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HQ 963486




April 24, 2000

CLA-2 RR:CR:TE 963486 GGD

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6307.90.9989

Robert L. Follick, Esquire
Follick & Bessich, P.C.
513 West Mount Pleasant Avenue, Suite 205 Livingston, New Jersey 07039

RE: Revocation of HQ 089289 and HQ 951183; Suitcase Component; Not incomplete article with essential character of complete or finished suitcase; GRI 2(a); Headings 4202 and 6307; Totes, Incorporated v. United States, 18 C.I.T. 919, 865 F. Supp. 867 (1994), aff’d 69 F.3d 495 (Fed. Cir. 1995)

Dear Mr. Follick:

In Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 089289, issued to you December 9, 1991, on behalf of International Travel System of New Jersey, Ltd. (ITS), a luggage component described as “the bottom half of a pullman suitcase” was classified in subheading 4202.19.0000, HTSUSA, the provision for “Trunks, suitcasesand similar containers: Trunks, suitcases: With outer surface of plastics or of textile materials: Other.” You subsequently requested reconsideration of that ruling. In HQ 951183, issued to you June 16, 1992, on behalf of ITS, this office reconsidered and affirmed HQ 089289. We have since reviewed both HQ 089289 and HQ 951183 and have found the rulings to be in error. Therefore, this ruling revokes HQ 089289 and HQ 951183.

Pursuant to section 625(c), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1625(c)), notice of the proposed revocation of HQ 089289, was published on March 22, 2000, in the Customs Bulletin, Volume 34, Number 12.

FACTS:

The sample suitcase component at issue in HQ 089289 and HQ 951183, is described in the rulings as being made of a vinyl-backed nylon material, and measuring approximately 31 inches by 24 inches, with an expandable maximum width of 9 inches. The article had a rigid edge, corner piping, a carrying handle, inner straps for retaining clothing, outer straps for reinforcement, a rigid bottom flap with fixtures for the attachment of wheels, and a half zipper sewn around an outside edge.

A sample of the top half of the pullman suitcase, although separately imported and not at issue in either of the rulings, was submitted for examination prior to the issuance of HQ 951183. That component was found to have the same material composition (as the bottom half), a corresponding half zipper, and a full-width, zippered exterior pocket. It was also noted that the straps and hardware included with the submitted samples would be imported separately from the top and bottom halves of the suitcase, that post-importation assembly would essentially involve attaching hardware, sewing, and riveting, and that the costs of the bottom, top, and hardware components were approximately 47 percent, 43 percent, and 10 percent of the total costs of the suitcase, respectively.

ISSUES:

1) Whether the separately imported component part of a finished suitcase possesses the essential character of a complete or finished suitcase classifiable under heading 4202, HTSUSA.

2) Whether separately shipped, corresponding component parts of a finished suitcase (e.g., a top half and a bottom half) can be aggregated so that each separately imported component is classifiable as a complete or finished article.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification under the HTSUSA is made in accordance with 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 GRI may then be applied. The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate classification under the HTSUSA by offering guidance in understanding the scope of the headings and GRI.

Heading 4202, HTSUSA, covers “Trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, attache cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; traveling bags, toiletry bags, knapsacks and backpacks, handbags, shopping bags, wallets, purses, map cases, cigarette cases, tobacco pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle cases, jewelry boxes, powder cases, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanized fiber or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper.”

As noted above, classification is made in accordance with the GRI and the terms of the headings with the guidance of the EN to understand the scope of the headings and GRI. Since the bottom half of a suitcase, standing alone, is not a named exemplar of heading 4202, nor similar to any of the complete, fully functional containers named therein, the article cannot be classified pursuant to GRI 1 alone, i.e., according to the terms of the heading. We therefore look to GRI 2(a), which states:

Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled.

EN (I) and (VI), to GRI 2(a), are particularly helpful in understanding the scope of GRI 2(a) as it applies to the imported merchandise. The EN contain the following guidance:

(I) The first part of Rule 2(a) extends the scope of any heading which refers to a particular article to cover not only the complete article but also that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, it has the essential character of the complete or finished article.

(VI) This Rule also applies to incomplete or unfinished articles presented unassembled or disassembled provided that they are to be treated as complete or finished articles by virtue of the first part of this Rule.

Since the imported merchandise is one half of a suitcase, it is an incomplete article. Therefore, the first part of GRI 2(a) is the part of the rule that is most pertinent to the facts of this case. In HQ 089289 and HQ 951183, one half of a suitcase was classified under heading 4202, HTSUSA, by finding that the incomplete article, as presented, had the essential character of the complete or finished article. It appears in the rulings, however, that merchandise not shipped with the individual component, i.e., the absent top half of the suitcase, was erroneously considered to be present at importation and, in light of undemanding post-importation assembly processes, classified as a substantially complete article entered unassembled. HQ 951183 contains a cite to EN (VII). EN (VII), however, provides guidance as to the second part of GRI 2(a), which concerns the importation of articles that are “complete or finishedentered unassembled or disassembled” and the means by which such articles are assembled after importation. The imported merchandise at issue here is not complete or finished and does not include components which may be assembled into a complete article.

In determining whether the subject bottom half of a suitcase possesses the essential character of a complete or finished suitcase, we look to the judicial guidance provided in Totes, Incorporated v. United States, 18 C.I.T. 919, 865 F. Supp. 867 (1994), aff’d 69 F.3d 495 (Fed. Cir. 1995). In Totes, the Court of International Trade (CIT) held that the essential characteristics and purposes of the heading 4202 exemplars are to organize, store, protect and carry various items. Unlike suitcases and all of the other exemplars enumerated in heading 4202, HTSUSA, the half suitcase under consideration here is not able to organize, store, protect, or carry items.

In HQ 956538, issued November 29, 1994 (before the CIT’s holding in the Totes case had been affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), this office discussed the first part of GRI 2(a), and found that the front panel assembly for a suitcase did not possess the essential character of the complete article. We construed the term “essential character” to mean “the attribute which strongly marks or serves to distinguish what an article is; that which is indispensable to the structure, core or condition of the article.” We found that the front panel was no more important to the finished article than the absent walls and rear panel. The front panel assembly was classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA.

In HQ 958773, issued July 29, 1996, we considered the classification of incomplete or unfinished cases that would be fitted, after importation, to hold compact discs (CDs). The protestant had claimed that the merchandise should be classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA, because the cases were imported without the CD-holding, plastic inserts (that would be affixed after
importation), and therefore did not have the essential character of finished CD cases. We noted that, despite the absence of the special inserts, the cases, as imported, were designed and dedicated to function as carrying cases that provided a secure, foam-padded, three-dimensional enclosure to completely envelope any items carried. Although the plastic CD-holding inserts would, after importation, provide an organizational aspect to the cases, we found that the articles, as entered, constituted fully functional containers capable of providing storage, protection, and portability. The CD cases, although incomplete, unfinished, and not named exemplars of heading 4202, were found to possess the essential characteristics common to the containers of heading 4202, and were therefore classified in subheading 4202.92.9025, HTSUSA.

We find that, unlike the cases of HQ 958773, the bottom half of the pullman suitcase subject to HQ 089289 and HQ 951183 does not form an enclosure that is able to organize, store, protect, or carry items. The incomplete article, as entered, does not possess the essential character of the complete or finished article.

With respect to whether corresponding component parts of a finished suitcase, e.g., the top half and bottom half imported in separate shipments, can be aggregated and classified as a complete article, we find that they cannot. Although it is declared in HQ 951183 that “[t]he fact that the components will be imported separately has no impact on the applicable classification of the bottom portion and the top portion,” the statement is incorrect and runs contrary to law. In HQ 954820, issued December 13, 1993, this office noted:

It is well settled that articles which are not imported together are precluded from being an entirety. United States v. Baldt Anchor, Chain & Forge Division of Boston Metals Co., 59 CCPA 122, C.A.D. 1051, 429 F.2d 1403 (1972).

The term “entirety,” which was used in the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS), is embodied in GRI 2(a) of the HTSUS.

The pertinent issue in HQ 954820 was whether two separate shipments which consisted of: 1) the various parts of a printing press; and 2) the main printing head, comprised a complete and unassembled printing press. We held that the two shipments could not constitute a complete printing press and could not be treated as if they had been entered at the same time. The fact that the main printing head was intended to be included in the shipment of the various parts was also found to be irrelevant to the classification. For determinations concerning similar issues, see HQ 081999, issued December 10, 1990, and HQ 958807, issued April 30, 1996.

In light of the above analysis and precedent, we find that the bottom half of the pullman suitcase, as entered, does not possess the essential character of a complete or finished suitcase, and that the imported suitcase component cannot be considered in the aggregate with a separately imported component (e.g., a corresponding top half of a suitcase) so as to be classified as a complete article. The subject article is a part, and is classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

The imported component, identified as the bottom half of a pullman suitcase, is classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA, the provision for “Other made up articles, including dress patterns: Other: Other: Other, Other: Other.” The general column one duty rate is 7 percent ad valorem.

HQ 089289, issued December 9, 1991, and HQ 951183, issued June 16, 1992, are hereby revoked. In accordance with 19 U.S.C. 1625(c), these rulings will become effective 60 days after their publication in the Customs Bulletin.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division


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