HQ 957815: Oak Wood Table with Glass Top; Furniture; Legal Note 2 for chapter 94; General EN 4(A) for chapter 94; GRI 6; GRI 3(b); essential character; HQs 087193, 952032, 954180

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 957815

                           May 19, 1995

CLA-2 R:C:M 957815  RFA

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.: 9403.60.80

Mr. James A. Geraghty 
Donohue and Donohue 
26 Broadway
New York, NY  10004

RE:  Oak Wood Table with Glass Top; Furniture; Legal Note 2 for
     chapter 94; General EN 4(A) for chapter 94; GRI 6; GRI 3(b);
     essential character; HQs 087193, 952032, 954180


Dear Mr. Geraghty:

     This is in response to your letters dated March 10 and 20,
1995, to the Area Director of Customs in New York, on behalf of
Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., concerning the tariff
classification of oak wood tables with glass tops under the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

     The merchandise is a rectangular oak wood coffee table with
a glass top, model series Idelwild-384-13.  The wood table weighs
19.68 KG and makes up a majority of the value of the table.  The
glass top weighs 8.2 KG and costs less than the wood table.    

ISSUE:

     Is the oak wood coffee table with a glass top classifiable
as other wooden furniture under the HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

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

     Chapter 94, HTSUS, provides for furniture.  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 or
dispositive, 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. 89-80, 54 FR 35127,
35128 (August 23, 1989).  General EN 4(A) for chapter 94, HTSUS,
page 1574, states, in pertinent part, that:

     [f]or the purposes of this Chapter, the term "furniture"
means:

     [a]ny "movable" articles (not included under other more
     specific headings of the Nomenclature), which have the
     essential characteristic that they are constructed for
     placing on the floor or ground, and which are used,
     mainly with a utilitarian purpose...

     Heading 9403, HTSUS, provides for other furniture and parts
thereof.  Legal Note 2 to chapter 94, HTSUS, states, in pertinent
part, that: "articles (other than parts) referred to in headings
9401 to 9403 are to be classified in those headings only if they
are designed for placing on the floor or ground".  The coffee
table is designed for placing on the floor or ground.  Therefore,
it is classifiable under heading 9403, HTSUS.  

     The following subheadings are under consideration:

     9403:     Other furniture and parts thereof:

     9403.60.80:    Other wooden furniture: [o]ther. . . . .
                    . 

          The column one, general rate of duty is 2 percent
          ad valorem.

     9403.80.60     Furniture of other material, including
                    cane, osier, bamboo or similar
                    materials: [o]ther. . . . .

          The column one, general rate of duty is 3.2
          percent ad valorem.


     The issue to be resolved is classification at the subheading
level.  GRI 6 provides, in pertinent part, that:

     [f]or legal purposes, the classification of goods in
     the subheadings of a heading shall be determined
     according to the terms of those subheadings and any
     related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the
     above rules [GRI 1 to 5], on the understanding that
     only subheadings at the same level are comparable.  

     Based upon GRI 6, the classification principles enunciated
in GRIs 1 thorough 5 apply to the subheadings of heading 9403,
HTSUS.  The subject merchandise is a coffee table made of two or
more materials (i.e., wood and glass).  We note that there is no
provision in the HTSUS which specifically provides for wood and
glass tables.  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:

     Any reference in a heading to a material or substance
     shall be taken to include a reference to mixtures or
     combinations of that material or substance with other
     materials or substances.  Any reference to goods of a
     given material or substance shall be taken to include a
     reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such
     material or substance.  The classification of goods
     consisting of more than one material or substance shall
     be according to the principles of [GRI] 3.  

     GRI 3(a) states that if a product is classifiable in two or
more headings by application of GRI 2(b), then the:

     heading which provides the most specific description
     shall be preferred to headings providing a more general
     description.  However, when two or more headings each
     refer to part only of the materials or substances
     contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only
     of the items in a set put up for retail sale, 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.

     In determining the classification of furniture composed of
different materials, Customs has consistently held that the
competing provisions are equally specific and applied GRI 3(b) to
determine the classification of furniture composed of different
materials. See HQ 087193 (May 30, 1990); HQ 952032 (July 6,
1992); HQ 954180 (July 21, 1993).


     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 that:

     [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 coffee table is a composite good, we must
determine which component provides the essential character.  EN
VIII to GRI 3(b), page 4, states that the factors will: 

     vary as between different kinds of goods to determine
     the essential character of an article.  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 table is
imparted by the oak wood, because it constitutes the majority of
the weight and the value of the coffee table, Therefore, by
application of GRI 3(b), we find that the coffee table is
classifiable 
under subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS, as other wooden furniture.

HOLDING:

     The oak wood coffee table with a glass top is classifiable
under subheading 9403.60.80, HTSUS, which provides for: "Other
furniture and parts thereof: [o]ther wooden furniture: [o]ther. .
. . . . "  The column one, general rate of duty is 2 percent ad
valorem.

                              Sincerely,



                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division