CLA-2-96:OT:RR:NC:SP:233
Mr. Dennis Heck
Yamaha Corporation of America
6600 Orangethorpe Avenue
P.O. Box 6600
Buena Park, CA 90622-6600
RE: The tariff classification of musical instrument maintenance kits from Japan.
Dear Mr. Heck:
In your letter dated June 2, 2008, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
You have submitted four samples of musical instrument maintenance kits:
YAC SAXKIT Saxophone Maintenance Kit
YAC TRKIT Trumpet Maintenance Kit
YAC SLKIT Slide Trombone Maintenance Kit
YACHRKIT Horn Maintenance Kit
All four kits consist of combinations of polishing clothes, cleaning swabs, pipe cleaners, various brushes, oil or grease and manuals. The kits are considered a set for classification purposes but no single item imparts the essential character. When the component which gives the set the essential character cannot be determined, classification is determined by utilizing GRI 3(c):
(c) When goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or 3(b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last among those that merit equal consideration.
For all four kits, the brushes in Heading 9603, HTSUS, appear last in numerical order among the headings which equally merit consideration.
The applicable subheading for the musical instrument maintenance kits will be 9603.90.8050, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Brushes: Other: Other”. The rate of duty will be 2.8% 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 World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Lawrence Mushinske at 646-733-3036.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division