CBP classifies outdoor table-and-seat sets by the table, even when the seats are 71% of the value

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 08:54:56 -0400

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) classifies a table and its seats imported together as one article when they qualify as a composite good or a set, and the piece that gives the whole its essential character decides the line in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). In three rulings issued from February 2025 to May 2026, that piece was the table. In NY N345432, the chairs and sofa made up about 71 percent of a fire pit seating set’s value, and CBP still classified the set in heading 9403, other furniture, the heading for tables. The rulings were checked in CBP’s rulings database on October 14, 2026.

The rule CBP applies

The HTS opens with six General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), the rules that decide which heading a product belongs in. A table with chairs fits two headings at once: 9401 for seats and 9403 for other furniture. GRI 3(a) treats two headings as equally specific when each describes only part of a set. GRI 3(b) then classifies the goods “as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.” If that test fails too, GRI 3(c) sends the goods to the heading that comes last in numerical order, which here is also 9403.

CBP reads the GRIs with the Explanatory Notes, the international commentary on the tariff headings. The notes give two routes into GRI 3(b):

A composite good has parts that are fitted to each other, complement each other and together form a whole that would not normally be sold in separate parts. The parts may be attached or separable.
A set put up for retail sale has at least two articles that fall in different headings, is put together for one need or activity, and is packed so it can be sold to the end user without repacking.

For essential character, the notes list the nature of the materials or components, bulk, quantity, weight or value, and the role of a material in the use of the goods.

Three rulings on outdoor sets

CBP New York rulings on outdoor table-and-seat sets, and a bench classified alone for comparison. Checked October 14, 2026.
Ruling	Date	Product	Pieces	What gave the essential character	HTS line
NY N345432	2025-02-13	Fire pit seating set from China	Fire pit table + two swivel chairs + sofa	Sintered stone tabletop of the fire pit table	9403.89.60.15
NY N358240	2026-02-17	Round picnic table with attached benches from Poland	Table + three benches seating nine	Metal table (80% of the weight is metal)	9403.20.00.90
NY N361569	2026-05-19	Sofa set with fire pit table from Cambodia	Fire pit table + side table + sofa + two swivel chairs	Sintered stone tabletop	9403.89.60.15
NY N358243	2026-02-12	Bench with built-in planter from Poland (not a set)	Bench	Classified on its own as a seat	9401.79.00.35

Source: rulings.cbp.gov

The February 2026 ruling NY N358240 covers a round picnic table permanently joined to three benches, built for parks, streetscapes, plazas, campuses and commercial developments. Its frames are carbon or stainless steel, and the top and seats are planks of wood or high-pressure laminate (HPL), a dense panel of paper layers bonded with resin. The top is about 65 inches across and the benches seat nine. CBP treated it as a composite good. The ruling reports a weight split of 80 percent metal and 20 percent wood, says the metal frames give the piece its structural integrity and mounting, and finds that the metal table gives the whole its essential character. The line is 9403.20.00.90, other metal furniture, other.

The February 2025 ruling NY N345432 covers a four-piece fire pit set: a low fire pit table with a sintered stone top, two cushioned swivel chairs and a cushioned sofa on aluminum frames. The importer proposed heading 7615, household articles of aluminum, and CBP disagreed. It found the pieces met the three tests for a set. By the importer’s cost data, the chairs and sofa came to about 71 percent of the value. CBP cited its earlier rulings holding that the table gives a table-and-chair set its essential character, then found that the stone top gives the fire pit table its character. The stone rim covered about 72 percent of the tabletop. The set went to 9403.89.60.15, furniture of other materials, other household, though its seats had aluminum frames.

Value and tabletop shares reported in NY N345432, percent.
Measure in NY N345432	Share (%)
Chairs and sofa: share of set value	71
Fire pit table: share of set value	29
Stone rim: share of tabletop area	72
Firebox and cover: share of tabletop area	28

Source: rulings.cbp.gov

NY N361569, from May 2026, reached the same line for a five-piece set from Cambodia with a fire pit table, a side table, a sofa and two swivel chairs. CBP found the sintered stone tabletops give the set its essential character.

For comparison, NY N358243 covers a bench with a built-in planter for the same public settings as the picnic table. CBP placed it in 9401.79.00.35, the line for outdoor seats with metal frames, other than household.

What decides the line within heading 9403

Once the table decides the classification, two questions remain: what the table is made of, and whether the goods are household or other. A metal table, as in N358240, led to 9403.20. In the fire pit rulings, a stone top led to 9403.89.60. Both fire pit sets were household goods, and 9403.89.60.20 is the other-than-household line beside theirs.

HTS lines named in the rulings and the other-than-household line beside 9403.89.60.15. Checked October 14, 2026.
HTS line	Description	General duty
9401.79.00.35	Other seats with metal frames: outdoor: other	Free
9403.20.00.90	Other metal furniture: other	Free
9403.89.60.15	Furniture of other materials: other: other household	Free
9403.89.60.20	Furniture of other materials: other: other	Free

Source: hts.usitc.gov

Every line in the table carries a general duty of free. Additional duties attach by line and country of origin, through headings in chapter 99 of the HTS. The tariff guide sets out those duties, and the article on Section 232 covers upholstered seats with wooden frames.

A worked example

Take an example set for a restaurant patio: one table with an aluminum frame and an HPL top, and four aluminum sling chairs, packed together. The numbers are round and illustrative.

In the example, the chairs outweigh and outvalue the table

Worked example: share of a five-piece set's weight and value by component, percent

Share of weight (%)
Share of value (%)

Example with round numbers: table 60 lb and $700; four chairs 80 lb and $1,300. Source: rulings.cbp.gov

Worked example: weight and value of a five-piece outdoor dining set by component. Illustrative round numbers.
Component	Weight (lb)	Value ($)	Share of weight (%)	Share of value (%)
Table (aluminum frame and HPL top)	60	$700	43	35
Four aluminum sling chairs	80	$1,300	57	65

Source: rulings.cbp.gov

The chairs hold 57 percent of the weight and 65 percent of the value. In N345432, seats with 71 percent of the value did not decide the classification, so these shares do not settle it either. If CBP found the table gives this set its character, the next question would be whether the aluminum frame or the HPL top gives the table its character. N358240 answered that by weight and structural role, and the fire pit rulings by the tabletop. Only a ruling on this product would decide it.

Forty tables and 160 chairs packed by item for a hotel opening may not meet the set test that the goods be packed for sale to the end user without repacking. That is a question for the importer’s customs broker. Pieces classified one by one go to their own lines, seats in 9401 and tables in 9403.

What to ask before you sign

Ask the supplier or importer for the ten-digit HTS line of each item as it will be entered, and whether the set will be entered as one article or as separate pieces. If they rely on a ruling, ask for its number and compare its product description with yours. A ruling applies only to the facts it describes, under 19 CFR 177.9(b)(1), as N358240 and N345432 state.
For a set with no ruling, the importer can request one before the order is placed. Under 19 CFR 177.2, a classification request for an article of two or more materials should give the relative quantity of each by weight and by volume, and its value. Ask the supplier for those figures with the quote.

Caveats

New York rulings come from CBP’s National Commodity Specialist Division and bind CBP only for the product and facts the requester described. Two of the three set rulings concern household fire pit sets, and only N358240 concerns a product built for public and commercial sites.

N345432 listed the additional duties in force in February 2025, and rates come from the HTS in force on the date of entry. This is general information, and a licensed customs broker should confirm the classification and duties for a specific product.

Customs rulings | Commercial Outdoor Furniture

CBP classifies outdoor table-and-seat sets by the table, even when the seats are 71% of the value

The rule CBP applies

Three rulings on outdoor sets

What decides the line within heading 9403

A worked example

What to ask before you sign

Caveats