OT:RR:CTF:CPMM H299274 APP
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
6747 Engle Road
Middleburg Heights, OH 44130
Attn: Stephen Nemmer, Import Specialist, CPMM Team 048
RE: Protest and Application for Further Review Number 4102-18-100091; Tariff classification of exercise equipment known as the “Gaiam Classic Balance Ball Chair”
Dear Mr. Nemmer:
The following is our decision regarding the Application for Further Review (“AFR”) of Protest Number 4102-18-100091, timely filed on April 24, 2018, on behalf of Fit for Life LLC (“protestant”). The AFR concerns U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (“CBP”) classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), of exercise equipment known as the “Gaiam Classic Balance Ball Chair.”
FACTS:
The subject “Gaiam Classic Balance Ball Chair” consists of a deflated yoga ball, a frame with an adjustable support bar, a secure metal ball holder and four easy-glide castor wheels (two lockable), a manual air pump, and a desk exercise guide. The individual parts are assembled to create a “balance ball chair.” The frame measures 20 inches wide from one side of the wheels to the other and holds a removable 52-cm anti-burst balance ball of PVC plastic that can support a weight of up to 300 pounds. The ball is sold deflated and must be inflated with the manual pump before use.
According to the desk guide, the “balance ball chair” was “specifically developed to relieve stress on the spine, strengthen the core, improve posture and keep the body active while sitting.” The guide illustrates multiple stretching and strengthening exercises that could be performed on the frame with the inflated ball. Protestant’s counsel advises that the frame represents nearly 86 percent of the cost to manufacture the article while the balance ball portion represents 14 percent of the cost.
Below are images of the assembled merchandise:
The Protest/AFR covers an entry filed on December 12, 2016, and liquidated on October 27, 2017. The exercise apparatus was entered and liquidated at a duty rate of 4.6% ad valorem under subheading 9506.91.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Articles and equipment for general physical exercise, gymnastics, athletics, other sports (including table-tennis) or outdoor games, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; swimming pools and wading pools; parts and accessories thereof: Other: Articles and equipment for general physical exercise, gymnastics or athletics; parts and accessories thereof.”
ISSUE:
Whether the instant merchandise is classifiable as a seat of heading 9401, HTSUS or as an article for general physical exercise under heading 9506, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
CBP first notes that the matter is protestable under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2), as a matter on classification. The Protest/AFR was timely filed within 180 days of liquidation of the entries.
See Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-429, § 2103(2)(B)(ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3) (2006)).
Further review of this Protest is properly accorded to protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R.
§ 174.24(b) because the decision against which the Protest was filed in this matter involves questions of law and fact that have not been ruled upon by the Commissioner of CBP or his designee, or by the Customs Courts.
Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”). GRI 1 provides that classification 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. Pursuant to GRI 6, classification at the subheading level uses the same rules, mutatis mutandis, as classification at the heading level.
GRI 2(a) states:
Any reference in a heading to an article … 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.
GRI 3 provides, in relevant part, as follows:
3. 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: … (b) 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 following HTSUS provisions are under considerations:
9401 Seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof:
9401.80 Other seats:
Of rubber and plastics:
9401.80.40 Other
. . .
9506 Articles and equipment for general physical exercise, gymnastics, athletics, other sports (including table-tennis) or outdoor games, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; swimming pools and wading pools; parts and accessories thereof:
Other:
9506.91.00 Articles and equipment for general physical exercise, gymnastics or athletics; parts and accessories thereof.
Note 2 to chapter 94, HTSUS, states:
The articles (other than parts) referred to in headings 9401 to 9403 are to be classified in those headings only if they are designed for placing on the floor or ground ….
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. 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 the headings. It is U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (“CBP”) practice to consult, whenever possible, the terms of the ENs when interpreting the HTSUS. See T.D. 89–80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
The EN (V) to GRI 2(a) states, in relevant part:
(V) … complete or finished articles presented … disassembled are to be classified in the same heading as the assembled article ….
The General Notes to chapter 94, HTSUS, provides, in relevant part, as follows:
EN 94.01 provides, in relevant part, as follows:
… this heading covers all seats (including those for vehicles, provided that they comply with the conditions prescribed in Note 2 to this Chapter), for example:
Lounge chairs, arm chairs, folding chairs, deck chairs, infants’ high chairs and children’s seats designed to be hung on the back of other seats (including vehicle seats), grandfather chairs, benches, couches (including those with electrical heating), settees, sofas, ottomans and the like, stools (such as piano stools, draughtsmen’s stools, typists’ stools, and dual purpose stool steps), seats which incorporate a sound system and are suitable for use with video game consoles and machines, television or satellite receivers, as well as with DVD, music CD, MP3 or video cassette players ….
EN 95.06 provides, in relevant part, that:
This heading covers:
(A) Articles and equipment for general physical exercise, gymnastics or athletics, e.g.: … medicine balls; jump balls with one or more handles designed for physical exercises; ….
Protestant argues that the merchandise is specifically provided for under heading 9401, HTSUS, and its principal use is as an office chair.
Under GRI 1, we look to the terms of the headings and any relevant section or chapter notes. Even though the merchandise is called a “balance ball chair,” the name is not dispositive of the tariff classification. Here, the merchandise is disassembled and therefore we cannot classify it under GRI 1. Under GRI 2(a), the disassembled frame with an adjustable support bar, a secure metal ball holder and castor wheels, deflated ball, manual air pump, and exercise guide is not a “seat” within the meaning of heading 9401, as the disassembled contents do not contain a seat at all. Once assembled, the apparatus is distinguishable from the seats listed under EN 94.01 (e.g., lounge chairs, arm-chairs, folding chairs, deck chairs, etc.) because an exercise ball is specifically designated as exercise equipment and does not constitute a seat in the manner of any of the exemplars. The frame with an adjustable support bar, a secure metal ball holder and castor wheels is designed to hold the ball after it is inflated and thus is a frame for exercise equipment. The ball can be removed and used separately for exercise purposes. That the exercise performed might occur in a seated position does not make the balance ball or the assembled apparatus a seat.
We have long held that exercise balls are classified in heading 9506, HTSUS, which covers exercising apparatus such as medicine balls and jump balls with one or more handles designed for physical exercises. See EN 95.06(A). Furthermore, rowing machines, stationary bicycles, and weight lifting machines are also used in seated positions and are placed on the floor or ground of homes and other establishments. Because the “balance ball chair” is not a seat or a chair, but rather an exercise device, it is not classifiable in heading 9401, HTSUS, as a disassembled seat.
Assuming for the sake of argument that the heading cannot be determined under GRI 2(a), the merchandise meets the definition of a retail set under GRI 3(b) with the ball imparting the essential character to the set, and the set remains classifiable as “other exercising apparatus” of heading 9506, HTSUS.
Accordingly, we find that the disassembled “Gaiam Classic Balance Ball Chair” is properly classified in heading 9506, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 2(a) and 6, the instant disassembled “Gaiam Classic Balance Ball Chair,” consisting of a deflated exercise ball, a frame an adjustable support bar, a secure metal ball holder and castor wheels, a manual air pump, and a desk guide with stretching exercises, is classified under heading 9506, HTSUS, specifically under subheading 9506.91.0030, HTSUSA (Annotated), which provides for “Articles and equipment for general physical exercise, gymnastics, athletics, other sports (including table-tennis) or outdoor games, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; swimming pools and wading pools; parts and accessories thereof: Other: Articles and equipment for general physical exercise, gymnastics or athletics; parts and accessories thereof: Other.” The column one, general rate of duty at the time of entry was 4.6% 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 at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
Since the rate of duty under the classification indicated above is the same as the liquidated rate, you are instructed to deny the protest in full. A copy of this decision should be attached to the Form 19 Notice of Action.
In accordance with Sections IV and VI of the CBP Protest/Petition Processing Handbook (HB 3500-08A, December 2007, pp. 24 and 26), you are to mail this decision, together with the CBP Form 19, to the protestant, through its counsel, no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry, in accordance with the decision, must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision, the Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to CBP personnel and to the public on the Customs Rulings Online Search System (“CROSS”), at https://rulings.cbp.gov/, and through other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division