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HQ 958758




April 4, 1996

CLA-2 RR:TC:MM 958758 MMC

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9403.60.80

Mr. Darren Richeson
Jack Richeson & Co., Inc.
557 Marcella Drive
Kimberly, WI 54136

RE: Wooden Easels: Note 2 to Chapter 94; ENs Gen 94, 94.03

Dear Mr. Richeson:

This in response to your letter of November 27, 1995, to a Customs Service National Import Specialist in New York, N.Y., requesting the classification of various wooden easels under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). The letter, together with pictures from catalogs, was forwarded to this office for a reply.

FACTS:

Models 801, 804, 808, 820, 919 and 928 floor standing easels are under consideration. They are all made of oiled beechwood.

Model 801 is described in the catalog as a tripod sketching easel. It has base dimensions of 24"x 23" and a closed height of 31". It can support a maximum canvas height of 26". The catalog describes it as: " easy to carry and ideal for painting on location' ". It can be tilted to any angle including horizontal for watercolor. It has non-slip rubber feet. Model 804 is described also a tripod sketching easel. It has base dimensions of 30"x27" and a closed height of 35". It can support a maximum canvas height of 43". The catalog describes it as " lightweight but sturdy". It has two wooden brackets to carry the sketching box or accessories. It can be tilted It also has non-slip rubber feet. Model 808 is described as a sketching easel for pastellists. It has base dimensions of 32"x 28" and can support a maximum canvas height of 34". It has a removable wooden square canvas holder which, when removed provides support for a loose sheet sketch. The canvas holder measures 20"x14". Model 820 is described as a lyre easel. It has base dimensions of 21"x31" and a maximum height of 85". The height of the side posts from the floor is 51". It can support a maximum canvas height of 48". It has an adjustable rack for easy positioning of the canvas.

Model 919 is described as a "Classic showroom lyre easel". It has an adjustable rack for easy positioning of the canvas. It has base dimensions of 26"x71" and a maximum height of 51". The height of the side posts from the floor is 51". Model 928 is described as a three legged studio easel. It has base dimensions of 19"x31«" and a maximum height of 93". The height of the side posts from the floor is 59". It can support a maximum canvas height of 48".

ISSUE:

What is the classification of the wooden easels under the HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

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

In understanding the language of the HTSUS, Customs consults the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs). The ENs, although not dispositive, provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System and are thus useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise. Customs believes that they should be consulted for guidance in determining the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). Chapter 94, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent part, for furniture. Note 2 to Chapter 94 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

The 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...

EN Gen 94 pgs 1573-75, states, in pertinent part, that:

For the purposes of this Chapter, the term "furniture" means:

(A) Any "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, to equip private dwellings, hotels, theaters, cinemas, offices, churches, schools, cafes, restaurants, laboratories, hospitals, dentists' surgeries, etc., or ships, aircraft, railway coaches, motor vehicles, caravan-trailers or similar means of transport...

(B) The following:

(i) Cupboards, bookcases, other shelved furniture and unit furniture, designed to be hung, to be fixed to the wall or to stand one on the other or side by side, for holding various objects or articles (books, crockery, kitchen utensils, glassware, linen, medicaments, toilet articles, radio or television receivers, ornaments, etc.) and separately presented elements of unit furniture...

Headings 94.01 to 94.03 cover articles of furniture of any material (wood, osier, bamboo, cane, plastics, base metals, glass, leather, stone, ceramics, etc.). Such furniture remains in these headings whether or not stuffed or covered, with worked or unworked surfaces, carved, inlaid, decoratively painted, fitted with mirrors or other glass fitments, or on castors, etc.

Heading 9403, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent part, for other furniture. EN 94.03, pgs 1578-79, states, in pertinent part, that :

This heading covers furniture and parts thereof, not covered by the previous headings. It includes furniture for general use (e.g., cupboards, show-cases, tables, telephone stands, writing-desks, escritoires, book-cases, and other shelved furniture, etc.), and also furniture for special uses.

The heading includes furniture for:

(3) Schools, such as: school-desks, lecturers' desks, easels (for blackboards, etc.).

Customs is of the opinion that the oiled beechwood easels meet the definition of furniture. While, movable, they rest on the ground and support a canvas or sketch book. Furthermore, they are specifically enumerated in the EN for other furniture. The oiled beechwood easels are classifiable under heading 9403, specifically subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS, which provides, in pertinent part, for other wooden furniture.

HOLDING:

The oiled beechwood easels are classifiable under subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS, which provides, in pertinent part, for other wooden furniture and has a column one duty rate of 1.5% ad valorem.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification Appeals

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