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Administrative Law Keyed to Funk
United States v. Mead Corp.
Citation:
533 U.S. 218 (2001)Facts
The Mead Corporation imported “day planners,” three-ring binders with pages for daily schedules, phone numbers, addresses, calendars, and similar content. Between 1989 and 1993, the United States Customs Service classified these items as “other” under HTSUS subheading 4820.10.40, making them duty-free. In January 1993, Customs changed its position and issued a Headquarters ruling letter classifying the planners as “Diaries…, bound” subject to tariff under subheading 4820.10.20. After Mead’s protest, Customs issued a more detailed letter explaining that “diary” included books with “printed dates for daily memoranda and jottings” and that “bound” referred to a fastening described in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes. This classification ruling was not preceded by notice-and-comment rulemaking or formal adjudication, and was not published for public comment.
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