H335786

H335786 March 30, 2026 OT:RR:CTF:CPMMA H335786 NAH CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO: 4819.20.0040; 9903.88.03 Center Director Industrial and Manufacturing Materials Center of Excellence and Expertise U.S. Customs and Border Protection 726 Exchange Street, Suite 400 Buffalo, NY 14210 Attn: William Lahood, Import Specialist RE: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 5301-23-109515; Tariff classification of folding paperboard cosmetic package Dear Center Director, This is in reply to the Application for Further Review (“AFR”) of Protest No. 5301-23-109515, filed on November 15, 2023, by Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., on behalf of Wormser Corporation (“Protestant”), contesting U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (“CBP”) tariff classification of the subject folding paperboard cosmetic packages under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), and the application of the additional duties on products of China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Section 301 duties”). The folding paperboard cosmetic packages were classified under statistical reporting number 4819.50.4060, HTSUSA (“Annotated”), which provides for “[c]artons, boxes, cases, bags and other packing containers, of paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding or webs of cellulose fibers; box files, letter trays and similar articles, of paper or paperboard of a kind used in offices, shops or the like: Other packing containers, including record sleeves: Other: Other: Other.” As products of China, the articles were also classified under subheading 9903.88.03, HTSUS, which provides for “articles the product of China, as provided for in U.S. note 20(e) to this subchapter and as provided for in the subheadings enumerated in U.S. note 20(f).” The subject merchandise arrived in three entries at Houston, TX, between June 17 and August 26, 2022. The entries were liquidated under subheadings 4819.20.0040, 4819.50.4060, and 9903.88.03, HTSUSA, between May 19 and July 28, 2023. Protestant asserts that an 2 exclusion from the Section 301 duties applies to the subject merchandise, because U.S. note 20(sss)(iii)(5) to Section III of Chapter 99, HTSUS, applies. FACTS: The subject merchandise includes three styles of square-shaped and three-dimensional rectangular paperboard bifold cosmetic packaging. Each style is one continuous piece with preformed ridges to allow the paperboard to be bent into a box shape. Each style has images and product information printed on all exterior surfaces of the paperboard. Each style features an opening on one side to hold and allow powder makeup containers to extend out of the packaging. The cosmetics are not imported with the merchandise. After importation, the paperboard will be folded into a box, secured with tape or glue, and the cosmetic(s) will be glued into the opening. The three styles of packaging at issue are: 1. Product No. 133132: When assembled the packaging is a six-sided box. The top and bottom of the packaging are squares. The sides are thin rectangles. The top, square face has a circular cut in the center for the insertion of a cosmetic case. This style is substantially the same as product no. 133133. 2. Product No. 133133: When assembled the packaging is a six-sided box. The top and bottom of the packaging are squares. The sides are thin rectangles. The top, square face has a circular cut in the center for the insertion of a cosmetic case. This style is substantially the same as product no. 133132. 3. Product No. 133144: When assembled the packaging is a six-sided box. The top and bottom of the packaging is a long rectangle. The sides are thin rectangles. The top face has four rectangular cutouts in a line along the length of the face. ISSUES: 1. Whether the subject folding paperboard cosmetic packages are classified under subheading 4819.20, HTSUS, as folding boxes of paperboard; or under subheading 4819.50, HTSUS, as other packing containers. 2. Whether an exclusion to Section 301 duties applies to the subject folding paperboard cosmetic packages. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Initially, we note that the matter is protestable under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2) as a decision on classification. The protest was timely filed within 180 days of liquidation of the first entry. See Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-429, § 2103(2)(B)(ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3) (2006)). Further review of Protest No. 5301-23-109515 is properly accorded pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because the decision against which the protest was filed is alleged to be inconsistent with rulings by CBP and the Customs Courts. 3 Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule, and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event the goods cannot be classified solely based on GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. GRI 6 provides that for legal purposes, classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. * * * * * * The 2023 HTSUS subheadings under consideration are the following: 4819 Cartons, boxes, cases, bags and other packing containers, of paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding or webs of cellulose fibers; box files, letter trays and similar articles, of paper or paperboard of a kind used in offices, shops or the like: 4819.20 Folding cartons, boxes and cases, of non-corrugated paper or paperboard: 4819.20.0040 Other. 4819.50 Other packing containers, including record sleeves: 4819.50.40 Other: Other: 4819.50.4040 Rigid boxes and cartons. 4819.50.40.60 Other. … 9903.88.03 Except as provided in headings 9903.88.13, 9903.88.18, 9903.88.33, 9903.88.34, 9903.88.35, 9903.88.36, 9903.88.37, 9903.88.38, 9903.88.40, 9903.88.41, 9903.88.43, 9903.88.45, 9903.88.46, 9903.88.48, 9903.88.56, 9903.88.64, 9903.88.66, 9903.88.67, 9903.88.68, or 9903.88.69, articles the product of China, as provided for in U.S. note 20(e) to this subchapter and as provided for in the subheadings enumerated in U.S. note 20(f). … 9903.88.66 Effective with respect to entries on or after December 1, 2021, and before June 1, 2023, articles the product of China, as provided for in U.S. note 20(sss) to this subchapter, each covered by an exclusion granted by the U.S. Trade Representative. * * * Note 20(e) to Section III of Chapter 99, HTSUS, states, in pertinent part, as follows: For the purposes of heading 9903.88.03, products of China, as provided for in this note, shall be subject to an additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty. The products of China that are subject to an additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty under heading 9903.88.03 are products of China that are classified in the subheadings enumerated in U.S. note 20(f) to subchapter III. All products of China that are classified in the subheadings enumerated in U.S. note 20(f) to subchapter III are 4 subject to the additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty imposed by heading 9903.88.03, except products of China granted an exclusion by the U.S. Trade Representative and provided for in . . . (17) heading 9903.88.66 and U.S. note 20(sss)(iii) to subchapter III of chapter 99[.] Note 20(f) to Section III of Chapter 99, HTSUS, states, in pertinent part, as follows: Heading 9903.88.03 applies to all products of China that are classified in the following 8-digit subheadings, except products of China granted an exclusion by the U.S. Trade Representative and provided for in . . . (17) heading 9903.88.66 and U.S. note 20(sss)(iii) to subchapter III of chapter 99 [.] Note 20(f) to Section III of Chapter 99, HTSUS, list

Initially, we note that the matter is protestable under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2) as a decision on classification. The protest was timely filed within 180 days of liquidation of the first entry. See Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-429, § 2103(2)(B)(ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3) (2006)). Further review of Protest No. 5301-23-109515 is properly accorded pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(b) because the decision against which the protest was filed is alleged to be inconsistent with rulings by CBP and the Customs Courts. 
3 Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule, and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event the goods cannot be classified solely based on GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. GRI 6 provides that for legal purposes, classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. * * * * * * The 2023 HTSUS subheadings under consideration are the following: 4819 Cartons, boxes, cases, bags and other packing containers, of paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding or webs of cellulose fibers; box files, letter trays and similar articles, of paper or paperboard of a kind used in offices, shops or the like: 4819.20 Folding cartons, boxes and cases, of non-corrugated paper or paperboard: 4819.20.0040 Other. 4819.50 Other packing containers, including record sleeves: 4819.50.40 Other: Other: 4819.50.4040 Rigid boxes and cartons. 4819.50.40.60 Other. … 9903.88.03 Except as provided in headings 9903.88.13, 9903.88.18, 9903.88.33,