CLA-2-63:OT:RR:NC:N3:351
Mr. Louis Esposito
AIPM Ideas That Work
American Inventions Product Management
7001 20th Avenue West
Bradenton, FL 34209
RE: The tariff classification of a cleaning tool from China
Dear Mr. Esposito:
In your undated letter, received August 15, 2014, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
You have submitted a sample of a product you call the Nook and Cranny Finger Shammy. The item is made up of 100% nonwoven polyester fabric. The fabric is folded over then stitched down the length of the fold. The stitching creates twelve slender pockets measuring individually between 3/4” up to 1-1/2” wide. These pockets are cut from the bottom to one inch below the top creating a panel of individually sewn “fingers.” To use, four flat aluminum pieces, ranging between 1/4” and 1” wide, and one round aluminum rod are provided to place into the various fingers. Once inserted into a finger, these aluminum parts make the cloth firm, thus allowing the user to clean or polish narrow crevices and small spaces. The aluminum pieces are 8-3/4” long.
The applicable subheading for the Nook and Cranny Finger Shammy will be 6307.90.9889, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, (HTSUS), which provides for other made up textile articles, other. The rate of duty will be 7% ad valorem.
You suggest that the individual components, i.e., the polyester yarns and the aluminum parts, should somehow determine the classification of the item. The Nook and Cranny Finger Shammy is a composite good as that term is defined in General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 3(b), which states that composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character. The essential character of this item is imparted by the textile fabric. The finished item is a made up article of polyester fabric, according to Legal Note 7 to Section XI, HTSUS, and that is how it has been classified.
One of the documents you included in your ruling request is apparently from the manufacturer or exporter in China and it states, “Exporter Produce Customs Code 9603509190.” Please note that there is no such subheading in the current HTSUS. However, heading 9603 covers brushes, but this item is not described in the exemplars of the heading:
Brooms, brushes (including brushes constituting parts of machines, appliances or vehicles), hand-operated mechanical floor sweepers, not motorized, mops and feather dusters; prepared knots and tufts for broom or brush making; paint pads and rollers; squeegees (other than roller squeegees)
As such, this item cannot be classified in heading 9603.
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 sample will be returned.
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 Mitchel Bayer at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division