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NY N014123




July 19, 2007

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

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 3923.90.0080

Mr. Patrick D. Gill
Rode & Qualey, Attorneys at Law
55 West 39th Street
New York, NY 10018

RE: The tariff classification of plastic hangers from China

Dear Mr. Gill:

In your letter dated July 10, 2007, on behalf of Capital Mercury Apparel Ltd., you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The sample submitted with your request is a clothing hanger that is embossed with style number W491. It is of one-piece molded plastic construction with an integral, non-swivel, molded plastic top hook for hanging over a garment rod. The sample is a top hanger that measures 19 inches in width and ΒΌ inch in thickness at its widest point at the ridge.

The applicable subheading for the hanger, if imported separately, 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 plasticsotherother. The rate of duty will be 3 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 hanger, when imported holding apparel, is separately classifiable from the apparel. You reference HQ 964963, where hangers of substantial construction were ruled to be separately classifiable from the garments with which they were imported. 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 is not binding when such materials or packing containers are clearly suitable for repetitive use.

The instant hanger is of significantly less substantial construction than the hangers of HQ 964963, 964964 and 964948, dated June 19, 2001, that were ruled to be suitable for repetitive use for the conveyance of goods. The sample submitted with your request has an integral molded plastic top hook rather than a wire swivel hook for hanging over a garment rod, and is of thinner gauge plastic. The sample is similar in construction to hanger style KS-17, which was the subject of NY H84217. That hanger was ruled to be too insubstantial for repetitive use for the conveyance of goods and thus was considered to be ordinary packing for the garments with which it was imported, classifiable with those garments. This office has no evidence that hangers of the construction of your submitted sample are suitable for commercial reuse, and you have not submitted any information or documentation substantiating commercial reuse of this particular style or of styles of similar construction. If you have such evidence, you may resubmit your request with supporting documentation. Such documentation must include evidence that demonstrates reuse of such hangers for the commercial shipment of garments and that demonstrates repeated reuse. The evidence should document the number of times each such hanger can be reused for 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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