The tariff classification of silicone bands from China

N244222 August 14, 2013 CLA-2-39:OT:RR:NC:N4:421 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 3926.90.9980 Ms. Macie Cooper Samuel Shapiro & Co. Inc. 100 N. Charles Street, Suite 1200 Baltimore, MD 21201 RE: The tariff classification of silicone bands from China Dear Ms. Cooper: In your letter dated July 18, 2013, on behalf of Five Below, Inc., you requested a tariff classification ruling. The sample submitted with your request is an assortment of 300 assorted small stretch bands, each approximately 5/8 inch in diameter. The products are identified as rubber bands, and you suggest classification as other articles of rubber in heading 4016 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). You confirmed in a telephone conversation that the bands are made of silicone. Note 4 to Chapter 40, HTSUS, describes synthetic rubber as applying to unsaturated synthetic substances which can be irreversibly transformed by vulcanization with sulfur into non-thermoplastic substances which, at a temperature between 18 and 29 degrees Centigrade, will not break on being extended to three times their original length and will return, after being extended to twice their original length, within a period of 5 minutes, to a length not greater than 1-1/2 times their original length. Silicone is not unsaturated and not cross-linkable with sulfur, and thus the bands are considered to be of plastics, not of rubber, for tariff classification purposes. The header card identifies the products as “loom rubber bands” and markets that the assortment “works with all major name brand looms & accessories.” The package contains 12 small clear plastic clips that can be used in conjunction with a loom and hook-like hand tool to connect the bands so that they form a chain that can be made into a bracelet, hairband or decorative accessory. The header on the sample package does not indicate that the clips are included in the assortment. The package does not contain any instructions for making jewelry or other objects, and the bands and clips cannot be used to make jewelry or other objects without a loom and hook. You propose classification in heading 7117 of the HTSUS as imitation jewelry. Legal note 9(a) to chapter 71 describes articles of jewelry as small objects of personal adornment such as rings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches, earrings, watch chains, fobs, pendants, tie pins, cuff links, dress studs, religious or other metals and insignia. The bands do not have the character of any of the articles described in that legal note. You suggest that the articles are unfinished bracelets. General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 2(a) states in part that 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 is a well-settled tenet of Customs law that a good remains a material until its identity as an article can be fixed with certainty and when it is not commercially capable of any other use. The imported products are ordinary silicone bands with the same wide range of uses as small rubber bands. Just as a skein of yarn would not be considered to have the character of an unfinished blanket or scarf, the packaged silicone bands, in the condition as imported, do not have the character of imitation jewelry. The applicable subheading for the assortment of silicone bands will be 3926.90.9980, HTSUS, which provides for other articles of plastics, other. The rate of duty will be 5.3 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/. 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, Deborah C. Marinucci Acting Director National Commodity Specialist Division