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HQ 082052


December 5, 1988

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 082052 LS 825543

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 3926.90.9050; 3923.50.0000; 4016.99.5050; 8205.59.5560; 8204.11.0060; 3506.10.5000; 8301.10.2000; 9026.20.8000; 7318.22.0000; 7315.19.0000

Michael O'Neill
O'Neill & Whitaker, Inc.
1809 Baltimore Avenue
Kansas City, Missouri 64108

RE: Tariff classification of bicycle combination kit

Dear Mr. O'Neill:

Your inquiry, dated September 28, 1987, addressed to our New York office concerning the tariff classification of a bicycle combination kit under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), was referred to this office for a direct reply to you. The request was submitted on behalf of Western Auto Supply Company of Kansas City, Missouri. A sample was submitted for our examination.

FACTS:

The sample submitted is a bicycle combination kit in a blister pack retail package (stock number 33-7660-5) which contains the following items: a combination bicycle lock with integral chain, a tube of cement, connecting chain links, a tire gauge, rubber patches, a dumbbell wrench, a safety washer, cable clips, a spoke wrench, valve caps, and a scraper. You state that the kit, which is to be imported from Taiwan, is designed to assist the bicycle user with the most common tire repair and safety concerns associated with bicycle operation.

ISSUE:

What is the applicable tariff classification provision for this bicycle combination kit?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of products under the HTSUSA is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).

GRI 3(b) provides for the classification of goods put up in sets for retail sale. The rule states in pertinent part:

[G]oods 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 Explanatory Notes, which constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUSA at the international level, state in Note X to Rule 3(b) that the term "goods put up in sets for retail sale" means goods which:

(a) consist of at least two different articles which are, prima facie, classifiable in different headings;

(b) consist of products or articles put up together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity; and

(c) are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users without repacking.

This bicycle combination kit meets criteria (a) and (c), but does not meet criterion (b). The items included in the kit are used for divergent purposes: maintenance, tire repair, security, and safety. Most of the items appear to be related to the function of tire repair. The combination bicycle lock with integral chain is clearly related to a security function. Since the items in the kit are put together to carry out several different activities or to meet several different needs they do not satisfy criterion (b) in Explanatory Note X to Rule 3(b).

Since the combination bicycle kit fails as a set, we return to GRI 1 to classify each item of the combination kit separately.

HOLDING:

In view of the foregoing, the individual items in the bicycle combination kit are classifiable as follows: the plastic clips in subheading 3926.90.9050, as other articles of plastics and articles of other materials of headings 3901 to 3914, dutiable at the rate of 5.3 percent ad valorem; the valve caps in subheading 3923.50.0000, as stoppers, lids, caps and other closures of plastics, which are free of duty; the rubber patches in subheading 4016.99.5050, as other articles of vulcanized rubber other than hard rubber, which are free of duty; the scraper in subheading 8205.59.5560, as other hand tools, dutiable at the rate of 5.3 percent ad valorem; the dumbbell wrench and the spoke wrench in subheading 8204.11.0060, as nonadjustable
hand-operated wrenches, dutiable at the rate of 9 percent ad valorem; the glue in subheading 3506.10.5000, as other prepared glue, which is free of duty; the combination lock in subheading 8301.10.2000, as padlocks of base metal, dutiable at the rate of 2.3 percent ad valorem; the tire gauge, in subheading 9026.20.8000, as an instrument for measuring or checking pressure, which is free of duty; the washer in subheading 7318.22.0000, as other washers, which is free of duty; and the connecting chain links in subheading 7315.19.0000, as articulated link chains of iron or steel, which are free of duty. The valve caps, the rubber patches, the glue, the tire gauge, and the connecting chain links, as products of Taiwan, are entitled to duty free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences. The classification under the HTSUSA, effective January 1, 1989, is subject to changes made in the HTSUSA prior to the effective date.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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