CLA-2-94:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Jose Gonzalez-Cela Perez
Gabriel North America
560 5th Street NW, Suite 210
Grand Rapids, MI 49504
RE: The tariff classification of a phone booth from the United Kingdom.
Dear Mr. Perez:
In your letter dated April 19, 2018, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Description and photographs were provided. No breakdown of the composition materials was provided by weight and cost.
The merchandise concerned is described by you as the “office furniture phone booth.” You indicate that the phone booth is formed by wood panels covered in fabric, joined by aluminum extrusions, and has a glass door. The phone booth has a handle for the opening and closing of the glass door. Photographs appear to confirm that the phone booth is constructed of a metal-type framework, of which the two side panels and one back panel are covered in fabric. Photographs also indicate that the phone booth has no telecommunication equipment, nor does the phone booth appear to be adapted for installation of such equipment. Overseas shipment of this product will be in knockdown, unassembled condition.
You indicate that the phone booth will be used as a structure within an office room system, providing a free standing cellular environment. In subsequent discussion with your office, it was stated that your client will further enhance the phone booth with other components, i.e., a seat and possibly a counter. Internet research on office phone booths describes these types of products as “privacy office phone booths” or “privacy pods” used for reducing noise in an open-plan office, which are great for making isolated phone calls, and giving employees privacy and the opportunity for uninterrupted work. These same websites, typically depict privacy office phone booths or privacy pods with seats and/or counters.
Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation. 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 General Explanatory Notes (ENs) to Chapter 94 of the HTSUS state 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.]
It is our opinion that the office phone booth, with or without a seat and/or a counter, falls within the meaning of furniture as defined by the General ENs to Chapter 94 of the HTSUS, and is a form of specialized furniture known and sold in the trade as the “privacy office phone booth.” Due to the fact that the “privacy office phone booth” is in unassembled condition upon import, GRI 2 (a) of the HTSUS is implicated. Under GRI 2 (a) of the HTSUS, [“any reference to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled.”]
Because the “privacy office phone booth” is composed of different components (wood, fabric and aluminum), it is considered a composite good for tariff purposes. The ENs to the HTSUS, GRI 3 (b) (VIII), state that “the factor which determines essential character will vary between different kinds of goods. It may for example, be determined by the nature of the materials or components, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of a constituent material in relation to the use of the goods.” When the essential character of a composite good 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.
Even without a materials breakdown by weight and cost, observation of the photographs indicates that the two side-panels covered in fabric and one back panel covered in fabric and the glass door all work together to fulfill the primary purpose of such a good, which is the privacy within an open-plan office. Consequently, the metal-framework does not impart the essential character to the good. We recognize that the glass door in part contributes to the primary purpose of privacy, however, the large-size surface areas of the three wooden panels covered in fabric dominate the construction of the “privacy office phone booth,” and as such we find that the glass door also does not impart the essential character to the good. Because the [fabric] provides the noise-dampening material or component allowing for a majority of the surface areas to fulfill their primary purpose, which is the affording of privacy in an open office environment, it is our opinion that the fabric which covers the outside and inside walls of the privacy pod imparts the essential character to the “privacy office phone booth.”
The applicable subheading for the “privacy office phone booth” will be 9403.89.6020, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof: Furniture of other materials, including cane, osier, bamboo or similar materials: 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 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 Neil H. Levy at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division