CLA-2-94:OT:RR:E:NC:N4:433
Sydney H. Mintzer, Attorney
Mayer Brown LLP
1909 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
RE: The tariff classification of a combination bassinet and changing table from China.
Dear Mr. Mintzer:
In your letter dated March 23, 2009, you requested on behalf of Kolcraft Enterprises, Inc., a tariff classification ruling.
At issue is a combination bassinet and changing table designed for infant use. When configured as a bassinet, an infant up to three months old or fifteen pounds sleeps within a Moses basket housed within the bassinet. The Moses basket is removable from the bassinet and can be placed anywhere in the house with infant inside. The item has two removable wicker-type storage baskets, an attachable organizer, and moves by means of four castors of which two are locking. When configured as a changing table, the item is designed to facilitate the changing of an infant’s diaper for babies up to twenty-five pounds.
The frame’s main supports: consists of two wooden end units connected by lower and upper metal tubes, with the upper tubes having two metal cross tubes for placement of the Moses basket, all of which provide the structural integrity of the bassinet portion only of the combined item. The changing table clips onto the upper metal supports of the frame, without connecting onto the cross tubes of the bassinet. The textile material is decorative in nature.
Noting that the structural integrity of the frame is to support the bassinet, and not the changing table, the item is first a bed (bassinet) specifically designed for babies from birth to three months, with a subordinate use as a changing table. Upon the baby outgrowing the bassinet, the useful life of this item is finished and the infant goes into a crib.
Classification of goods in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) shall be governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) in accordance with the following hieratical principles:
1. The table of contents, alphabetical index, and titles of sections, chapters and sub-chapters are provided for ease of reference only; for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter
notes and, provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to the following provisions:
2. (a) Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to
that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It 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.
(b) Any reference in a heading to a material or substance shall be taken to include a
reference to mixtures or combinations of that material or substance with other materials or substances. Any reference to goods of a given material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance. The classification of goods consisting of more than one material or substance shall be according to the principles of rule 3.
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:
(a) 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.
When goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or 3(b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.
By application of GRI 3(b), the combination bassinet and changing table, with emphasis on the former, is a composite good consisting primarily of wood and metal supports. Neither the wood, nor the metal, provide a majority of the frames support, both materials are needed to form the structural support for the bassinet. When no one material provides the essential character of the item, then by application of GRI 3(c) the good is classified last numerical in the HTSUS amongst those headings of equal consideration.
GRI 6, like GRI 3(c), when no essential character can be made, classification is to be determined under the subheading which occurs last in numerical order. The two competing subheadings are “Other metal furniture; Household” classified in HTS 9403.20.0015 or “Other wooden furniture; Other” classified in HTSUS 9403.60.8080. Based on the principals of GRI 3(c) and 6, this item is classified as other wooden furniture.
The applicable subheading for the combination bassinet and changing table, will be 9403.60.8080, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof; Other wooden furniture; Other; Other.” The rate of duty will be free.
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 Neil H. Levy at (646) 733-3036.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division