CLA-2-95:OT:RR:NC:N4:424
Mr. Mark Blake
L.L. Bean, Inc.
15 Casco St.
Freeport, ME 04033
RE: The tariff classification of a sled and toboggan cushion covers from Canada
Dear Mr. Blake:
In your letter dated April 27, 2012, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
Samples and photographs of the Toboggan Buffalo Plaid Cushion Cover X-Long, style # 280050, and Pull Sled Buffalo Plaid Cushion Cover Large, style # 280062, were received with your inquiry. Both items are specially designed to fit over red cushions for a specific sled and toboggan. Each cover is designed for enhanced aesthetics and provides extra protection for both the cushion as well as the sled and toboggan. Each cover is designed with ties that fit a specific sled or toboggan model. The covers are constructed with a 100% wool woven fabric and a bottom fabric of 100% polyester.
Note 3, to Chapter 95, states in part that subject to Note 1 "parts and accessories which are suitable for use solely or principally with articles of this chapter are to be classified with those articles." The covers are specifically shaped and fitted suitable for use solely with a specific model of sled and toboggan and will be classified accordingly.
The applicable subheading for the Toboggan Buffalo Plaid Cushion Cover X-Long and Pull Sled Buffalo Plaid Cushion Cover Large will be 9506.99.4500, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for "Articles and equipment for general physical exercise, gymnastics, athletics, other sports (including table tennis) or outdoor games…Other: Sleds, bobsleds, toboggans and the like and parts and accessories thereof: Other, including parts and accessories." The rate of duty will be 2.8 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 the World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
In your request you also inquire as to whether the two items are eligible for NAFTA. The wool fabric is woven in Canada from yarns formed in Canada. The polyester bottom fabric is made in Korea. The nylon sewing thread is formed in Canada. The polyester ties and binding materials are made in Taiwan. The raw materials are cut, sewn and assembled in Canada to form the final product.
General Note 12(b), HTSUS, sets forth the criteria for determining whether a good is originating under the NAFTA. General Note 12(b), HTSUS, (19 U.S.C. § 1202) states, in pertinent part, that
For the purposes of this note, goods imported into the customs territory of the United States are eligible for the tariff treatment and quantitative limitations set forth in the tariff schedule as “goods originating in the territory of a NAFTA party” only if--
(i) they are goods wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of Canada, Mexico and/or the United States; or
(ii) they have been transformed in the territory of Canada, Mexico and/or the United States so that--
(A) except as provided in subdivision (f) of this note, each of the non-originating materials used in the production of such goods undergoes a change in tariff classification described in subdivisions (r), (s) and (t) of this note or the rules set forth therein, or
(B) the goods otherwise satisfy the applicable requirements of subdivisions (r), (s) and (t) where no change in tariff classification is required, and the goods satisfy all other requirements of this note; or
(iii) they are goods produced entirely in the territory of Canada, Mexico and/or the United States exclusively from originating materials
Since the sled and toboggan cushion covers are constructed of several components originating in a country other than Mexico, Canada or the United States, General Note 12(b)(i), HTSUS, does not apply. Therefore, we must next refer to General Note 12(b)(ii)(A) and examine whether the non-originating components incorporated into the sled and toboggan covers undergo the required change in tariff classification.
General Note 12(b)(ii)(A), HTSUS, specifies in part that merchandise will qualify as originating goods for NAFTA eligibility if each of the non-originating materials – in this case, the polyester bottom fabric, polyester ties and binding materials – undergoes a change in tariff classification described in subdivision (t). The rule applicable to merchandise classifiable in this heading is found in General Note 12(t), Chapter 95, Rule 9, which requires “a change to headings 9506.40 through 9506.99 from any other chapter.”
Based on the information supplied, since the non-originating components of the sled and toboggan cushion covers are classified in tariff headings other than subheadings 9506.40 through 9506.99, the requirements of the rule have been met. Therefore, the sled and toboggan cushion covers will qualify for NAFTA preferential treatment.
You also requested the proper country of origin for the aforementioned items. For a good of a NAFTA country, the NAFTA Marking Rules in Part 102, Customs Regulations (19 CFR § 102 et seq.), will determine the country of origin.
Section 102.11, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 102.11), sets forth the required hierarchy for determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country for the purposes of country-of-origin marking. Paragraph (a) of this section states that the country of origin of a good is the country in which:
The good is wholly obtained or produced;
The good is produced exclusively from domestic materials; or
Each foreign material incorporated in that good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification set out in section 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all other applicable requirements of these rules are satisfied.
"Foreign material" is defined in 19 CFR 102.1(e) as "a material whose country of origin as determined under these rules is not the same country as the country in which the good is produced."
Sections 102.11(a)(1) and 102.11(a)(2) do not apply to the facts presented in this case because the subject merchandise is neither wholly obtained or produced, nor produced exclusively from domestic materials. Since an analysis of sections 102.11(a)(1) and 102.11(a)(2) will not yield a country of origin determination, we look to section 102.11(a)(3).
Section 102.11(a)(3) provides that the country of origin is the country in which "each foreign material incorporated in that good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification as set forth in 19 CFR 102.20...."
The applicable tariff shift rule found in section 102.20(f) provides as follows:
HTSUS Tariff Shift and/or other requirements
9506.32 – 9506.99 A change to subheading 9506.32 through 9506.99 from any other
subheading, including another subheading within that group.
Since each of the foreign materials – in this case, the polyester bottom fabric, polyester ties and binding materials – undergoes the applicable tariff shift in Canada, pursuant to 19 CFR 102.11(a)(3), the country of origin of the sled and toboggan covers is Canada.
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 James Forkan at (646) 733-3025.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Russo
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division