CLA-2-94:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Carissa Clark
Senior Compliance Specialist
Cornerstone Brands
5568 West Chester Road
West Chester, OH 45069
RE: The tariff classification of a painted urn with handles from the Philippines.
Dear Ms. Clark:
In your letter dated September 10, 2014, on behalf of Cinmar, DBA Frontgate and GrandinRoad, you requested a tariff classification ruling. As requested, the sample submitted will be returned to you.
Item 63793 is identified on the Frontgate website as the Painted “In Vino Veritas” Urn, and is described on the same website as an “Italian-inspired painted planter.” The planter is composed of lightweight resin and fiberglass, and has an exterior surface that is hand-painted and top coated with a polyurethane finish. Once applied, the polyurethane coat provides a faux ceramic look to the planter. At the bottom of the planter there is a drain hole and plug. This planter is floor or ground standing, and measures approximately 27-inches in height and 17-inches in diameter at the top of its circumference.
The General Explanatory Notes (ENs) to Chapter 94 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), state, in relevant part, with regard to the meaning of furniture, at (A): for the purposes of this Chapter, the term “furniture” means: Any “movable” articles (not included under other more specific headings of the Nomenclature), which have the essential characteristic that they are constructed for placing on the floor or ground, and which are used, mainly with a utilitarian purpose, to equip private dwellings, hotels, theatres, cinemas, offices, offices, churches, schools, cafes, restaurants, laboratories, hospitals…etc….
Further provided, the ENs to the HTSUS, heading 9403, lists several types of stands classified within the provision, such as telephone stands, plant stands, hall stands, umbrella stands, music stands, and easels. An examination of these types of stands, such as the umbrella stand indicates placement of items within versus music stands and easels that items are placed upon; while plant stands are for both placing items on or within.
You reference Headquarters ruling, HQ 961862 dated June 8, 1999, which classified various plastic planters, urns, tubs, water cans and bird baths in subheading 3924.90.5500, HTSUS. This office differentiates the merchandise concerned of this ruling to the items ruled upon in HQ 961862. Other than the bird bath that stands at 24-inches high and most likely is floor or ground standing, the other items of HQ 961862 appear to be placed on counters and similar type surfaces, off of the floor or ground, and therefore are not classifiable in heading 9403, HTSUS. The bird bath is not used in the readiness of an area for supporting various human activities in which furniture is expressly designed for such purpose, and therefore is not a classifiable item within heading 9403, HTSUS. With case in point, none of the items in HQ 961862 fall within the meaning of furniture as provided by the General ENs to Chapter 94 of the HTSUS.
Upon review of the descriptive literature, the sample submitted and the frontgate.com website for the merchandise concerned, we are of the opinion that the planter falls within the meaning of furniture, in that, it is floor or ground standing, used to equip establishments with movable receptacles for the placement of plants in mainly outdoor settings, and supports the human need to beautify one’s surroundings and admire nature. See New York rulings: N236140 dated December 10, 2012 and N238863 dated March 6, 2013. Further, a common dictionary meaning for the word fiberglass indicates that fiberglass is a reinforced plastic material composed of glass fibers embedded in a resin matrix. Accordingly, we are of the opinion that the essential character of the planter is imparted by the fiber reinforced plastic.
The applicable subheading for item 63793, the Painted “In Vino Veritas” Urn, made of reinforced or laminated plastics, will be 9403.70.4015, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof: Furniture of plastics: Of reinforced or laminated plastics: Other household.” 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 E-mail address: [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division