The tariff classification of a storage bed from China.

N067135 July 30, 2009 CLA-2-94:OT:RR:E:NC:N4:433 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 9403.50.9040; 9403.50.9080 Susan Brannock Compliance Manager Hooker Furniture Corp. PO Box 4708 440 Commonwealth Boulevard Martinsville, VA 24112 RE: The tariff classification of a storage bed from China. Dear Ms. Brannock: In your letter dated June 30, 2009, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Item number 1503-46760 is a wooden storage bed consisting of seven units: One storage headboard One storage footboard Two trundle units, one under each side, or two rails to be used in place of trundles Two storage pier cabinets, one on each side of the storage headboard One storage hutch which sits on top of the storage headboard The item will be shipped unassembled with the appropriate hardware, including anti-tipping restraints connecting the cabinets to a bedroom wall. The legal notes and heading texts, as well as the ENs, for Chapter 94, and heading 9403, HTSUS, do not provide a definition of the term "unit furniture." In the absence of such guidance, tariff terms may be construed in accordance with their common and commercial meanings. Common and commercial meaning may be determined by consulting dictionaries, lexicons, scientific authorities and other reliable resource materials. A search of relevant sources indicates that the term "unit furniture" is similar in meaning to the term "modular furniture," in which different elements of furniture are designed and intended to be used to create one unit. For example, one unit could consist of a base floor cabinet with a hutch designed to rest on the top. Such furniture is clearly designed to be used together. Noting the above cited EN, it is our opinion that the subject storage bed, consisting of seven units, is separately presented elements of unit furniture which are designed to stand side by side, or one on top of another. The applicable subheading for the complete storage bed, when all seven units are shipped together, will be 9403.50.9040, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof: Wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom: Other: Other, Beds.” The rate of duty will be Free. The applicable subheading for the storage pier cabinets or the storage hutch shipped alone or in uneven numbers in comparison to the headboards, footboard or trundles will be 9403.50.9080, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof: Wooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom: Other; Other; Other.” The rate of duty will be Free. The storage bed when imported complete or the headboard, footboard or rails when shipped separately, may be subject to antidumping duties or countervailing duties. A list of AD/CVD proceedings at the Department of Commerce (DOC) and their product coverage can be obtained from the DOC website at: http://ia.ita.doc.gov, or you may write to them at the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Office of Antidumping Compliance, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20230. Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the Import Administration in the Department of Commerce and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection. 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 (646) 733-3036. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director National Commodity Specialist Division