HQ H264754
CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H264754 TSM
Mr. Dakai Zhang
Quingdao Huntian Hand Truck Co., Ltd.
# 97 Tianjn Road, Yinzhu
Industrial Zone, Jiaonan
Quingdao, Shandong, China 266431
RE: The tariff classification of a four wheel hose reel cart
Dear Mr. Zhang,
This is in response to your request, on behalf of Quingdao Huntian Hand Truck Co., Ltd., dated January 29, 2015, for a ruling regarding the classification of a four wheel hose reel cart under the HTSUS.
FACTS:
The four wheel hose reel cart (“cart”) will be used to hold a garden hose. It is constructed of steel tube frame and finished with powder lead-free coating. It has four wheels with pneumatic tires and a six foot long leader hose. It is not spring-activated or motor driven. It will be used for watering a lawn or garden around the home.
ISSUE:
What is the tariff classification of the four wheel hose reel cart under the HTSUS?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). 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 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
7323 Table, kitchen or other household articles and parts thereof, of iron or steel; iron or steel wool; pot scourers and scouring or polishing pads, gloves and the like, of iron or steel
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9403 Other furniture and parts thereof
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Note 1(k) to Section XV, HTSUS, states:
1. This section does not cover:
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(k) Articles of Chapter 94 (for example, furniture, mattress supports, lamps and lighting fittings, illuminated signs, prefabricated buildings);
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In addition, in interpreting the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (ENs) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System may be utilized. The ENs, although not dispositive or legally binding, provide a commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS at the international level. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127 (August 23, 1989).
The General Explanatory Notes to Chapter 94 state:
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For the purposes of this Chapter, the term “furniture” means:
(A) Any “movable” articles (not included under other more specific headings of the Nomenclature), which have the essential characteristic that they are constructed for placing on the floor or ground, and which are used, mainly with a utilitarian purpose, to equip private dwellings, hotels, theatres, cinemas, offices, churches, schools, cafés, restaurants, laboratories, hospitals, dentists’ surgeries, etc., or ships, aircraft, railway coaches, motor vehicles, caravan- trailers or similar means of transport. (It should be noted that, for the purposes of this Chapter, articles are considered to be “movable” furniture even if they are designed for bolting, etc., to the floor, e.g., chairs for use on ships). Similar articles (seats, chairs, etc.) for use in gardens, squares, promenades, etc., are also included in this category." (Emphasis in original.)
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The EN 94.03 states, in relevant part:
This heading covers furniture and parts thereof, not covered by the previous headings. It includes furniture for general use (e.g., cupboards, show-cases, tables, telephone stands, writing-desks, escritoires, book-cases, and other shelved furniture, etc.), and also furniture for special uses.
The heading includes furnitures for:
(1) Private dwellings, hotels, etc., such as: cabinets, linen chests, bread chests, log chests; chests of drawers, tallboys; pedestals, plant stands; dressing-tables; pedestal tables; wardrobes, linen presses; hall stands, umbrella stands; side-boards, dressers, cupboards; food-safes; bedside tables; beds (including wardrobe beds, camp-beds, folding beds, cots, etc.); needlework tables; foot-stools, fire screens; draught-screens; pedestal ashtrays; music cabinets, music stands or desks; play-pens; serving trolleys (whether or not fitted with a hot plate).
(2) Offices, such as: clothes lockers, filing cabinets, filing trolleys, card index files, etc.
(3) Schools, such as: school desks, lecturers’ desks, easels (for blackboards, etc.).
(4) Churches, such as: altars, confessional boxes, pulpits, communion benches, lecterns, etc.
(5) Shops, stores, workshops, etc., such as: counters; dress racks; shelving units; compartment or drawer cupboards; cupboards for tools, etc.; special furniture (with cases or drawers) for printing works.
(6) Laboratories or technical offices, such as: microscope tables; laboratory benches (whether or not with glass cases, gas nozzles and tap fittings, etc.); fume cupboards; unequipped drawing tables.
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As noted above, at GRI 1, the classification of goods is determined by the terms of the headings and any relevant section and chapter notes. Note 1(k) to Section XV, HTSUS, states that "This section does not cover: … (k) Articles of Chapter 94 (for example, furniture, mattress supports, lamps and lighting fittings, illuminated signs, prefabricated buildings)". Therefore, because Chapter 73, HTSUS, is contained within Section XV, HTSUS, we must first determine whether the cart is an article of Chapter 94, HTSUS, and specifically whether it is “other furniture” of heading 9403, HTSUS.
According to the language of the HTSUS, furniture articles are intended "to equip" something. The New Oxford American Dictionary, a dictionary of American English compiled by American editors at the Oxford University Press, defines the word “equip” as meaning: "supply with the necessary items for a particular purpose.” This definition is available online at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/equip. A hose reel cart does not “furnish” a private dwelling, and is not needed for the use of a private dwelling. We note that the definition of furniture in the General Explanatory Notes to Chapter 94 is not all-encompassing. By including the words "not included under other more specific headings of the Nomenclature” in the definition of furniture, the drafters of the ENs intended that Chapter 94 would not cover all "movable" articles constructed for placing on the floor or ground. A more specific heading which better describes the article is preferable to the more general heading of furniture. One such specific heading is heading 7323, HTSUS, which provides, in relevant part, for “other household articles”. Despite all the exemplars of articles considered to be furniture in the ENs, we do not find any whose use or function is comparable to the hose reel cart.
The ENs to heading 73.23, state that heading 7323, HTSUS, comprises a wide range of iron or steel articles used for table, kitchen or other household purposes and that it includes the same goods for use in hotels, restaurants, boarding-houses, hospitals, canteens, barracks, etc. Specifically, the EN 73.23 states that other household articles includes as follows:
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(3) Other household articles such as wash coppers and boilers; dustbins, buckets, coal scuttles and hods; watering-cans; ash-trays; hot water bottles; bottle baskets; movable boot-scrapers; stands for flat irons; baskets for laundry, fruit, vegetables, etc.; letter-boxes; clothes-hangers; shoe trees; luncheon boxes.
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The hose reel cart at issue is intended to be used for watering a lawn or garden around the home. Watering a lawn or garden is a household function like the collection of waste and trash inside and outside the home (with dustbins), like watering plants inside and outside the home (with watering-cans), like the collection of mail (with letter-boxes), etc. Accordingly, we believe the subject hose reel cart is properly classified in heading 7323, HTSUS, which provides for “Table, kitchen or other household articles and parts thereof, of iron or steel; iron or steel wool; pot scourers and scouring or polishing pads, gloves and the like, of iron or steel.” See NY R02475, dated September 13, 2005 (classification of a hose reel cart).
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the four wheel hose reel cart is classified in heading 7323, HTSUS, and specifically, in subheading 7323.99.90, HTSUS, which provides for “Table, kitchen or other household articles and parts thereof, or iron or steel; iron or steel wool; pot scourers and scouring or polishing pads, gloves and the like, of iron or steel: Other: Other: Not coated or plated with precious metal: Other: Other.” The 2016 general, column one rate of duty is 3.4 percent 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 the internet at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time the goods are entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction.
Sincerely,
Ieva K. O’Rourke, Chief Tariff Classification and Marking Branch