The tariff classification of plastic hangers from Vietnam and other countries

N258055 October 28, 2014 CLA-2-39:OT:RR:NC:N2:421 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 3923.90.0080 Mr. Richard Pignatelli Agra-Services Brokerage Company, Inc. 221-20 147th Avenue Jamaica, NY 11413 RE: The tariff classification of plastic hangers from Vietnam and other countries Dear Mr. Pignatelli: In your letter dated October 2, 2014, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, United Legwear Company, New York. Seven sample hangers were provided and are being returned as you requested. The hangers will be imported with various garments which are sold to retail stores. The hangers will be given to the customer with the garments at the point of purchase. Styles AH496 and AH472 are top hangers with integral molded plastic top hooks for hanging over a garment rod in a retail store. Style AH496 measures approximately 12” long and style AH472 measures approximately 15” long. Each has a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch at the ridge. Styles AH6108 and AH6110 are pinch clip bottom hangers with integral molded plastic top hooks for hanging over a garment rod in a retail store. Style AH6108 measures approximately 7 3/4” long and has a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch at the ridge. Style AH6110 measures approximately 9 1/2” long and has a thickness of approximately 5/16 inch at the ridge. The hangers incorporate plastic jaws with metal pinch grips for holding a skirt, slacks or other bottom garment. Styles AH9408, AH9508 and AH9410 are coordinate pinch clip bottom hangers. Styles AH9408 and AH0598 measure approximately 8 inches long while style AH9410 measures approximately 10” long. All three styles are molded with an integral plastic loop at the top to hang over a top hanger so that a bottom coordinate piece can be attached. All incorporate plastic jaws with metal pinch grips for holding a bottom garment. All of the styles have a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch at the ridge. The applicable subheading for the plastic hangers, 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 plastics, other. The general 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 hangers, when imported holding garments, may be classified separately from the garments. 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. In HQ 964963, 964964 and 964948, all dated June 19, 2001, Customs Headquarters ruled that certain hangers that were of substantial construction and that were used in hanger recovery systems for the repeated international transport of garments were suitable for repetitive use for the conveyance of goods and could be classified separately in subheading 3923.90.00, HTSUS, even when imported with garments. Documents were provided to verify the claim that a substantial portion of the hangers that were the subject of those rulings were forwarded to a hanger supply company and then sorted, sanitized and sold to garment vendors for use in packing, shipping, and transporting other garments. The hangers had a useful life of four to six cycles. In HQ 964963, Headquarters noted that actual reuse of the hangers is not necessary as long as the hangers are substantial and are of the class or kind of goods used for the conveyance of garments. The hangers of your inquiry are not similar to the hangers in the above cited rulings. They are of significantly flimsier construction and are not of the same class or kind. As you state in your letter, they are used for one-time shipping of garments and are given to the customer with the garment at the point of sale. You state that the hangers will be reused by the retail customers of the garments. Note that to be separately classifiable from the garments, the hangers must be suitable for commercial reuse for the international shipment of garments. Commercial reuse does not encompass use by the customer for household storage. Hangers such as these seven styles that are not suitable for commercial reuse are classifiable with the garments with which they are imported, and are dutiable at the same rate as those garments, in accordance with the provisions of GRI 5(b). 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 joan.m.mazzola@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Gwenn Klein Kirschner Director National Commodity Specialist Division