HQ 955507: Protest 1001-93-104407; magnets; household ceramic magnets; permanent magnets; EN 85.05; GRI 3(b); essential character; household plastic goods; ENs VIII and IX to GRI 3(b)

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 955507

                          March 30, 1994

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 955507  RFA

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.: 8505.19.00


Regional Commissioner of Customs
c/o Protest and Control Section 
6 World Trade Center, Room 761
New York, NY  10048-0945

RE:  Protest 1001-93-104407; magnets; household ceramic magnets;
     permanent magnets; EN 85.05; GRI 3(b); essential character;
     household plastic goods; ENs VIII and IX to GRI 3(b)

Dear District Director:

     The following is our decision regarding Protest 1001-93-104407, which concerns the classification of plastic kitchen
magnets under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS).  The entry of the subject merchandise was liquidated on
June 11, 1993.  The protest was timely filed on July 9, 1993. 

FACTS:

     The subject merchandise, labeled as plastic kitchen magnets,
are barium ferrite magnets placed in a plastic shell or housing
shaped in the design of various kitchen appliances.

     The merchandise was entered under subheading 8505.19.00,
HTSUS, as permanent magnets.  The entry was liquidated under
subheading 6912.00.50, HTSUS, as other ceramic articles.

     The subheadings under consideration are as follows:

     8505.19.00:    [e]lectromagnets; permanent magnets and
                    articles intended to become permanent magnets
                    after magnetization. . .: [p]ermanent magnets
                    and articles intended to become permanent
                    magnets after magnetization: [o]ther. . . .

          Goods classifiable under this provision have a general,
          column one rate of duty of 4.9 percent ad valorem.

     6912.00.50     Ceramic tableware, kitchenware, other
                    household articles and toilet articles, other
                    than of porcelain or china: [o]ther . . .

          Goods classifiable under this provision have a general,
          column one rate of duty of 7 percent ad valorem.

ISSUE:

     Are magnets attached to other articles for household use
classifiable in chapter 85 as magnets under the HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's),
taken in order.  GRI 1 provides that classification shall be
determined according to the terms of the headings and any
relative section or chapter notes.

     The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Notes (EN) constitute the Customs Cooperation
Council's official interpretation of the HTSUS.  While not
legally binding, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of
each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the
proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-90, 54
Fed.Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).  EN 85.05, page 1340-1341, states in pertinent part:

          Permanent magnets consist of pieces of hard steel,
     special alloys or other materials (e.g., barium ferrite
     agglomerated with plastics or synthetic rubber) which
     have been rendered permanently magnetic.  Their shape
     varies according to the use for which they are
     designed. . . . Permanent magnets remain classified
     here whatever their use, including small magnets used,
     inter alia, as toys.

          Articles intended to become permanent magnets
     after magnetisation are recognisable as such by their
     shape and composition, generally being cubes or discs
     (tags) of metal or of agglomerated ferrite (e.g.,
     barium ferrite).

     The subject merchandise, which consists of a barium ferrite
magnet and a plastic shell or housing, is to be considered a
composite good.  The kitchen magnets are prima facie classifiable
in heading 8505, HTSUS, as a magnet and in heading 3924, HTSUS,
as an article of plastic.  Because classification in a single
heading cannot be determined by applying GRI 1, we must apply the
other GRI's.  GRI 2(a) is not applicable here because the
merchandise is not incomplete or unfinished.  GRI 2(b) states
that if a product is a mixture or combination of materials or
substances that are, prima facie, classifiable in two or more
headings, then GRI 3 applies.  

     GRI 3(a) states in pertinent part:

     . . .when two or more headings each refer to part only
     of the materials or substances contained in mixed or
     composite goods . . ., those headings are to be
     regarded as equally specific in relation to those
     goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or
     precise description of the goods.

     Because the magnet and the plastic "housing" fall under
separate headings in the tariff schedule which describe only a
portion of the merchandise, the headings are to be regarded as
equally specific under GRI 3(a).  Therefore, GRI 3(a) fails in
establishing classification, and GRI 3(b) becomes applicable.
GRI 3(b) provides that composite goods consisting of different
materials or made up of different components, shall be classified
as if they consisted of the material or component which gives
them their essential character.  

     EN IX to GRI 3(b), page 4, states as follows:

     [f]or the purposes of this Rule, composite goods made
     up of different components shall be taken to mean not
     only those in which the components are attached to each
     other to form a practically inseparable whole but also
     those with separable components, provided these
     components are adapted one to the other and are
     mutually complementary and that together they form a
     whole which would not normally be offered for sale in
     separate parts. (emphasis in original)

     Because the subject merchandise is a composite good, we must
determine which component provides the essential character.  EN
VIII to GRI 3(b), page 4, states as follows: 

     [t]he factor which determines essential character will
     vary as between different kinds of goods.  It may, for
     example, be determined by the nature of the material or
     component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by
     the role of a constituent material in relation to the
     use of the goods.

     We find that the essential character of the subject
merchandise is imparted by the permanent magnet.  Removal of the
magnet from the article would leave the product totally incapable
of functioning as a magnetic memo holder for metallic surfaces. 
The plastic portion merely embellishes the product and acts as a
decorative selling feature, but has no effect on the ability of
the magnet to perform its intended function.  Based upon the GRI
3(b) and the above reasoning, we find that the subject
merchandise is provided for in heading 8505, HTSUS, as a
permanent magnet.


HOLDING:

     The subject merchandise is classifiable under subheading
8505.19.00, HTSUS, which provides for: "[e]lectromagnets;
permanent magnets and articles intended to become permanent
magnets after magnetization. . .: [p]ermanent magnets and
articles intended to become permanent magnets after
magnetization: [o]ther. . . ."  

     The protest should be GRANTED.  In accordance with Section
3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4,
1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision, together
with the Customs Form 19, should be mailed by your office to the
protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. 
Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision
must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision.  Sixty
days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and
Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs
personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and the public
via the Diskette Subscription Service, Lexis, Freedom of
Information Act and other public access channels.

                              Sincerely,



                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division