CLA-2-94:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Laura Friend
Transportation Specialist
Hayneedle
9394 W. Dodge Road, Suite 300
Omaha, NE 68114
RE: The tariff classification of children’s storage benches from China.
Dear Ms. Friend:
In your letter dated November 1, 2012, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Photos and product information on the pink, blue and red storage benches can be found on the Hayneedle’s website at:
http://
search.hayneedle.com/search/index.cfm?Ntt=levels+of+discovery+toy+benches&x=13&y=10
Item numbers HN-LD260 (Pink), HN-LD261 (Blue) and HN-LD259 (Red) are named the “Levels of Discovery Toy Bench.” Inspection of the photos and the product information indicates that these items are storage benches, which are crafted from durable beechwood and Medium-density fiberboard (MDF). These storage benches are designed to withstand the wear and tear of children’s play.
The General Explanatory Notes (ENs) to Chapter 94 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), 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, cafes, restaurants, laboratories, hospitals…etc….
As imported, these children’s storage benches fall within the meaning of furniture as described by the ENs to the HTSUS, in that, the storage benches are floor standing and serve the utilitarian function of placement and holding of children’s toys, clothing, footwear and other various objects, while providing a setting area onto which they can rest upon, or indulge in activities of imagination and play, or simply read. These types of wooden storage benches are typically found in a child’s bedroom. It is the opinion of this office that the Levels of Discovery Toy Bench, whether in pink, blue or red, is classified in subheading 9403.50 of the HTSUS – the subheading for wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom.
The applicable subheading for the storage benches, will be 9403.50.9080, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof: Wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom: 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 http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
The merchandise in question may be subject to Antidumping Duties (AD) or Countervailing Duties (CVD). Specifically, the storage benches may be subject to AD for wooden bedroom furniture from China under the Department of Commerce case number A-570-890. See CBP.gov, ADD/CVD search, message number 6032204 – scope ruling on toy boxes. Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the Import Administration in the Department of Commerce, and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection. You can contact them at http://www.trade.gov/ia/ (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 http://www.usitc.gov (click on “Antidumping and countervailing duty investigations”), and you can search AD/CVD deposit and liquidation messages using the AD/CVD Search tool at http://addcvd.cbp.gov/.
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 (646) 733-3036.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Russo
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division