chairs with wood frames; bent-wood chairs; subheading 9401.69.60; subheading 9401.69.20; Shelby Williams Mfg., Inc. vs. United States; NYRL 861469

HQ 950317 December 9, 1991 CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 950317 NLP CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 9401.69.60 Ms. Linda A. Galbraith Trans-Trade, Inc. P.O. Box 612369 DFW Airport, TX 75261-02369 RE: chairs with wood frames; bent-wood chairs; subheading 9401.69.60; subheading 9401.69.20; Shelby Williams Mfg., Inc. vs. United States; NYRL 861469 Dear Ms. Gailbraith: This is in response to your letter of August 23, 1991, on behalf of Sidex International Furniture, requesting the classification of chairs under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Color photographs of the chairs were submitted for our examination. FACTS: Styles LC 3014 and 6014, the windsor chair model, are wood chairs that have straight legs, solid cut seats, straight backs composed of 8 rods and a curved piece that connects and holds the seats and backs. These chairs will be used principally for dining furniture. Styles CC 327 and CC 627, the country windsor chair model, are the same as the above chairs, except that the legs have been turned on a lathe to make detailed cuts on them. ISSUE: Are the subject chairs classified in subheading 9401.69.60, HTSUS, which provides for other seats, with wooden frames, other, chairs, other, or in subheading 9401.69.20, HTSUS, which provides for other seats, with wooden frames, other, bent-wood seats. 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 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the heading and any relative section or chapter notes. Heading 9401, HTSUS, provides for seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof. The competing subheadings for the classification of the subject chairs are the following: subheading 9401.69.20, HTSUS, which provides for other seats, with wooden frames, other, bent- wood seats and subheading 9401.69.60, HTSUS, which provides for other seats, with wooden frames, other, chairs, other. Headquarter's Ruling Letter (HRL) 043859, dated May 17, 1976 dealt with the issue of whether certain styles of chairs were considered to be bent-wood furniture. In discussing what the term, bent-wood, meant HRL 043859 stated the following: For tariff purposes, the term, bent-wood, means sold wood made pliable. Bent-wood is wood that is brought to a curved shape by bending it while made pliable with moist heat or other agency, and then set by cooling or drying, with or without special finishing. As used in this context, bent- wood does not include bent or molded plywood, or curved constructions made from flexible laminations, or curved wood formed by making close incisions with a cutter on one or both of the surfaces being bent, without plasticizing. In addition, bent-wood does not include wood that has been made to appear curved by sawing. Furthermore, HRL 043859 held that bent-wood furniture is wooden furniture the framework of which is constructed principally of bent-wood parts; that is, furniture in which the bent-wood parts predominate. The predominate parts give the article its name, form, shape and determine its character and use. In Shelby Williams Mfg., Inc. vs. United States, C.D. 2581, dated October 20, 1965, the United States Customs Court dealt with the classification of a chair that had a plywood back which was bandsawn, shaped, and attached to a bent-wood seat frame and had four straight turn front legs. The chair also had an understructure, called a U stretcher, attached to all four legs. The seat frame and the U stretcher consisted of bent-wood. The court held that where only two parts of the chair out of eight were of bent-wood and those parts did not control the design of the chair, the bent-wood parts did not predominate and the chair was not considered to be bent-wood furniture. New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 861469, dated March 25, 1991, dealt with the issue of whether the Bridge Armchair, model 36-A, was considered bent-wood for tariff classification purposes under the HTSUS. This chair had a wood frame and legs with wood arms. Only the arms were made of bent-wood. NYRL 861469 held that for a chair to be considered bent-wood, the chair must be constructed of at least 50% bent-wood parts. Since only the arms were made of bent-wood, the chair was not considered to be bent-wood furniture and it was classified in subheading 9401.69.60, HTSUS. Therefore, for the chairs to be classified in subheading 9401.69.20, HTSUS, as bent-wood seats, the bent-wood must predominate. A reasonable guideline would seem to be that a chair must be at least 50% bent-wood parts. Although the chairs under consideration are described by you as bent-wood, only the curved piece is made of bent-wood. As a result, bent-wood parts do not predominate in the chairs and they are not considered bent-wood furniture. The correct classification for the subject chairs is in subheading 9401.69.60, HTSUS. HOLDING: The chairs are classified in subheading 9401.69.60, HTSUS, which provides for other seats, with wooden frames, other, chairs, other. The rate of duty is 5.3 percent ad valorem. Sincerely, John Durant, Director Commercial Rulings Division