The tariff classification of a “small cedar shed” from China.

N255407 August 15, 2014 CLA-2-94:OT:RR:NC:N4:433 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 9403.60.8081 Gordon C. Anderson Attorney-in-Fact C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. 14800 Charlson Road, Suite 400 Eden Prairie, MN 55347 RE: The tariff classification of a “small cedar shed” from China. Dear Mr. Anderson: In your letter dated July 10, 2014, on behalf of Playcore Wisconsin Inc., Swing-N-Slide, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Descriptive literature with a schematic was provided. Item # 33399 is identified on the schematic as a small cedar shed. The small cedar shed is made of wood, and features a steeped roof, a single hinged door, four legs, and two full length to width interior shelves. Additional storage space is provided below the bottom shelf. The small cedar shed measures approximately 75 inches in height (measured from peak of the roof to the legs) by 17½ inches in depth by 31¼ inches in width. You state: “though this item is called a shed, it does not have the size, storage capacity or space to stand or walk in that a usual home yard shed or similar type use pre-fabricated building would have to store the usual items such as lawn mowers, snow blowers, bikes or patio furniture.” As such, it is your belief that the smaller cedar shed is akin to a hutch, and therefore classifiable in the furniture provisions of heading 9403 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), the heading for “Other furniture and parts thereof.” When terms are not defined in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) or the Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the HTSUS, they are construed in accordance with their common and commercial meaning – Nippon Kogasku (USA), Inc. v. United States, 69 CCPA 89, 673 F.2d 380 (1982). Common and commercial meaning may be determined by consulting dictionaries, lexicons, scientific authorities and other reliable sources. C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 69 CCPA 128, 673 F.2d 1268 (1982). According to the Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary a “building” is defined as a structure (such as a house, hospital, school, etc.) with a roof and walls that is used as a place for people to live, work, do activities, store things, etc. An examination of the ENs to the HTSUS, heading 9406 “Prefabricated buildings,” indicate that the uses for a “building” as defined by Merriam-Webster coincide with the uses for prefabricated buildings as listed in the ENs to heading 9406, HTSUS. The ENs to heading 9406 state: these buildings (referring to prefabricated buildings) are designed for a variety of uses, such as housing, worksite accommodation, offices, schools, shops, sheds, garages and greenhouses. There are several common denominators that buildings share with prefabricated builds, particularly in structure, however, only one is readily apparent without knowledge of architecture, and that is both types of buildings allow individuals to enter within. Since the small cedar shed is incapable of entering into, it cannot fall within the class or kind of good to be classified as a prefabricated building of heading 9406, HTSUS. Further examination of the ENs to the HTSUS, Chapter 94, General, state, in relevant part, with regard to the meaning of furniture, at (A): for the purposes of this Chapter, the term “furniture” means: Any “movable” articles (not included under other more specific headings of the Nomenclature), which have the essential characteristic that they are constructed for placing on the floor or ground, and which are used, mainly with a utilitarian purpose, to equip private dwellings, hotels, theatres, cinemas, offices, churches, schools, cafes, restaurants, laboratories, hospitals…. As with the word “building” which is not defined in the HTSUS or the ENs to the HTSUS, neither are the words hutch, chest, cupboard or cabinet, all of which can be construed in the right context as articles of furniture. Meaning a travel chest, a/k/a travel trunk, is considered a container for holding things while moving from place to place, and is not generally regarded as furniture, at least by past generations of travelers and merchants. Yet today, traveling chests or trunks are used as furniture too, for example coffee-tables or decorative storage chests. The Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary provides the following definitions for the words “hutch,” “chest,” “cupboard,” and “cabinet”: “hutch” a chest or compartment for storage; “chest” a container (such as a box or case) for holding things or moving them from place to place; “cupboard” a piece of furniture used for storage that has doors and contains shelves; and “cabinet” a piece of furniture that is used for storing things and usually has doors and shelves. Another look at the meaning of “cabinet” as defined by the Online Cambridge Dictionary of American English defines “cabinet” as a piece of furniture with shelves or drawers that is used for storing useful things or showing decorative things. Accordingly, even with noting of a stepped roof versus not having a flat top, the small cedar shed is a form of a cupboard and/or cabinet, thereby falling within the class or kind of good to be classified as furniture in heading 9403, HTSUS. The applicable subheading for the small cedar shed will be 9403.60.8081, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof: Other wooden furniture: Other; Other.” The rate of duty will be free. 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 Neil H. Levy at E-mail address: neil.h.levy@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Gwenn Klein Kirschner Director National Commodity Specialist Division