CLA-2-90:OT:RR:NC:N1:105
Patricia Carvalho
Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc.
1215 East Fort Avenue, Suite 201
Baltimore, MA 21230
RE: The tariff classification of a Personal Protection Essentials Kit from various countries including China and Vietnam
Dear Ms. Carvalho:
In your letter dated July 7, 2020, on behalf of your client, Dynamic Design Enterprises Inc., you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The product under consideration is identified as the Personal Protection Essentials Kit. The kit has six items including an LCD digital thermometer, three protective cloth face masks (made of 65% polyester and 35% cotton), four disposable pairs of nitrile gloves, two bottles of gel hand sanitizers, a pack of alcohol wet wipes, and two poly bags for disposal of the gloves. The items are packaged for retail sale in a nylon bag. You state that all of the items were made in Vietnam except for the thermometer which was made in China.
General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 1, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), states in part that for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings, any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise required, according to the remaining GRI’s taken in order. Goods that are, prima facie, classifiable under two or more headings, are classifiable in accordance with GRI 3, HTSUS. GRI 3(a) states in part that when two or more headings each refer to a part of the item in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific, even if one heading gives a more precise description of the goods. The Personal Protection Essentials Kit, consists of at least two different articles that are, prima facie, classifiable in different headings. It consists of articles put up together to carry out a specific activity (i.e., personal protection against germs). Finally, the articles are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users without repacking. Therefore, the item in question is within the term "goods put up in sets for retail sale." GRI 3(b) states in part that goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to GRI 3(a), are to be classified as if they consisted of the component that gives them their essential character. GRI 3(c) provides that when goods cannot be classified by reference to GRI 3(a) or 3(b), they are to be classified in the heading that occurs last in numerical order among the competing headings which equally merit consideration. We find the LCD digital thermometer to be equivalent to the cloth masks. The remaining items are all disposable, except for the bag which is solely used to hold the items, and thus not considered equal. In this case, the LCD digital thermometer falls last within heading 9025, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the Personal Protection Essentials Kit will be 9025.19.8010, HTSUS, which provides for “Hydrometers and similar floating instruments, thermometers, pyrometers, barometers, hygrometers and psychrometers, recording or not, and any combination of these instruments; parts and accessories thereof: Thermometers and pyrometers, not combined with other instruments: Other: Other: Clinical: Infrared thermometers of a kind described in statistical note 2 of this chapter.” The general rate of duty will be free.
Pursuant to U.S. Note 20 to Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS, products of China classified under subheading 9025.19.8010, HTSUS, unless specifically excluded, are subject to an additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty. At the time of importation, you must report the Chapter 99 subheading, i.e., 9903.88.02, in addition to subheading 9025.19.8010, HTSUS, listed above.
The HTSUS is subject to periodic amendment so you should exercise reasonable care in monitoring the status of goods covered by the Note cited above and the applicable Chapter 99 subheading. For background information regarding the trade remedy initiated pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, you may refer to the relevant parts of the USTR and CBP websites, which are available at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/tariff-actions and https://www.cbp.gov/trade/remedies/301-certain-products-china respectively.
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 Jason Christie at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division