Printed Rubber and Plastic Goods Classifiable in Chapter 49 if Printing 'Communicative,' CIT Says
Printed goods are classifiable in chapter 49 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States if the printing has a communicative purpose, said the Court of International Trade in a decision issued May 14 and publicly released May 22. CIT found nine out of 10 models of silicone bands imported by Aero Rubber Company are classifiable as printed goods, but the court held the printing on one model is only decorative and classified it as plastic of chapter 39, CIT said.
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Aero Rubber had imported the silicone bands based on custom orders from clients that specified some form of printed wording or motif. The bands themselves are similar to rubber bands, and nearly as elastic, but are highly durable and considered to be of higher quality. Upon importation, CBP had classified all 10 models in subheading 3926.90.99 as other articles of plastics, dutiable at 5.3%. Aero Rubber protested, arguing they should be classifiable in subheading 4911.99.80, which is duty-free.
Note 2 to Section VII of the tariff schedule, which includes chapter 39, says plastic and rubber “printed with motifs, characters or pictorial representations, which are not merely incidental to the primary use of the goods, fall in chapter 49.” The explanatory notes to chapter 49 says the chapter “covers all printed matter of which the essential nature and use is determined by the fact of its being printed with motifs, characters or pictorial representations.”
Taken together, to be classifiable in chapter 49, the printing on a plastic or rubber good may be of primary or subordinate purpose, but it can’t be “of lesser or secondary importance, or a minor accompaniment.” And “only printing that is non-essential in nature should be excluded from Chapter 49,” CIT said.
“Where printing has a communicative purpose, the printing comprises part of the essence of the product. Indeed, where a product’s printing has a communicative purpose, one can reasonably surmise that the product as a whole is intended to carry out that communicative purpose,” CIT Said. “Conversely, printing that is merely decorative -- and thus lacks a communicative purpose -- would not form part of the essence of a product.”
Similarly, where the printing is designed to communicate information, it can’t be considered “merely incidental to the primary use of the goods and should therefore be classified under chapter 39,” CIT said. On the other hand, decorative printing, such as on wrapping paper or stationery, may be considered merely incidental.
Of Aero Rubber’s silicone bands, some of them had some form of company name, logo or advertising. Each of these silicone bands have a communicative purpose, whether to mark something as belonging to a specific company, communicate a web address, or increase brand awareness by way of advertising. Others had packing instructions or clothing sizes meant to communicate information to anyone who saw the bands. These bands are all classifiable in chapter 49, even if they also serve the purpose of holding things together.
On the other hand, CIT found one of the 10 models of silicone bands imported by Aero Rubber did not have a communicative purpose. Used to bind sales brochures and floor plan diagrams to aid in marketing of a luxury apartment tower, these bands were imprinted with the tower’s address number.
CIT found that printing to be decorative, not communicative, because it “was not immediately discernible what the number signifies. The bands do not alert holders of the bands to any brand, any event, any source for obtaining more information, or any instructions pertaining to a product. Rather, the printing on these bands is designed to present the company’s documents in a neat and professional manner.” As the printing was incidental, that band was correctly classified by CBP in chapter 39, CIT said.
(Aero Rubber Co. v. U.S., Slip Op. 19-57, CIT # 15-00174, dated 05/14/19, Judge Kelly)