefore, the country of origin of the subject rechargeable motorized cellular window shades is Taiwan.
You suggest providing the country of origin marking on a label attached to the packaging of the subject merchandise. You provided a photograph of the proposed marking that shows the marking “MADE IN TAIWAN” in capital letters in a size that is larger than the address of the U.S. distributer that is listed in close proximity to the marking. This is consistent with the requirements of 19 C.F.R. § 134.46, which provides, in relevant part, that “[i]n any case in which…the name of any city or location in the United States…other than the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced appear on an imported article or its container, and those words, letters or names may mislead or deceive the ultimate purchaser as to the actual country of origin of the article, there shall appear legibly and permanently in close proximity to such words, letters or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin preceded by ‘Made in,’ ‘Product of,’ or other words of similar meaning.”
Moreover, in the photograph, you show that the packaging that will display the country of origin marking is the container in which the ultimate purchaser, in this case, the consumer, will purchase the subject merchandise. See 19 C.F.R. § 134.1(d) (defines the term “ultimate purchaser” as “generally the last person in the United States who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported”). The photograph showed a marking that is acceptable under the standards of 19 U.S.C. § 1304 and 19 C.F.R. Part 134 for the reasons noted above, because the label will handle “normal distribution and store handling,” and the ultimate purchaser will be able to inspect the packaging and be “able to find the marking easily and read it without strain.” See 19 C.F.R. § 134.41(b).
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRIs 3(b) and 6 the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades (model numbers 78619-78648) are classified under heading 6303, HTSUS, and specifically in subheading 6303.92.20, HTSUS, which provides for “Curtains (including drapes) and interior blinds; curtain or bed valances: Other: Of synthetic fibers: Other.” The 2020 column one, general rate of duty is 11.3 percent ad valorem.
The proposed “MADE IN TAIWAN” country of origin marking on the packaging for the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades (model numbers 78619-78648) satisfies the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. § 1304 and 19 C.F.R. Part 134.
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.
Sincerely,
Yuliya A. Gulis, Chief
Food, Textiles and Marking Branch