April 2018 Customs Broker License Exam Question 33 – Classification

CBP’s official answer to this classification question is B HTSUS 4911.91.3000 The relevant citations provided in the official answer are HTSUS Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 49 and HTSUS Note 2 to Chapter 97.

The answer choices are all from chapters 49 and 94, so we know that the goods are classifiable in either chapter 49 or chapter 97. Since there are two options under chapter 97, to save time we will first determine whether the goods are classifiable under either of these two options.

9701 Paintings, drawings and pastels, executed entirely by hand, other than drawings of heading 4906 and other than hand painted or hand-decorated manufactured articles; collages and similar decorative plaques; all the foregoing framed or not framed:
9701.10.00 00 Paintings, drawings and pastels
9702.00.00 00 Original engravings, prints and lithographs, framed or not framed
HTSUS Note 2 to Chapter 97.
2. For the purposes of heading 9702, the expression “original engravings, prints and lithographs” means impressions produced directly, in black and white or in color, of one or of several plates wholly executed by hand by the artist, irrespective of the process or of the material employed by him, but not including any mechanical or photomechanical process.

Here, the material is described as “wall art depicting abstract flowers and birds that is mechanically printed, via lithography onto sheets of paper.” These are not paintings, drawings, and pastels, nor do they meet the definition of original lithographs as these are not impressions wholly executed by hand by the artist. Therefore classification in Chapter 97 can be ruled out and we can eliminate answer choices D and E.
We therefore have to consider answer choices A. 4911.91.2040, B. 4911.91.3000, and C. 4911.99.6000, all of which fall in Chapter 49.

Chapter 49 Notes
1. This chapter does not cover:
(d) Original engravings, prints or lithographs (heading 9702),…
2. For the purposes of chapter 49 the term “printed” also means reproduced by means of a duplicating machine, produced under the control of an automatic data processing machine, embossed, photographed, photocopied, thermocopied or typewritten.
Additional U.S. Notes
1. For the purposes of determining the classification of printed matter produced in whole or in part by a lithographic process, the thickness of such printed matter is that of the thinnest paper contained therein, except that the thickness of a permanently mounted lithograph is the combined thickness of the lithograph and its mounting.

4911 Other printed matter, including printed pictures and photographs:
4911.91 Pictures, designs and photographs:
Lithographs on paper or paperboard:
4911.91.20 Not over 0.51 mm in thickness
4911.91.30 00 Over 0.51 mm in thickness

Here, the material to be classified is described as “wall art … that is mechanically printed, via lithography onto sheets of paper … measuring .35 mm in thickness, … permanently mounted onto a backing of .50 mm thick paperboard.”
By applying Additional U.S. Note 1, the thickness of the printed matter produced by a lithographic process here is 0.35 mm + 0.50 mm = 0.85 mm.
As this is a printed lithograph on paperboard exceeding 0.51 mm in thickness, it is correctly classifiable under 4911.91.30 00.

4911.99 is an incorrect classification as it includes material other than “pictures, designs and photographs” that fall under 4911.91. Classification has to be done by a systematic step by step process by reading from chapter heading to sub headings. You should not go direct to a sub-heading ignoring the heading which will create errors of the type that you made.