HQ 082052: Tariff classification of bicycle combination kit

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 082052

                                  December 5, 1988



          CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  082052 LS  825543

          CATEGORY:  Classification

          TARIFF NO.:  3926.90.9050; 3923.50.0000; 4016.99.5050;
                       8205.59.5560; 8204.11.0060; 3506.10.5000;
                       8301.10.2000; 9026.20.8000; 7318.22.0000;
                        7315.19.0000

          Michael O'Neill
          O'Neill & Whitaker, Inc.
          1809 Baltimore Avenue
          Kansas City, Missouri 64108

          RE:  Tariff classification of bicycle combination kit

          Dear Mr. O'Neill:

                Your inquiry, dated September 28, 1987, addressed to our
          New York office concerning the tariff classification of a bicycle
          combination kit under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
          United States Annotated (HTSUSA), was referred to this office for
          a direct reply to you.  The request was submitted on behalf of
          Western Auto Supply Company of Kansas City, Missouri.  A sample
          was submitted for our examination.

          FACTS:

                The sample submitted is a bicycle combination kit in a
          blister pack retail package (stock number 33-7660-5) which
          contains the following items:  a combination bicycle lock with
          integral chain, a tube of cement, connecting chain links, a tire
          gauge, rubber patches, a dumbbell wrench, a safety washer, cable
          clips, a spoke wrench, valve caps, and a scraper.  You state that
          the kit, which is to be imported from Taiwan, is designed to
          assist the bicycle user with the most common tire repair and
          safety concerns associated with bicycle operation.

          ISSUE:

                What is the applicable tariff classification provision for
          this bicycle combination kit?

          LAW AND ANALYSIS:

                Classification of products under the HTSUSA is governed by
          the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).  











                                        - 2 -

                GRI 3(b) provides for the classification of goods put up in
          sets for retail sale.  The rule states in pertinent part:

                [G]oods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be
                classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if
                they consisted of the material or component which gives
                them their essential character, insofar as this criterion
                is applicable.

                The Explanatory Notes, which constitute the official
          interpretation of the HTSUSA at the international level, state in
          Note X to Rule 3(b) that the term "goods put up in sets for
          retail sale" means goods which:

                (a) consist of at least two different articles which are,
                    prima facie, classifiable in different headings;

                (b) consist of products or articles put up together to meet
                    a particular need or carry out a specific activity; and

                (c) are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to
                    users without repacking.

                This bicycle combination kit meets criteria (a) and (c),
          but does not meet criterion (b).  The items included in the kit
          are used for divergent purposes:  maintenance, tire repair,
          security, and safety.  Most of the items appear to be related to
          the function of tire repair.  The combination bicycle lock with
          integral chain is clearly related to a security function.  Since
          the items in the kit are put together to carry out several
          different activities or to meet several different needs they do
          not satisfy criterion (b) in Explanatory Note X to Rule 3(b).

                Since the combination bicycle kit fails as a set, we return
          to GRI 1 to classify each item of the combination kit separately.

          HOLDING:

                In view of the foregoing, the individual items in the
          bicycle combination kit are classifiable as follows:  the plastic
          clips in subheading 3926.90.9050, as other articles of plastics
          and articles of other materials of headings 3901 to 3914,
          dutiable at the rate of 5.3 percent ad valorem; the valve caps in
          subheading 3923.50.0000, as stoppers, lids, caps and other
          closures of plastics, which are free of duty; the rubber patches
          in subheading 4016.99.5050, as other articles of vulcanized
          rubber other than hard rubber, which are free of duty; the
          scraper in subheading 8205.59.5560, as other hand tools, dutiable
          at the rate of 5.3 percent ad valorem; the dumbbell wrench and
          the spoke wrench in subheading 8204.11.0060, as nonadjustable












                                        - 3 -

          hand-operated wrenches, dutiable at the rate of 9 percent ad
          valorem; the glue in subheading 3506.10.5000, as other prepared
          glue, which is free of duty; the combination lock in subheading
          8301.10.2000, as padlocks of base metal, dutiable at the rate of
          2.3 percent ad valorem; the tire gauge, in subheading
          9026.20.8000, as an instrument for measuring or checking
          pressure, which is free of duty; the washer in subheading
          7318.22.0000, as other washers, which is free of duty; and the
          connecting chain links in subheading 7315.19.0000, as articulated
          link chains of iron or steel, which are free of duty.  The valve
          caps, the rubber patches, the glue, the tire gauge, and the
          connecting chain links, as products of Taiwan, are entitled to
          duty free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences.
          The classification under the HTSUSA, effective January 1, 1989,
          is subject to changes made in the HTSUSA prior to the effective
          date.

                                        Sincerely,




                                        John Durant, Director
                                        Commercial Rulings Division