CLA-2-48:OT:RR:NC:N4: 234
Heather Benjamin, LCB
C.H. Robinson Freight Services, Ltd.
1501 N. Mittel Blvd, Suite A
Wood Dale, IL 60191
RE: The tariff classification of a stationery set from China.
Dear Ms. Benjamin:
In your letter dated December 18, 2014, on behalf of Industries for the Blind, you requested a tariff classification ruling. As you requested, the sample you provided will be returned.
Item number L-C13605B is described as an “Easter 5 Piece Stationery Set”. The set consists of a pencil, eraser, sharpener, one sticker sheet and a pad. The wooden pencil has a blue eraser tip. The separate eraser is composed of thermal plastic rubber and is in the shape of an Easter bunny. The sticker sheet features decorative images and words evocative of the Easter holiday. The notepad measuring approximately 7 inches by 2 ¼ inches consists of twenty sheets of unlined pages. The cover of the pad, like, all of the other items that make up this set features an Easter themed design.
General Rule of Interpretation ("GRI") 3 (b) of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States ("HTSUS") states as follows: (b) Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable. This office considers the Easter 5 Piece Stationery Set to be a set for tariff classification purposes, with the essential character imparted by the pad.
The applicable subheading for the Easter 5 Piece Stationery Set will be 4820.10.2060, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Registers, account books, notebooks, order books, receipt books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries and similar articles, exercise books, blotting pads, binders (looseleaf or other), folders, file covers, manifold business forms, interleaved carbon set: Registers, account books, notebooks, order books, receipt books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries and similar articles: Diaries, notebooks and address books, bound; memorandum pads, letter pads and similar articles: Other. The rate of duty will be Free.
The pencil in the aforementioned set may be subject to antidumping duties. 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"). You may also write to them at the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Office of Antidumping Compliance, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230. 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" on the lower right hand side under "Investigations"), and you can search AD/CVD deposit and liquidation messages using the AD/CVD Search tool at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.
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 Albert Gamble at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division