CLA-2-44:OT:RR:NC:1:130
Ms. Laura L. Gamache
Bay Brokerage, Inc.
100 Walnut St.
Champlain, NY 12919
RE: The tariff classification of sauna kits from Canada
Dear Ms. Gamache:
In your letter, dated March 23, 2017, you requested a binding tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, All American Forest Products, Inc. The request was returned to you for additional information, which was received by this office on September 8, 2017. The ruling was requested on a wooden sauna kit. Product information was submitted for our review.
You identify the item as an unassembled sauna kit. The kit contains neither a heating unit nor metal hardware at the time of importation. The kit consists of multiple wood components, cut to size and ready for assembly. These components are constructed of either Western Red Cedar or Canadian Hemlock (both coniferous) woods. The sauna is not freestanding, but is, instead, built into the existing structure of a house or other building. You state that a consumer may add a door or accessories, “but the kit would not need the items to complete the sauna room.” This is interpreted to mean that the door and accessories are not included at the time of importation. The kit includes both dimensional lumber (1x4, 2x4, 1x6, 2x6), and continuously shaped wood components (e.g., tongued and grooved wood). Any other separate components of the kit were not identified; it is not clear if there are assembled panels for seats, floor covering, or any other element of the sauna kit. The diagrams and photos provided do not give a clear accounting of the components included in the kit at the time of entry.
In your letter, you suggest that the sauna kits are classifiable under 9406.10, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Prefabricated buildings: Of wood. We disagree. The sauna kit is not freestanding, but is instead incorporated into an existing structure, such as a home. The kit requires the framing, wiring, roof, exterior walls, and insulation of an existing building; without this, the sauna could not stand on its own. It is not a complete building, nor does it have the essential character of a prefabricated building; in order to be considered a building, the component pieces at issue must possess the essential character of a complete, prefabricated structure as built in a factory.
Note 4 to Chapter 94, HTSUS, provides that
For the purposes of heading 9406, the expression "prefabricated buildings" means buildings which are finished in the factory or put up as elements, entered together, to be assembled on site, such as housing or worksite accommodation, offices, schools, shops, sheds, garages or similar buildings.
Additionally, the Explanatory Notes (ENs) to subheading 9406.10 provide that
For the purposes of classification in this subheading, the expression “of wood” refers to prefabricated buildings with wooden structure, exterior walls, floor(if floor present), and other characteristic constructive elements consisting predominantly of wood.
The sauna kit does not meet the Note 4 definition, as it is not a building, and it is not akin to the exemplars set forth in the Note, such as housing, offices, schools, and the like. Furthermore, the ENs make clear that a prefabricated building requires a structure, exterior walls, a floor (if there is a floor present), and other characteristic constructive elements of a building, such as a roof. As the instant structure does not have its own framing, exterior walls, floor, roof, or other building components, it is not a building.
You cite two rulings, HQ H179957 and NY 884879, in support of your suggested classification. Ruling NY 884879 is not applicable to the instant sauna kit, as it classifies a freestanding complete sauna building. The instant kit is not freestanding must be built into an existing building. You state that HQ H179957 classifies a non-freestanding sauna kit in heading 9406. However, on closer examination, there is no item in HQ H179957 that is classified under heading 9406. In that ruling, the parts of the kit were all classifiable separately. The same applies to the instant kit.
Because the sauna kit is not a prefabricated building, and is not classifiable in any other specific provision of the HTSUS, all of the components imported with the sauna kit must be classified separately. There is insufficient information available to identify all of the components included in the kit at the time of importation. Therefore, those components cannot be specifically classified in this ruling. The subheadings for the dimensional lumber and continuously shaped wood, however, will be provided herein.
The applicable subheading for the dimensional lumber imported in the sauna kit will be 4407.10.01, HTSUS, which provides for Wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether
or not planed, sanded or end-jointed, of a thickness exceeding 6 mm: Coniferous. The rate of duty will be free.
The applicable subheading for the continuously shaped wood imported in the sauna kit will be 4409.10, which provides for Wood (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not
assembled) continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rebated, chamfered, V-jointed, beaded, molded, rounded or the like) along any of its edges, ends or faces, whether or not planed, sanded or end-jointed: Coniferous. The rates of duty within this subheading vary based on construction.
The instant wood products may be subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) for certain softwood lumber products from Canada. Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the Enforcement and Compliance office in the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). You can contact them at http://trade.gov/enforcement/ (click on “Contact Us”). For your information, you can view a list of current AD/CVD cases at the United States International Trade Commission website at https://www.usitc.gov (click on “Antidumping and Countervailing Duty” under “Popular Topics” at the top of the screen), and you can search AD/CVD deposit and liquidation messages using CBP’s AD/CVD Search tool at http://addcvd.cbp.gov/.
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 Laurel Duvall at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division