OT:RR:CTF:FTM H335472 LPO
Mr. Ken Park
1 Celebration Square
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey 07677
RE: Tariff Classification of a Macramé Banner
Dear Mr. Park:
This letter is in response to your request, filed on behalf of A Party City Holdings Co., “Requestor,” dated September 14, 2023, for a binding ruling concerning the tariff classification of item number 120953, referred to as a “Boho Macramé Banner,” under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”).
Your ruling request was forwarded by the National Commodity Specialist Division to our office for further review and determination. The sample of the product and associated information provided was forwarded to our office as well.
FACTS:
Item number 120953, described as “Boho Macramé Banner,” is a decorative macramé article made in China. The packaging refers to the item as a “garland.” The item is made from twisted polyester yarns and wooden beads and measures 5.9 feet long. It features eight knotted triangle patterns, each of which is 3.4 inches wide and 2.5 inches high. The triangle patterns are further finished with self-fringes between 2-4 inches long. In between each triangle pattern are three wooden beads between 7/16 and 1/2-inch in diameter. The Requestor states that the item will be sold in the party goods section of retail stores and is intended to be used as “a Bohemian themed party decoration or everyday accent in one’s space.”
ISSUE:
What is the tariff classification of the Boho Macramé Banner?
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 GRI may then be applied.
The 2025 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
5609 Articles of yarn, strip or the like of heading 5404 or 5405, twine, cordage, rope or cables, not elsewhere specified or included:
* * *
6304 Other furnishing articles, excluding those of heading 9404
* * *
6307 Other made up [textile] articles, including dress patterns:
* * *
Note 1 to Chapter 63 provides:
Subchapter 1 [headings 6301 through 6307, HTSUS] applies only to made up articles, of a textile fabric.
Note 2 to Chapter 63 further specifies:
Subchapter 1 does not cover:
goods of chapters 56 or 62
* * *
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 Section XI provides, in relevant part, as follows:
GENERAL
In general, Section XI covers raw materials of the textile industry (silk, wool, cotton, man made fibres, etc.), semi manufactured products (such as yarns and woven fabrics) and the made up articles made from those products…
* * *
CHAPTERS 50 TO 55
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(B) Yarns
(1) General.
Textile yarns may be single, multiple (folded) or cabled. For the purposes of the Nomenclature:
Single yarns means yarns composed either of:
Staple fibres, usually held together by twist (spun yarns); or of
One filament (monofilament) of headings 54.02 to 54.05, or two or more filaments (multifilament) of heading 54.02 or 54.03, held together, with or without twist (continuous yarns).
Multiple (folded) yarns means yarns formed from two or more single yarns, including those obtained from monofilaments of heading 54.04 or 54.05 (twofold, threefold, fourfold, etc. yarns) twisted together in one folding operation. However, yarns composed solely of monofilaments of heading 54.02 or 54.03, held together by twist, are not to be regarded as multiple (folded) yarns.
The ply (“fold”) of a multiple (folded) yarn means each of the single yarns with which it is formed.
Cabled yarns means yarns formed from two or more yarns, at least one of which is multiple (folded), twisted together in one or more folding operations. The ply (“fold”) of a cabled yarn means each of the single or multiple (folded) yarns with which it is formed.
* * *
The EN to heading 5609 provides, in relevant part, as follows:
This heading covers articles of the yarns of Chapters 50 to 55, articles of strip or the like of heading 54.04 or 54.05, and also articles of twine, cordage, rope or cables of heading 56.07, other than those covered by a more specific heading in the Nomenclature.
It includes yarns, cordage, rope, etc., cut to length and looped at one or both ends, or fitted with tags, rings, hooks, etc., (e.g., shoe laces, clothes lines, towing ropes), ships’ fenders, unloading cushions, rope ladders, loading slings, dish “cloths” made of a bundle of yarns folded in two and bound together at the folded end, etc.
* * *
The EN to heading 6304 provides, in relevant part, as follows:
This heading covers furnishing articles of textile materials, other than those of the preceding headings or of heading 94.04, for use in the home, public buildings, theatres, churches, etc., and similar articles used in ships, railway carriages, aircraft, trailer caravans, motor cars, etc.
These articles include wall hangings and textile furnishings for ceremonies (e.g., weddings or funerals); mosquito nets or bed nets (including bed nets specified in Subheading Note 1 to this Chapter); bedspreads (but not including bed coverings of heading 94.04); cushion covers, loose covers for furniture, antimacassars; table covers (other than those having the characteristics of floor coverings see Note 1 to Chapter 57); mantlepiece runners; curtain loops; valances (other than those of heading 63.03).
The EN to heading 6307 provides, in relevant part, as follows:
This heading covers made up articles of any textile material which are not included more specifically in other headings of Section XI or elsewhere in the Nomenclature.
* * *
The Requestor suggests that the product is classified under heading 5609, HTSUS, as an article made of yarn. We first examine whether the Boho Macramé Banner is formed from yarn. The term “yarn” is not defined in the HTSUS or ENs. We also note that the term “macramé” is not defined in the HTSUS or ENs. When a tariff term is not defined in the HTSUS, it is well-settled that its definition is governed by “the term’s correct meaning [which] is its common or dictionary meaning in the absence of evidence to the contrary.” Airflow Technology, Inc. v. United States, 524 F.3d 1287, 1291 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (citing to Russell Stadelman & Co. v. United States, 242 F.3d 1044, 1048 (Fed. Cir. 2001); see also Kahrs Int’l, Inc. v. United States, 713 F.3d 640, 644 (Fed. Cir. 2013).
The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Textiles (“Fairchild Dictionary”) defines “yarn” as “a continuous strand of textile fibers that may be composed of endless filaments or shorter fibers twisted or otherwise held together.” The Fairchild Dictionary also defines “macramé” as the “art of knotting string, cord, wool or other yarns and arranging these knots in different sequences to create various and attractive designs.” The subject Boho Macramé Banner is made from continuous strands of textile fibers that are twisted. Specifically, twisted polyester yarns form the Boho Macramé Banner and, thus, meet the Fairchild Dictionary definition of yarn. Inasmuch as the product at issue features yarns arranged in knots to create triangle designs, it meets the definition of macramé. Furthermore, the phrase “knotting string, cord, wool or other yarns” in the macramé definition informs us that that yarn is a collective term for the materials from which macramé can be formed.
We further note that the yarns in the Boho Macramé Banner are cut to length, as described in the ENs to heading 5609, HTSUS. The product at issue is similar to rope ladders specifically named in the ENs to 5609, HTSUS, in that it consists of yarns knotted together. Therefore, the ENs to heading 5609 suggest that the instant product is classifiable within heading 5609, HTSUS, as an article of yarn. This classification is consistent with CBP’s treatment of similar merchandise, such as the polyester yarn macramé classified in heading 5609, HTUS, in New York Ruling N322409, dated November 12, 2021.
With regard to the remaining HTSUS provisions under consideration, we note that the ENs for heading 6304 specify that it covers “furnishing articles of textile materials other than those of the preceding headings,” and the ENs for heading 6307 specify that it covers “made up articles of any textile material which are not included more specifically in other headings of Section XI.” As the article at issue is made up of yarn, it is more specifically included in heading 5609, HTSUS.
Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the polyester Boho Macramé Banner at issue is classified in heading 5609, HTSUS, and more specifically in subheading 5609.00.30, HTSUS, which provides for “Articles of yarn, strip or the like of heading 5404 or 5405, twine, cordage, rope or cables, not elsewhere specified or included: of man-made fibers.”
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1, we find that the Boho Macramé Banner is classified in heading 5609, HTSUS, and more specifically in subheading 5609.00.30, HTSUS, which provides for “Articles of yarn, strip or the like of heading 5404 or 5405, twine, cordage, rope or cables, not elsewhere specified or included: of man-made fibers.” The 2025 column one, general rate of duty is 4.5% ad valorem.
Pursuant to U.S. Note 20 to Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS, products of China classified under subheading 5609.00.30, HTSUS, unless specifically excluded, are subject to an additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty. At the time of importation, you must report the Chapter 99 subheading, i.e., 9903.88.03, in addition to subheading 5609.00.30, HTSUS, listed above.
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 online at https://hts.usitc.gov.
Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and incorporated in the ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. The application of a ruling letter by a Customs Service field office to the transaction to which it is purported to relate is subject to the verification of the facts incorporated in the ruling letter, a comparison of the transaction described therein to the actual transaction, and the satisfaction of any conditions on which the ruling was based.”
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,
Sarah Kafka, Chief
Food, Textiles, and Marking Branch