CLA-2-39:OT:RR:NC:N2:421
Mr. Sebastian Eich
Aventis Atlantic Partners, LLC.
245 North Highland Avenue Suite 230-102
Atlanta, GA 30307
RE: The tariff classification of plastic stickers from Germany
Dear Mr. Eich:
In your letter dated December 1, 2014, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client Rausch and Pausch, LLC.
The samples provided with your letter are pressure sensitive plastic stickers that will be applied to a magnetic valve block used in vehicles with air suspensions. The part numbers of the stickers are 14913 052, 16425 051 and 16493 051. The stickers are coded with colors, letters and bar codes to signify the colors of the air tubes and the types of struts to be connected at various locations of the valve block.
You suggest classification in subheading 4908.90.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), as vitrifiable transfers (decalcomanias). The Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUS at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. The ENs to heading 4908 state that “Transfers (decalcomanias) consist of pictures, designs or lettering in single or multiple colours, lithographed or otherwise printed on absorbent, lightweight paper (or sometimes thin transparent sheeting of plastics), coated with a preparation, such as of starch and gum, to receive the imprint which is itself coated with an adhesive. This paper is often backed with a supporting paper of heavier quality. The designs are sometimes printed against a background of metal leaf. When the printed paper is moistened and applied with slight pressure to a permanent surface (e.g., glass, pottery, wood, metal, stone or paper), the coating printed with the picture, etc., is transferred to the permanent surface.”
This definition of decalcomania is consistent with the common and commercial definition of the term. The Dictionary of Paper, 5th Edition, edited by Michael Kouris (1996), defines decalcomania as “A process of transferring printed designs to porcelain, wood, glass, marble, etc. It consists usually in gumming the paper or other film bearing the colored picture onto the object and then removing the paper with warm water, the colored picture remaining. Often shortened to decal.” Both the dictionary definition and the EN definition make it clear that the term “decalcomania” refers to printed images on a carrier material that are transferred to another surface. The carrier material is then discarded.
The sample stickers provided with your request do not contain printed images that will be transferred to another surface. The complete printed plastic stickers are applied to the receiving surface. Legal Note 2 of Section VII of the HTSUS states, "Except for the goods of heading 3918 or 3919, plastics, rubber and articles thereof, printed with motifs, characters or pictorial representations, which are not merely incidental to the primary use of the goods, fall in chapter 49." Since the pressure sensitive stickers are provided for in heading 3919, they remain classified in heading 3919 rather than in chapter 49 even when printed and even when the printing is not merely incidental to the primary function of the goods.
The applicable subheading for the plastic stickers will be 3919.90.5060, HTSUS, which provides for self-adhesive plates, sheets, film, foil, tape, strip and other flat shapes, of plastics, whether or not in rolls: other, other. The rate of duty will be 5.8 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 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 Joan Mazzola at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division