CLA-2-39:OT:RR:NC:N4:422
Ms. Jane L. Taeger
Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc.
One Charles Center
100 North Charles Street, Suite 1200
Baltimore, MD 21201
RE: The tariff classification of a plastic and vegetable fiber flower pot from China
Dear Ms. Taeger:
In your letter dated August 10, 2009, on behalf of Ames True Temper, Inc., you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The submitted sample was identified as an Eco Gardener flower pot. You had stated that this item “is made of 70-80% bamboo and grain fiber”. However, Customs Laboratory analysis has reflected the fact that this item is comprised, by weight, of 66.5% acrylamide plastic material, 27.4% vegetable fiber and 6.1% calcium carbonate and that all components are uniformly blended throughout the body of the sample. As such, the vegetable fiber is considered to be filler material and the composition of this pot is considered to be essentially of plastic.
You have suggested that this item is correctly classified in subheading 9602.00.5080. However, we do not agree that this item is correctly classified in the subheading that you have suggested. The material of which this item is comprised is not the worked vegetable material covered under heading 9602.
The applicable subheading for the Eco Gardener flower pot will be 3924.90.5600, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for…other household articles…of plastics: other: other. The rate of duty will be 3.4 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 World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
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 Gary Kalus at (646) 733-3055.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division