Importer Urges CIT for Preferred Classification of Its Pool Floats

CBP misclassified imports of certain inflatable swimming pool floats and lounges, importer Swimways Corporation said in an Oct. 22 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Arguing against CBP's classification, Swimways leaned on a case it won at CIT in 2018 favoring its preferred Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading for the pool floats (Swimways Corporation v. United States, CIT #13-00397).

The importer brought in various models of its pool floats through the Port of Los Angeles, known as Spring Floats and Baby Spring Floats. CBP classified them both under HTS subheading 6307.90.9889, which provides for “[o]ther made up articles, including dress patterns," dutiable at 7%. Swimways countered in its denied protest to CBP that the floats should fit under HTS subheading 3926.90.7500, which provides for "Pneumatic mattresses and other inflatable articles," dutiable at 4.2%. The importer also argued that Baby Springs Floats should be classified under yet another subheading, but that alternatively, they could fit under the same one as the Spring Floats.

The floats are made of a roughly oval shaped inflatable plastic bladder covered by manmade textile fabric, Swimways said. In denying Swimway's protest, CBP found that "the plastic and textile components are equally significant in establishing the essential character of the floats and that '[w]ithout the textile component, the merchandise would not be a float,'" the complaint said. The importer said that its 2018 case confirmed that the Spring Floats and Baby Spring Floats are properly classified under subheading 3926.90.7500.