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NY N008664





April 9, 2007

CLA-2-39:RR:NC:N2:221

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 3923.90.0080; 7326.20.0020

Ms. Suzanne Liberti
Follick & Bessich, Attorneys At Law
33 Walt Whitman Road, Suite 310
Huntington Station, NY 11746

RE: The tariff classification of hangers from China or Canada

Dear Ms. Liberti:

In your letter dated March 14, 2007, on behalf of Utex Fashion Group, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

Three samples were submitted with your request. Item 1 is described as a plastic coat/jacket hanger. Item 2 is described as a wire hanger. Item 3 is described as a plastic suit hanger.

Item 1, the coat/jacket hanger, is molded of plastics roughly in the shape of an inverted V that is solid at the top and sides and hollow at its underside. The hanger measures 16 inches from one tip to the other and has a non-swivel metal top hook. The top ridge of the hanger varies in thickness from ½ inch at its midpoint flaring out to 1 inch at each end. There is no cross piece connecting the open ends of the hangers. You state that the coat/jacket hangers are used to transport garments to Utex, and are made in accordance with the specifications of the retailers who purchase and sell the garments that are hung thereon. At the point of purchase the hangers generally are removed from the garments and are sent to firms that sort and resell them to other garment vendors for reuse.

Item 3, the suit hanger, is similar to the coat/jacket hanger described above but also includes a cross piece that connects the two open ends of each hanger and on which suit pants are hung. The hanger measures 17¾ inches from one tip to the other. The top ridge varies in thickness from ¾ inch at the midpoint flaring out to 1 7/8 inches at each end. The ridge of the cross bar measures approximately ½ inch in width. Although the suit hangers are also designed for and capable of reuse, they are often given to the consumers who purchase the suits that are hung thereon.

Item 2 is a hanger made from a thick metal wire that has been cut and formed into a garment hanger shape. You state that the wire hangers are used by foreign suppliers to ship garments directly to Utex and that the hangers may be reused.

The samples are being returned as you requested.

The applicable subheading for the plastic hangers, items 1 and 3, will be 3923.90.0080, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for articles for the conveyance or packing of goods, of plasticsother. The general rate of duty will be 3 percent ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for the wire hangers, item 2, will be 7326.20.0020, HTSUS, which provides for other articles of iron or steel: articles of iron or steel wiregarment hangers. The general rate of duty will be 3.9 percent ad valorem.

Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.

You ask whether the hangers, when imported with apparel, are separately classifiable from the apparel. General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 5(b) of the HTSUS provides that, subject to the provisions of GRI 5(a), packing materials and packing containers entered with the goods therein shall be classified with the goods if they are of a kind normally used for packing such goods. However, this provision does not apply when such materials or packing containers are clearly suitable for repetitive use. Hanger styles 1 and 3 are of more substantial construction that the hangers that were the subject of HQ 964963, 964964 and 964948, all dated June 19, 2001. Those hangers, which were used in hanger recovery systems, were ruled to be of sufficiently substantial construction to be suitable for repetitive use for the conveyance of goods. Thus, item 1, the plastic coat/jacket hanger, and item 3, the plastic suit hanger, are separately classifiable in subheading 3923.90.0080, HTSUS, even when imported with garments.

This office has no evidence that metal hangers such as item 2 are suitable for commercial reuse, and you have not submitted any information or documentation substantiating commercial reuse of these particular styles or of styles of similar construction. Hangers that are not suitable for commercial reuse are considered ordinary packing for the garments with which they are imported, classifiable with those garments. If you have evidence of commercial reuse you may resubmit your request with supporting documentation. Such documentation must include information demonstrating the number of cycles such hangers are reused for the commercial shipment of garments.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Joan Mazzola at 646-733-3023.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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