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HQ 957815




May 19, 1995

CLA-2 R:C:M 957815 RFA

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9403.60.80

Mr. James A. Geraghty
Donohue and Donohue
26 Broadway
New York, NY 10004

RE: Oak Wood Table with Glass Top; Furniture; Legal Note 2 for chapter 94; General EN 4(A) for chapter 94; GRI 6; GRI 3(b); essential character; HQs 087193, 952032, 954180

Dear Mr. Geraghty:

This is in response to your letters dated March 10 and 20, 1995, to the Area Director of Customs in New York, on behalf of Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., concerning the tariff classification of oak wood tables with glass tops under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The merchandise is a rectangular oak wood coffee table with a glass top, model series Idelwild-384-13. The wood table weighs 19.68 KG and makes up a majority of the value of the table. The glass top weighs 8.2 KG and costs less than the wood table.

ISSUE:

Is the oak wood coffee table with a glass top classifiable as other wooden furniture under the HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

Chapter 94, HTSUS, provides for furniture. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN) constitute the Customs Cooperation Council's official interpretation of the HTSUS. While not legally binding or 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 T.D. 89-80, 54 FR 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). General EN 4(A) for chapter 94, HTSUS, page 1574, states, in pertinent part, that:

[f]or the purposes of this Chapter, the term "furniture" means:

[a]ny "movable" articles (not included under other more specific headings of the Nomenclature), which have the essential characteristic that they are constructed for placing on the floor or ground, and which are used, mainly with a utilitarian purpose...

Heading 9403, HTSUS, provides for other furniture and parts thereof. Legal Note 2 to chapter 94, HTSUS, states, in pertinent part, that: "articles (other than parts) referred to in headings 9401 to 9403 are to be classified in those headings only if they are designed for placing on the floor or ground". The coffee table is designed for placing on the floor or ground. Therefore, it is classifiable under heading 9403, HTSUS.

The following subheadings are under consideration:

9403: Other furniture and parts thereof:

9403.60.80: Other wooden furniture: [o]ther. . . . . .

The column one, general rate of duty is 2 percent ad valorem.

9403.80.60 Furniture of other material, including cane, osier, bamboo or similar materials: [o]ther. . . . .

The column one, general rate of duty is 3.2 percent ad valorem.

The issue to be resolved is classification at the subheading level. GRI 6 provides, in pertinent part, that:

[f]or legal purposes, the 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 [GRI 1 to 5], on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable.

Based upon GRI 6, the classification principles enunciated in GRIs 1 thorough 5 apply to the subheadings of heading 9403, HTSUS. The subject merchandise is a coffee table made of two or more materials (i.e., wood and glass). We note that there is no provision in the HTSUS which specifically provides for wood and glass tables. Because classification in a single heading cannot be determined by applying GRI 1, we must apply the other GRI's. GRI 2(a) is not applicable here because the merchandise is not incomplete or unfinished. GRI 2(b) states that:

Any reference in a heading to a material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to mixtures or combinations of that material or substance with other materials or substances. Any reference to goods of a given material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance. The classification of goods consisting of more than one material or substance shall be according to the principles of [GRI] 3.

GRI 3(a) states that if a product is classifiable in two or more headings by application of GRI 2(b), then 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.

In determining the classification of furniture composed of different materials, Customs has consistently held that the competing provisions are equally specific and applied GRI 3(b) to determine the classification of furniture composed of different materials. See HQ 087193 (May 30, 1990); HQ 952032 (July 6, 1992); HQ 954180 (July 21, 1993).

GRI 3(b) provides that composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character. EN IX to GRI 3(b), page 4, states that:

[f]or 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. (emphasis in original)

Because the coffee table is a composite good, we must determine which component provides the essential character. EN VIII to GRI 3(b), page 4, states that the factors will:
vary as between different kinds of goods to determine the essential character of an article. 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.

We find that the essential character of the table is imparted by the oak wood, because it constitutes the majority of the weight and the value of the coffee table, Therefore, by application of GRI 3(b), we find that the coffee table is classifiable under subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS, as other wooden furniture.

HOLDING:

The oak wood coffee table with a glass top is classifiable under subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS, which provides for: "Other furniture and parts thereof: [o]ther wooden furniture: [o]ther. . . . . . " The column one, general rate of duty is 2 percent ad valorem.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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