CLA-2-94:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Mark Jared Mauzey
Trade and Product Compliance Specialist
Pier 1 Imports
100 Pier 1 Place
Fort Worth, TX 76107
RE: The tariff classification of one wooden desk from Indonesia and two wooden desks from China.
Dear Mr. Mauzey:
In your letter dated December 10, 2012, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Photos were received.
Item 1 is identified as the VIN P1-0109-12, Plantation Desk. The desk is manufactured in Indonesia. The desk is compose of wood, and measures 42-inches long by 20-inches wide by 30-inches high. This desk features a keyboard tray, one drawer and a cabinet for storage.
Item 2 is identified as the VIN H111333C, Sawhorse Desk. The desk is manufactured in China. The desk is compose of wood, and measures 48-inches long by 24-inches wide by 30-inches high. This desk features two bottom shelves, which are located at opposite ends between the openings for the chair.
Item 3 is identified as the VIN 177.18848, Secretary Desk. The desk is manufactured in China. The desk is compose of wood, and measures 42-inches long by 13-inches wide by 30-inches high. This desk features two top drawers and a cabinet for storage.
The term “office furniture” and “bedroom furniture” are not defined in the text of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), nor the Explanatory Notes to the HTSUS. When terms are not defined, they are construed in accordance with their common and commercial meaning – Nippon Kogasku (USA), Inc. v. United States, 69 CCPA 89, 673 F.2d 380 (1982). Common and commercial meaning may be determined by consulting dictionaries, lexicons, scientific authorities and other reliable sources – see C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 69 CCPA 128, 673 F.2d 1268 (1982).
Dictionary and encyclopedia definitions describe “office furniture” as furniture intended for use in an office. The Online Oxford English Dictionary defines “office” as a room, set of rooms, or building used as a place of business for non-manual work; a room or department for clerical or administrative work. It is implied that an office is a place of business, in which, a person has an occupation, work, or trade. Therefore, furniture that is not designed for business purposes, or furniture that is designed for personal use at home (including home offices) but is not constructed in a manner suitable for business purposes, is generally not considered office furniture for tariff purposes.
Dictionary and encyclopedia definitions describe “bedroom furniture” as furniture intended for use in the bedroom. It covers both groupings and individual pieces, such as beds, nightstands; dressers (also known as a chest of drawers usually placed in a bedroom); chests; wardrobes; trunks; armoires; vanity tables; desks; computer stands; filing cabinets; bookcases; and writing desk, and more. Furniture, for example, desks, computer stands, filing cabinets, and bookcases that are designed and constructed for conducting business of an occupation, work or trade will generally not be considered bedroom furniture.
You suggest two possible choices for the classification of the merchandise concerned, either subheading 9403.30, HTSUS, wooden furniture of a kind used in offices or subheading 9403.60, HTSUS, other wooden furniture. From the definition of “office furniture” as described above and the depicted photos of the merchandise concerned, these desks do not fall within subheading 9403.30, HTSUS, as they are mainly for personal household use without being constructed for a business purpose. It is common to find these types of desks in a bedroom setting or another location within the house. Consequently, the alternative classifications are subheading 9403.50, HTSUS, wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom and 9403.60, HTSUS, other wooden furniture.
With the desks classified only in one heading, 9403, the issue becomes the proper ten-digit subheading for the item. Accordingly, GRI 6 is implicated. GRI 6 provides that the classification of goods at the subheading level shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules [GRIs 1 - 5], on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable.
The desks are prima facie classifiable in subheadings 9403.50 (wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom) and 9403.60 (other wood furniture). It is our opinion, using GRI 6 in conjunction with GRI 3 (a) that the desks are more specifically provided for in the subheading for wooden bedroom furniture, than the less descriptive subheading of other wooden furniture. See Len-Ron Manufacturing Co. v. United States, No. 02-1495, United States Court of Appeals, dated July 3, 2003. See New York Rulings: N121616 dated September 16, 2010 and N218739 dated June 30, 2012. As such, the desks are classified in subheading 9403.50, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the desks that can be used in a bedroom setting 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 two wooden desks from China may be subject to Antidumping Duties (AD). Specifically, the desks may be subject to AD for wooden bedroom furniture from China under the Department of Commerce case number A-570-890. Written decisions regarding the scope of AD orders and Countervailing Duties (CVD) 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