CLA-2-14:RR:NC:N2:228 L86299
Mr. Eugene Hahn
HB Worldwide LLC
225 Hazel Drive
Bear, DE 19701
RE: The tariff classification of decorative items from Thailand
Dear Mr. Hahn:
In your letter dated July 6, 2005 you requested a tariff classification ruling.
Images of six products accompanied your letter. Pictures no. 1 and no. 2 are “artificial flowers made from Sano bark.” The bark of the Sano plant is shaped and dyed to resemble flower petals, which are then attached to “stems” made from wood or tape-wrapped wire. Picture no. 1 presents a flower arrangement in a rectangular container. Picture no. 2 depicts a flower arrangement in a loofah flower pot housed within a wooden frame. A transparent material covers the back and front of the frame. Picture no. 3 is identified as a lotus leaf place mat, made by drying and dying a lotus leaf. Pictures no. 4 and no. 5 are dried and dyed leaves or ferns housed in wooden frames with transparent material on the front and back. The product may consist of a single leaf or fern or, as picture no. 5 presents, up to three leaves mounted side by side. Picture no. 6, “lotus leaf box,” is a wooden box covered with a dried and colored lotus leaf, with another lotus leaf glued to the box cover.
The applicable subheading for the products represented by pictures no. 1 and no. 2, i.e., “artificial flowers made from Sano bark,” framed and unframed, and for the framed leaves, pictures no. 4 and no. 5, when containing a single leaf or fern, will be 1404.90.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for vegetable products not elsewhere specified or included…other. The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the framed leaves, pictures no. 4 and no. 5, when containing two or three leaves or ferns, will be 9701.90.0000, HTS, which provides for collages and similar decorative plaques…framed or not framed…other. The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the lotus leaf placemat, picture no. 3, will be 9602.00.5000, HTS, which provides for worked vegetable or mineral carving material and articles of these materials…other. The rate of duty will be 2.7 percent ad valorem.
Additional requirements may be imposed on this product by the United States Department of Agriculture. You may contact the USDA at:
USDA-APHIS-PPQ
4700 River Road, Unit 136
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236
Telephone: (877) 770-5990
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
Your inquiry does not provide enough information for us to give a classification ruling on the lotus leaf box. Your request for a classification ruling should include the botanical name of the wood used to make the box, and a sample. When this information is available, you may wish to consider resubmission of your request. If you decide to resubmit your request, please include all of the material that we have returned to you.
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 Stanley Hopard at 646-733-3029.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division