CLA-2-46:OT:RR:NC:N4:234
Mr. Brian Kavanaugh
A.N. Deringer, Inc.
173 West Service Road
Champlain, NY 12919
RE: The tariff classification of a Hanging Bamboo Partition from China
Dear Mr. Kavanaugh:
In your letter dated April 27, 2017, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of Folco Company Limited (Kowloon, China). Product literature, photos and a reduced size model of the item was provided for our review and will be retained. The ruling was requested on a “Bamboo Folding Door.” The kit comes unassembled and includes a bamboo panel, a box rail and one bamboo board; also included are the plastic anchors and metal screws necessary for basic installation. The bamboo panel is comprised of vertical bamboo slats laid side-by-side, each slat measuring approximately 5mm wide and 1.8mm thick, held together with thread which is interwoven with the slats. A bamboo board runs down the leading edge of the panel and includes a handle and magnetic closure, with a thinner board to be attached to the other side of an opening via screws and anchors. It is packaged with a box rail to be mounted to the ceiling or to the upper surface of the chosen opening. Box rail rolling hangers attached along the top of the bamboo panel will fit into the box rail when installed, allowing the panel to hang and fold open and shut, accordion-style. When closed, the magnet by the handle connects to a magnet on the board mounted on the opposite side of the opening. The “doors” will be sold in two sizes, 32” by 80” and 36” by 80.” Photos on the packaging show your product used in multiple applications, including as hanging room dividers.
In your letter, you suggest that the Bamboo Folding Door is classifiable under subheading 4418.20.8060, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Builders' joinery and carpentry of wood, including cellular wood panels and assembled flooring panels; shingles and shakes: Doors and their frames and threshold. We disagree with this classification.
The Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the Harmonized Tariff System provide guidance in the interpretation of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System at the international level. The ENs to heading 4418, HTSUS, explain that the products classifiable therein are “woodwork, including that of wood marquetry or inlaid wood, used in the construction of any kind of building.” Although you identify this product as a “door;” it lacks a threshold or frame and may be used as a partition or room divider. It is not of a type installed during building construction. Additionally, the ENs state, “The term “joinery” applies more particularly to builders’ fittings (such as doors, windows, shutters, stairs, door or window frames).” This product is not a builders’ fitting, but rather is marketed with clear directions for self-installation by the homeowner.
Regarding classification of the Bamboo Folding Door, we consider whether the items sold together meet the definition of a set. Explanatory Note X to GRI 3(b) provides that the term "goods put up in sets for retail sale" means goods that: (a) consist of at least two different articles which are, prima facie, classifiable in different headings; (b) consist of articles put up together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity; and (c) are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users without repacking. Goods classifiable under GRI 3(b) are classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, which may be determined by the nature of the material or component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of a constituent material in relation to the use of the article. This office considers the Bamboo Folding Door to be a set for tariff classification purposes, with the essential character imparted by the bamboo panel.
The bamboo panel is comprised of bamboo slats, which are considered "plaiting materials" as described in Note 1 to Chapter 46, HTSUS, which 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 applicable subheading for the “Bamboo Folding Door,” will be 4602.11.4500, 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: Of bamboo: Other (than baskets and certain enumerated products): Other (than wickerwork). The general rate of duty will be 6.6 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 the World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
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 Charlene Miller at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division