Aug. 7 CBP Bulletin Proposes to Modify Rulings on Child Portable Toilets, Titanium Billets
In the Aug. 7 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 31), CBP published proposals to revoke ruling letters concerning child-sized portable toilets and forged titanium billets.
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Comments on Proposals Due Sept. 7
CBP said consideration will be given to any written comments received by Sept. 7 before taking actions on the proposals. In addition, any party that has received a ruling or decision on the merchandise that is subject to the proposed revocations or modifications, or any party involved with a substantially identical transaction, should advise CBP by the date that written comments on the proposed ruling are due. (An importer's failure to advise CBP of such rulings, decisions or substantially identical transactions may raise issues of reasonable care on the part of the importer or its agents for importations after the effective date of the final decision in this notice.)
Proposals
CBP is proposing to revoke or modify the rulings below, and any rulings on these products that may exist but have not been specifically identified. CBP also is proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
Child-sized Portable Toilets From China
| Item: Two items: (1) The Potty Chair (Item No. P-Chair) consists of a portable toilet seat, composed entirely of plastic components, intended for use by children. It includes a hollow plastic base shaped like a toilet bowl onto which the user will sit. A separate plastic pan slides in and out of the base to allow for easy cleanup. A plastic back provides support to the child when the Potty Chair is in use. (2) The Real Feel Potty (Item No. RFeel-A) is composed entirely of plastic. It is designed to emulate a real toilet. It has a plastic base shaped like a toilet. A separate plastic pan slides in and out of the base for cleaning. This toilet includes a removable plastic cover that is shaped like a toilet seat and can be used independent of the base on a regular toilet once the toddler is old enough to sit on a regular toilet. A handle can be pulled down to make a flush sound. The sole use of the Real Feel Potty is as a portable toilet. |
| Current: 3922.20.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Baths, shower baths, sinks, washbasins, bidets, lavatory pans, seats and covers, flushing cisterns and similar sanitary ware, of plastics: Lavatory seats and covers.” |
| Proposed: 3922.90.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Baths, shower baths, sinks, washbasins, bidets, lavatory pans, seats and covers, flushing cisterns and similar sanitary ware, of plastics: Other.” |
| Reason: All versions of the “Potty Chair” and “Real Feel Potty” include a receptacle for waste, storage compartment, and other details intended to emulate a toilet, such as integrated speakers to produce flushing noises, seats and lids, and support backs. None of the additional components or the detachability of the seat changes the reality that the products are miniature replica toilets and designed to help children become familiar with the ritual of relieving themselves into a toilet. The “Potty Chair” is explicitly a portable miniature toilet or a child-size portable toilet. The seat in the “Real Feel Potty” is removable and designed to be placed on a full-size toilet to transition a child from using a child-sized portable toilet that is disconnected from plumbing to a true toilet that is connected to plumbing. This capability doesn't alter hat the seat is initially attached to the waste receptacle, and all other integrated components, such as the speakers that make a flushing sound, center around making the function of the waste receptacle more “real” for a child. The “Potty Chair” and “Real Feel Potty” are child-size portable toilets and not merely lavatory seats and covers, and thus they are excluded from subheading 3922.20. |
| Proposed for revocation: N319574, dated June 2, 2021 |
| Proposed new ruling: HQ H336925 |
Forged Titanium Billets
| Item: Titanium imported in billet form and thereafter to be melted down for use in the manufacture of recreational equipment. The chemical analysis of the product was stated to be 90% titanium, 6% aluminum, and 4% vanadium, by weight. |
| Current: 8108.20.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Titanium and articles thereof, including waste and scrap: Unwrought titanium.” |
| Proposed: 8108.90.60, HTSUS, which provides for “Titanium and articles thereof, including waste and scrap: Other: Other.” |
| Reason: The titanium is "unwrought," meaning, a product not formed or fashioned by being worked on. Therefore, CBP finds that subheading 8108.20 provides for, without limitation, titanium that has not been worked into a finished condition. As such, the titanium billets should be classified under subheading 8108.20, HTSUS, as “unwrought titanium” because they have not been worked into a finished condition. |
| Proposed for revocation: H027436, dated April 16, 2009 |
| Proposed new ruling: HQ H317528 |