H310903

HQ H310903 June 17, 2020 OT:RR:CTF:FTM H301903 PJG CATEGORY: Classification/Origin Jessey Tsai Ching Feng Home Fashions Co., Ltd. No. 373, Sec. 4, Yen Hai Road Fu Hsing, Taiwan 506 Re: Country of origin marking and tariff classification of rechargeable motorized cellular window shades Dear Mr. Tsai: This is in response to your letter, dated February 24, 2020, filed on behalf of L G Sourcing, Inc. (“L G Sourcing”), requesting a binding ruling on the country of origin marking and tariff classification of rechargeable motorized cellular window shades (model numbers 78619-78648). Your request was forwarded by the National Commodity Specialist Division to this office for a response. You submitted a sample of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shade, which we will not be returning. FACTS: The motorized cellular window shades at issue (model numbers 78619-78648) are battery powered and operated by a remote control. The item includes polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”) head and bottom rails; a nonwoven cellular polyester shade, completely covered with a layer of plastic on one side; plastic accessories; an electric motor; a battery compartment that includes a rechargeable battery; a remote control; a charger; and USB cable. Each package also contains mounting brackets and screws to attach the motorized cellular window shade to the window frame or wall. The various model numbers are differentiated by size and color only. According to your submission, the 100 percent PVC head and bottom rails, recycled polyester shade body and plastic accessories are made in Taiwan. The cost of the components produced in Taiwan account for 31.9 percent of the total cost of all shade components. The electric motor, battery compartment, rechargeable battery, remote control, charger, and USB cable are made in China. The total cost of the components produced in China account for 68.1 percent of the total cost of all shade components. All of the components are assembled in Taiwan into a motorized cellular window shade and exported directly to the United States. ISSUES: What is the tariff classification of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades? What is the country of origin for marking purposes of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades? LAW AND ANALYSIS: What is the tariff classification of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades? The classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRI”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs may then be applied. The 2020 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows: 6303 Curtains (including drapes) and interior blinds; curtain or bed valances: 8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: GRI 3(a) and (b) provide as follows: When, by application of rule 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are, prima facie, classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows: The heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods. 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. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) constitute the “official interpretation of the Harmonized System” at the international level. See 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989). 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. See id. The EN to GRI 3(b) states, in pertinent part: (VI) This second method relates only to : (i) Mixtures. (ii) Composite goods consisting of different materials. (iii) Composite goods consisting of different components. (iv) Goods put up in sets for retail sales. It applies only if Rule 3 (a) fails. (VII) In all these cases the goods are to be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable. (VIII) The factor which determines essential character will vary as between different kinds of goods. It may, for example, be determined by the nature of the material or component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of a constituent material in relation to the use of the goods. (IX) For the purposes of this Rule, composite goods made up of different components shall be taken to mean not only those in which the components are attached to each other to form a practically inseparable whole but also those with separable components, provided these components are adapted one to the other and are mutually complementary and that together they form a whole which would not normally be offered for sale in separate parts. Examples of the latter category of goods are : (1) Ashtrays consisting of a stand incorporating a removable ash bowl. (2) Household spice racks consisting of a specially designed frame (usually of wood) and an appropriate number of empty spice jars of suitable shape and size. As a general rule, the components of these composite goods are put up in a common packing. * * * The subject merchandise is made up of different components, i.e., polyvinyl chloride (PVC) head and bottom rails, a nonwoven cellular polyester shade completely covered in plastic on one side, plastic accessories, an electric motor, a battery compartment that includes a rechargeable battery, a remote control, a charger, USB cable, as well as mounting brackets and screws, which are classified in various headings of the HTSUS. When by application of GRI 2, HTSUS, goods are prima facie classifiable under two or more headings, GRI 3, HTSUS, is applicable. According to EN IX for GRI 3(b), a “composite good” is a good that is “made up of different components,” which may be “adapted one to the other and [be] mutually complementary and . . . together . . . form a whole which would not normally be offered for sale in separate parts.” The subject merchandise is a composite good; therefore, GRI 3(b) requires that classification be based on the product that provides the composite good with its essential character. The EN to GRI 3(b) (VIII) lists factors to help determine the essential character of such goods: “the nature of the material or component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of a constituent material in relation to the use of the goods.” The U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) has indicated that the factors listed in the EN to GRI 3(b) (VIII) are “instructive” but “not exhaustive” and has indicated that the goods must be “‘reviewed as a whole.’” The Home Depot, U.S.A., Inc. v. United States, 30 Ct. Int’l Trade 445, 459-460 (2006) (citing A.N. Deringer, Inc. v. United States, 66 Cust. Ct. 378, 384 (1971) (citation omitted)). With regard to the good which imparts the essential character, the CIT has stated that it is “‘that which 

What is the tariff classification of the rechargeable motorized cellular window shades?The classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRI”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs may then be applied. The 2020 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows: 6303 Curtains (including drapes) and interior blinds; curtain or bed valances: 8479 Machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter; parts thereof: GRI 3(a) and (b) provide as follows:When, by application of rule 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are, prima facie, classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows: The heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods.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. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes(“ENs”) constitute the “