Definition of 'Calendar' Central to Classification Dispute at CIT

CBP's admission that imported desk pad and planning calendars meet the dictionary definition of "calendar" is evidence that the items should have been so classified as a calendar under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. subheading 4910.00.2000 instead of the basket provision for other paper products in subheading 4820.10.4000, importer Blue Sky said in a motion for judgment filed Aug. 23 at the Court of International Trade. Blue Sky is attempting to overturn CBP's classification of four models of Blue Sky's weekly and monthly planning calendars. While both classifications are duty-free, the government's preferred classification carries additional Section 301 duties (Blue Sky The Color of Imagination v. U.S., CIT # 21-00624).

The company said that it had imported the four models of desk calendars under heading 4910, which covers "calendars of any kind," for decades, and that CBP routinely liquidated the items under that heading. However, beginning in 2019 CBP "erroneously" departed from 15 years of practice and decided that the four models were not calendars at all and reclassified entries under heading 4820 as "other" generic paper articles.

Subheading 4910.00.20 covers "calendars of any kind," Blue Sky said. Because the HTSUS does not define "calendar," the importer turned to dictionary definitions. Blue Sky said that during a deposition, a CBP official admitted that the remaining calendar models met the Cambridge English Dictionary definition of "calendar." That admission, combined with the government's previous agreement on six other calendar models, means that there are no disputed issues of material fact, making the case ripe for summary judgment, Blue Sky argued,