In a recent ruling US Customs has reversed it ruling on allowing plastic hangers to be imported duty free as Instruments of International Traffic (IIT). In the past customs determined that the apparel items were made overseas and placed on the hangers for transportation to the United States. Once the apparel items were purchased the hangers were removed and returned to the company that owns them for reuse. Recently Customs has changed their position because of the basic meaning of the word “hanger”. The reversal is based on the fact that although the goods are on hangers they are not “hanging” – they are folded into cardboard boxes for shipment to the United States. This means that if you are importing garments on hangers that are NOT being suspended during transport the hangers could be classified at the same duty rate as the garment or in certain circumstances they can be classified as plastic hangers – 3% duty. If you are not sure please give us a call to discuss