The Court of International Trade has ruled that the presence of cases/containers used to store/hold articles that are claimed to be a set does not preclude the articles from being treated as sets for tariff purposes.

Historically, US Customs is said to have taken a “very narrow view of the classification rules for sets when there is a container among the articles claimed to be a set,” said a statement sent to clients via worldtradelawyers dot com.

It said the decision has “major ramifications” for retailers importing gift and other types of sets for retail sale.

It said that in the recent case of Estee Lauder versus the United States that was handled by Pisani & Roll LLP, the court considered whether Estee Lauder’s annual Blockbuster cosmetic sets, comprised of various makeup components, brushes, a cosmetic case and a brush case, were classifiable as a makeup set.

Previously, customs had ruled that the items were not classifiable as a set because, in customs’ opinion, the cosmetic case was “unique. It serves to transport and store the cosmetic components with which it is entered. The vanity case and cosmetic components are not put up to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity. Therefore, for tariff classification purposes, it is not a set and each item will be classified separately.”

The report claimed that the impact of customs’ decision was that “extremely high” duties had to be paid on the cosmetic and brush cases. In the decision issued, the court thoroughly rejected customs’ position. It reasoned that customs “flawed analysis has been bootstrapped into a line of rulings that rely largely on customs’ own reasoning, but little on the statute or Explanatory Notes.”

The statement urged importers who have been denied set treatment by customs due to the presence of a container or bag should act to protect their rights.

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