CLA-2-46:OT:RR:NC:2:230
Ms. Karen Wilder
The Gymboree Corporation
500 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
RE: The tariff classification of a child’s handbag from China
Dear Ms. Wilder:
In your letter dated April 1, 2010 you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The ruling was requested on a child’s purse, Style #84773 – “Citrus Slice” Purse. A sample of the purse was submitted for our examination and will be returned to you as requested. The handbag exterior is constructed of a combination of three materials: 1) pink dyed plaited straw made from natural “cereal” grass; 2) white polypropylene plaited straw made of polypropylene strips (under 5 mm wide), and 3) pink plastic cut-out appliqués made from polyurethane sheeting. The handbag interior is lined with 100% cotton woven material.
The outside of the purse is constructed from plaits of straw and polypropylene that have been sewn together one on top of another to form the outside shell of the handbag. The plastic appliqués are attached to the face of the handbag. The child’s purse measures approximately 8¾” (w) x 2¼” (d) x 5” (h) (excluding handles.) The small purse is open at the top with no closures and features double carrying handles. It will be used to transport small personal items such as hair items, lip balm, or tissues. It is designed for girls aged from 4 to 7 years old.
The classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”), taken in order. GRI 1 requires that classification be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the heading and legal notes do not otherwise require the remaining GRI will be applied, in the order of their appearance.
GRI 3 states as follows:
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.
(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.
(c) 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.
Chapter Note 1 of Chapter 46, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), states as follows:
In this chapter the expression “plaiting materials” means materials in a state or form suitable for plaiting, interlacing or similar processes; it includes straw, osier or willow, bamboos, rattans, rushes, reeds, strips of wood, strips of other vegetable material (for example, strips of bark, narrow leaves and raffia or other strips obtained from broad leaves), unspun natural textile fibers, monofilament and strip and the like of plastics and strips of paper, but not strips of leather or composition leather or of felt or nonwovens, human hair, horsehair, textile rovings or yarns, or monofilament and strip and the like of chapter 54.
The plaited straw meets the definition of “plaiting materials” of Chapter 46, Note 1. However, we find that none of the materials that constitute the subject handbags gives them their essential character.
According to GRI 3(c), the handbag is then classified in the heading which appears last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration. The competing headings are 4202 for handbags of textile materials and 4602 for handbags of vegetable plaiting materials.
The applicable subheading for the ‘Citrus Slice’ Purse will be 4602.19.2920, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Basketwork, wickerwork and other articles, made directly to shape from plaiting materials or made up from articles of heading 4601: Of vegetable materials: Other (than of bamboo or rattan): Luggage, handbags and flatgoods, whether or not lined: Other (than of willow or of palm leaf): Handbags. The rate of duty will be 5.3 percent 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 Paul Garretto at (646) 733-3035.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division