In ruling NY N324489 (March 9, 2022), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discussed the tariff classification of a “
” game from China. The product at issue is identified as a board game version of the “Deal or No Deal” TV game show. The board game comes with 26 briefcase cards, 26 cash cards, 1 bank offer guideline card, 1 preprinted wipeable game board used to track dollar amounts and game rounds, 1 dry-erase marker, and instructions on how to play.
The goal of the game is for each player to win the largest sum of prize money possible from the bank. In each round, the player will select more and more briefcase cards to reveal random dollar amounts. After each briefcase card is selected and then revealed, the player must strike through the corresponding dollar amount and the round indicator on the wipeable board. Following each round the host then determines the next banker offer based on the bank offer guideline card and the player’s wipeable board in order to consider which dollar amounts are still in play. In addition, the wipeable board also guides the banker’s offer as it illustrates which round of the game the player has completed and how many cases are to be opened in future rounds. As an added feature, the host can use an optional “Bank App” in place of the bank offer guideline card to generate a bank offer; however, the wipeable game board would still be required for game play.
CBP determined the applicable subheading for the “Deal or No Deal” game to be 9504.90.6000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “articles for arcade, table or parlor games, including pinball machines, bagatelle, billiards and special tables for casino games…parts and accessories thereof: other: chess, checkers, parchisi, backgammon, darts and other games played on boards of a special design, all the foregoing games and parts thereof (including their boards); mah-jong and dominoes; any of the foregoing games in combination with each other, or with other games, packaged together as a unit in immediate containers of a type used in retail sales; poker chips and dice.” The rate of duty is free.