Planners Not Classified as Calendars, Court Rules

The Court of International Trade ruled April 21 that certain weekly/monthly planners are classified as other articles under HTSUS 4820.10.40 rather than as calendars under HTSUS 4910.

The items at issue are four different models of spiral-bound planners that contain a yearly overview page showing monthly calendars in grid box form for a two-year period, two-page monthly views of each month (again in grid box form), and two-page weekly view pages covering each week of the month. The weekly view pages include lined sections for each day (measuring between 8 and 11 lines of writing space) as well as a lined area for jotting to-do items and notes. In total, more than two-thirds of the pages in the planners are weekly view pages.

The CIT had previously classified these planners as diaries under HTSUS 4820.10.20 (duty-free), asserting that diaries are both retrospective journals and prospective scheduling devices. However, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit subsequently reversed that decision, stating that it ran afoul of the CAFC’s 2002 holding in Mead Corp. v. U.S. that diaries are retrospective only.

Upon remand from the CAFC, the CIT now holds that the planners cannot be classified properly under heading 4910. Given that most of their space is allocated to note taking and list making, the court explained, the planners exceed the definition of a calendar as a chart for showing the division of a given year.

Instead, the CIT concluded that the planners are properly classified under heading 4820 because they possess the same essential characteristics or purposes (i.e., recording various types of information) that unite the exemplars listed in that heading. The court further ruled that the planners are not classifiable under HTSUS 4820.10.20 because they are not diaries, address books, or notebooks. Instead, the planners are classifiable under HTSUS 4820.10.40.