RE: The tariff classification of hand drawn watercolor portraits from Australia

U.S. Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs and Border Protection National Commodity Specialist Division One World Trade Center, Suite 51.201 New York, NY 10007 U.S. Customs and Border Protection N364503 September 2, 2026 CLA-2-97:OT:RR:NC:N5:433 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 9701.91.0000 Alice Wang Alliando Wedding 9 Bayline Drive Point Clare 2250 Australia RE: The tariff classification of hand drawn watercolor portraits from Australia Dear Ms. Wang: In your letter dated August 24, 2026, you requested a tariff classification ruling. In lieu of samples, illustrations, drawings, an artist profile, and a synopsis of the creation process were provided for review. Alice Wang’s drawings, the “Bride, Groom, and Wedding Guests” are a group of 130 individual and unframed composition drawing place cards that illustrates the subject’s pose, facial features, expression, name, and may include decorative design elements. Ms. Wang is recognized as a professional portrait artist and holds an advanced diploma in Creative Product Development from Design Centre Enmore. The drawings are individually created and personalized for a specific wedding guest; each original piece begins with a blank watercolor paper that bears no pre-printed or pre-stenciled illustrations. The materials used in creating each piece includes blank watercolor paper, brushes, watercolor, ink/calligraphy pens, colored pencil/crayons, acrylic markers, glitter pens, and other materials. Each drawing will take approximately 30 minutes to create, are original artworks, and are not replicas. The place card dimensions are approximately 3.94 inches wide and 5.91 inches long, and each place card will bear the signature of the artist on the reverse side. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitutes the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. The ENs to Chapter 97, heading 9701, Part (A) of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), provides for “Paintings, Drawings and Pastels, executed entirely by hand, other than drawings of heading 49.06 and other than hand-painted or hand-decorated manufactured articles.
This group covers paintings, drawings and pastels (whether ancient or modern), executed entirely by hand. These works may take the form of oil paintings, wax paintings, tempera paintings, acrylic paintings, watercolours, gouache paintings, pastels, miniatures, illuminated manuscripts, pencil drawings (including Conté drawings), charcoal or pen drawings, etc., executed on any material. As these works must be executed entirely by hand, articles obtained wholly or partly by any other process are excluded, for example, paintings, whether or not on canvas, obtained by photomechanical processes; paintings executed by hand on an outline or on a drawing obtained by ordinary engraving or printing processes; socalled “authentic copies” of paintings, obtained by means of a number of masks or stencils, even if these copies are certified authentic by the artist. However, copies of paintings remain in this group irrespective of their artistic value, if they are executed entirely by hand.” Per the ruling submission, photographs bearing the name of each person are provided to the artist. The creation process entails (1) beginning with a completely blank piece of watercolor paper the artist creates pencil compositions by hand, (2) the pencil compositions are then outlined using ink and calligraphy pens, (3) watercolor is then applied to the paper with brushes along with other drawing and paint media instruments, (4) individual details such as facial features, clothing, flowers, jewelry and other decorative elements are added, (5) the names of the subjects in the drawings are penciled and inked by hand, (6) decorative details are added where appropriate, (7) the water color composition drawings are allowed to air dry, (8) each place card is inspected, and (9) the hand drawn pieces will be packed and exported to the United States. The 130 portraits are wholly executed by hand and are not created from outlines, masks, or stencils. In view of these facts, the hand drawn and painted water color portraits are within the construct of Chapter 97 and Heading 9701 of the HTS. The applicable subheading for the subject merchandise will be 9701.91.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Painting, drawings and pastels, executed entirely by hand, other than drawings of heading 4906 and other than hand-painted or hand-decorated manufacture articles; collages, mosaics and similar decorative plaques: Other: Paintings, drawings, and pastels.” The general rate of duty will be free. The duties cited above are current as of this ruling’s issuance. 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 at https://hts.usitc.gov/. This ruling does not address the applicability of any additional duties, taxes, fees, exactions and/or other charges, which may apply to the goods discussed herein. This includes, but is not limited to, tariffs and other duties as provided for in Subchapter III to Chapter 99, HTSUS. Thus, for example, in addition to the classification stated above, the merchandise covered by this ruling may also need to be reported with either the Chapter 99 provision under which an additional tariff applies or one of the Chapter 99 provisions covering exceptions to such tariffs. For further information to assist with the importation process, please refer to the frequently updated Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) messages at https://www.cbp.gov/trade/automated/cargo-systems-messaging-service and the Trade Remedies page at https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/trade-remedies. The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise description as identified in the ruling request. This position is clearly set forth in Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 177.9(b)(1). This section states that a ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in the ruling letter, whether directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. In the event that the facts are modified in any way, or if the goods do not
conform to these facts at time of importation, you should bring this to the attention of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and submit a request for a new ruling in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2. Additionally, we note that the material facts described in the foregoing ruling may be subject to periodic verification by CBP. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs and Border Protection 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, please contact National Import Specialist Dharmendra Lilia at [email protected]. Sincerely, (for) James P. Forkan Director National Commodity Specialist Division