Pet Carriers Classified in Residual Heading for Textile 'Made-Up Goods,' CIT Says
Pet carriers imported by Quaker Pet Group are classifiable as “other” made-up articles of textiles under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 6307, the Court of International Trade said in a March 29 decision. Having already ruled the pet carriers aren’t containers of heading 4202 because pets aren’t “items” (see 1802120015), the court found the carriers are mostly textile materials and aren’t classifiable elsewhere in the tariff schedule.
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Those two requirements -- that the merchandise is an assembled article not classified elsewhere -- are the conditions for classification in heading 6307. “Quaker Pet’s products meet these requirements. The textile portion constitutes at least 60% of both the cost and material used to manufacture all five models of pet carriers,” CIT said.
Having already found heading 4202 doesn’t apply, CIT ruled the only other heading it considered -- 4201 for “saddlery and harness for any animal (including traces, leads, knee pads, muzzles, saddle cloths, saddle bags, dog coats and the like), of any material” -- is also inapplicable. The pet carrier is not a saddle, and the dictionary definition of harness is “the gear or tackle, other than yoke, with which a draft animal pulls a vehicle or an implement” or “something resembling such gear or tackle, as the arrangement of straps to hold a parachute to the body.”
“Crucially, saddlery, harnesses, and the other exemplars listed in the heading and Explanatory Note all fasten to the animal, while the pet carrier does not,” the trade court said. “Because Quaker Pet’s products do not share the unifying characteristic of fastening to the animal that the imports included under heading 4201 share, they are different from saddlery and harnesses and cannot be classified under this category.”
“Based on the undisputed material facts, Quaker Pet’s products are properly classified under heading 6307 because they are made up articles of textiles that cannot be classified under any other heading,” CIT said. The court ordered the relevant entries of pet carriers to be “reliquidated under HTSUS subheading 6307.90.9889” and any excess duties to be refunded, including interest.
(Quaker Pet Group, LLC v. U.S., Slip Op. 19-40, CIT # 13-00393, dated 03/29/19, Judge Katzmann)
(Attorneys: Alan Goggins of Barnes Richardson for plaintiff Quaker Pet Group, LLC; Monica Triana for defendant U.S. government)