CLA-2-94:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Daniel J. Gluck, Esq.
Simon Gluck & Kane LLP
Customs & International Trade Law
535 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10017-8020
RE: The tariff classification of a “wheel kit” from undisclosed country of origin.
Dear Mr. Gluck:
In your letter dated August 2, 2017, on behalf of California Innovations Incorporated, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Descriptive and illustrative literature were provided.
The merchandise concerned is a “wheel kit” for a hard-sided cooler. The “wheel kit” consists of: two rubber pneumatic tires mounted to their metal wheels having a 4.9 inches rim diameter; a metal bar (axle) for attachment of the mounted two rubber pneumatic tires; two metal pins for securing the wheels to the metal bar; a metal handle with two textile straps and two metal buckles; two plastic stand blocks to be affixed under the cooler; and four nuts and four washers for attaching the plastic stand blocks to the bottom of the cooler. In its finished condition, the cooler moves by means of its two rear wheels when tilted upwards, and rests by means of its two rear wheels and two front plastic stand blocks when stationary.
Per mounted tire, the metal wheel rim diameter exceeds 75 millimeters and the wheel or tread width exceeds 30 millimeters, and therefore is not considered a castor – see Legal Note 2 to Chapter 83 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order.
A reading of the Legal Note 2, and 2 (a) and 2 (b) to Chapter 94 of the HTSUS, provides: at 2, that the articles (other than parts) referred to in the headings of 9401 to 9403 are to be classified in those headings only if they are designed for placing on the floor or ground; at 2 (a) and 2 (b), the following are, however, to be classified in the above headings even if they are designed to be hung, to be fixed to the wall or to stand one on the other --- 2 (a) Cupboards, bookcases, other shelved furniture (including single shelves presented with supports for fixing them to the wall) and unit furniture, and 2 (b) --- Seats and beds.
When interpreting and implementing the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (ENs) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System may be utilized. The ENs, while neither legally binding nor dispositive, provide a guiding commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. CBP believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
The ENs to Chapter 94 of the HTSUS, “General” 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, churches, schools, cafés, restaurants, laboratories, hospitals, dentists, surgeries, etc., or ships, aircraft, railway coaches, motor vehicles, caravan-trailers or similar means of transport. (It should be noted that, for purposes of this Chapter, articles are considered to be “movable” furniture even if they are designed for bolting, etc., to the floor, e.g., chairs for use on ships). Similar articles (seats, chairs, etc.) for use in gardens, squares, promenades, etc., are included in this category.]
The ENs to Chapter 94 of the HTSUS, “Parts,” state: “This Chapter covers parts, whether or not in the rough, of goods of heading 9401 to 9403 and 9405, when identifiable by their shape or other specific features as parts designed solely or principally for an article of those headings. They are classified in this Chapter when not more specifically covered elsewhere.”
Further provided, the ENs to the HTSUS, heading 9403, states in pertinent part: “This heading covers furniture and parts thereof, not covered by the previous headings. It includes furniture for general use (e.g., cupboards, show cases, tables, telephone stands, writing desks, escritoires, book cases, and other shelved furniture (including single shelves presented with supports for fixing them to the wall), etc.), and also furniture for special uses.” Additionally, the ENs to heading 9403 state in pertinent part that “ice-boxes, ice-chests and the like, and also insulated cabinets not equipped or designed to contain an active refrigerating element but insulated simply by glass fibre, cork, wool, etc., remain classified within this heading.” Accordingly, the floor or ground standing, cooler itself, whether or not containing a wheel kit, is classifiable in subheading 9403.70, HTSUS. Consequently, the parts of “coolers” of which the coolers themselves are considered to be furniture are generally classified in subheading 9403.90, HTSUS, unless those parts are “parts of general use” or having their own heading in the HTSUS.
We find that the “wheel kit,” excluding hardware, is made of a collection of components (two metal rim wheels with rubber pneumatic tires attached; metal axle bar; metal handle with two textile straps and two buckles; and two plastic stand blocks) that, if the components where entered separately would be classified under the principle of GRI 1 in subheading 9403.90, HTSUS, as parts of other furniture. However, the merchandise concerned is being entered as a [kit] and therefore is not classifiable under the principle of GRI 1 to the HTSUS, as the terms of heading 9403, HTSUS, do not provide for kits or sets. The merchandise concerned is also not classifiable in accordance with GRI 2 of the HTSUS in that the unassembled “wheel kit” lacks the essential character of the finished cooler. As such, the wheel kit is classified under the principle of GRI 3 in conjunction with GRI 6 of the HTSUS.
GRI 3 provides, in pertinent part, as follows: When, by application of rule 2 (b) [not applicable in this case] or 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 ….
(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.
The relevant Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the HTSUS at “General Rules for the Interpretation of the Harmonized System,” Rule 3 (b) provide:
(VIII) The factor which determines essential character will vary as between different kinds of goods. It may, for example, 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 good
(X) For the purposes of this Rule, the term “goods put in sets for retail sale” shall be taken to mean goods which:
(a) consist of at least two different articles which are, prima facie, classifiable in different headings. Therefore, for example, six fondue forks cannot be regarded as a set within the meaning of this Rule;
(b) consist of products or 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 repackaging (e.g., in boxes or cases or on boards).
Further, GRI 6, HTSUS, is implicated at the subheading level of 9403.90, HTSUS, because the classification of the components of the “wheel kit” are subdivided based on their composition, for example metal rim wheels with rubber pneumatic tires, metal axle, metal handle and plastic stand blocks. Under the principle of GRI 6, HTSUS, “For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheading of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.”
For the “wheel kit,” the three criteria in Note (X) have to be satisfied in order to be classified as a set for tariff purposes. The wheel kit meets the criteria of goods put up in sets for retail sale, in that the product consists of two or more goods which are prima facie classifiable in two or more [sub]headings (9403.90.40 or 9403.90.50 “plastic stand blocks” and 9403.90.80 “mounted rubber pneumatic tires, metal axle and metal handle”); the components work together, when not stationary, for ease of movement of the cooler with little physical exertion; and the components are all put up together in a cardboard box without repackaging. With case in point, the “wheel kit” meets the criteria of goods put up in sets for retail sale and is a [set] for tariff purposes.
When the essential character of a composite good or set can be determined, the whole product is classified as if it consisted only of the material or component that imparts the essential character to the composite good or set. Further in the case of a “set” for tariff purposes, the classification is made according to the component, or components taken together, which can be regarded as conferring on the set as a whole its essential character. In the event that a component or components taken together cannot confer onto the set an essential character, the “wheel kit” will be classified in the [sub]heading occurring last in numerical order among those classifications equally meriting consideration.
We note that within the set, each of the two wheels is a composite good, made up of a metal rim wheel and a rubber pneumatic tire. Even without a cost breakdown of the metal rim wheel and rubber pneumatic tire, we find that the rubber tire cannot function without being mounted to its metal rim and that the metal rim without its rubber tire does not permit the movement of the cooler with little physical exertion. The metal rim wheel and its rubber tire are integrally tied one to the other, and as such the classification of the mounted rubber tire within the set is subheading 9403.90.8061, HTSUS, the residual subheading which is inclusive for providing for a rubber pneumatic tire.
It is our position that the rubber pneumatic tires mounted to their metal rims form inseparable goods, and that the metal rims of the tires cannot be aggregated with the metal axle and metal handle in an essential character analysis. We find in this case, the mounted rubber pneumatic tires allowing for the movement of the cooler to be the decisive factor imparting the essential character to the “wheel kit” set – the role of the constituent material in relation to the use of the good. Accordingly, the “wheel kit” set is classified in subheading 9403.90.8061, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the “Wheel Kit” set will be 9403.90.8061, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof: Parts: Other: Other: 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 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 Neil H. Levy at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division