Self-study
A company that imports and sells collectibles sought to have some of its collectible figurines classified as toys, which are subject to lower import tariffs than collectibles. ███ ███████ ██████ ████ ███ █████████ █████ ██████████ ████ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ███ ██████████ ██████ ███████████ ███ ███████ ████████ ███ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████████ █████ ██████ ████ █████
Summary
Despite the company’s arguments, their figurines were not classified as toys and thus were not given lower tariffs. Why? The company marketed the figurines as collectibles rather than toys.
Notable Assumptions
The government agency’s argument is pretty straightforward—you’ve been marketing your product as collectibles, so you can’t suddenly call them toys—but this is still an assumption they’re making. As such, we want a rule that clearly articulates it:
Products should be classified however they are marketed.
6.
Which one of the following ███████████ ██ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████████ ████████ █████████
a
The tariff classification ██ ██ ████ ██████ ██████ █████████ ██ ███ ███ ████ ██ █████████
(A) justifies the agency’s reasoning. If the company is marketing their figurines as collectibles, they should be classified as collectibles and thus not given the lower tariffs of toys.
b
When importing products, █ ███████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████ ██████████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ████████
(B) leads to the wrong conclusion. We’re trying to prove the figurines should not be classified as toys, not that the company making them should try to classify them as toys for tariff purposes.
c
An object should ███ ██ ██████████ ██ █ ███████████ ██ ██ ██ █████████ ████ ██ █ ████
Wrong trigger. We know the figurines amuse customers like toys, but we don’t know if this means they are used like toys. As such, we can’t use this rule.
d
Objects that are █████████ █████████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ █████ ████████
Wrong trigger and wrong conclusion. We know that the figurines cause amusement, but we don’t know if they were developed for that purpose. As such, we can’t use this rule. We are also trying to prove that the objects should not get the lower tariffs by being classified as toys, not that they should.
e
A company should ██████ ███ ████████ ██ ████████████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ███████
Wrong trigger and wrong conclusion. We have no clue how different types of marketing would affect the prices of the figurines. We’re also trying to prove that the figurines should be classified as collectibles, not dictate how the company should market them.