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HQ 088451


October 1, 1991

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 088451 CC

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 3921.90.1500

Mr. Kent Sunakoda
Assistant Import Manager
James J. Boyle & Company
2525 Corporate Place #100
Monterey Park, CA 91754

RE: Reconsideration of NYRL 855970; classification of Showa aramid honeycomb material

Dear Mr. Sunakoda:

This letter is in response to your request, on behalf of Mitsui & Co. (USA) Inc., requesting reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 855970, dated October 5, 1990, concerning the tariff classification of Showa aramid honeycomb material. Samples were submitted for examination.

FACTS:

The aramid paper fiber is a nonwoven textile fabric of nylon fibers. The nonwoven textile fabric is formed into sheets or blocks with a honeycomb cell configuration. This material is immersed into a phenolic resin (plastics material) solution and then cured. Various thicknesses may be cut from this block. Your letter indicates that this material is approximately 60 percent by weight of textile and 40 percent by weight of phenolic resin. You state that this material will be imported in various sizes and densities with standard size sheets of 44 inches by 96 inches or in block form. This material has numerous applications for use in aircraft, skis, boats, etc.

In NYRL 855970 the merchandise at issue was classified under subheading 3921.90.1500 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), which provides for other plates, sheets, film, foil and strip, of plastics, other, combined with textile materials and weighing not more than 1.492 kg/m, products with textile components in which man-made fibers predominate by weight over any other single textile fiber, other. You do not believe that this merchandise is made of textile material, but instead is made of paper.

ISSUE:

Whether the submitted merchandise is classifiable as an article of paper of Chapter 48 of the HTSUSA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's), taken in order. GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

Chapter 48, HTSUSA, provides for paper and paperboard, articles of paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard. The Explanatory Notes, the official interpretation of the HTSUSA at the international level, at page 664, state that paper consists essentially of the cellulosic fibers of the pulps of Chapter 47 felted together in sheet form. A laboratory analysis of the submitted samples confirmed that they are made of 100 percent aramid fibers, a high temperature nylon fabric; thus, there are no cellulosic fibers of the pulps of Chapter 47 in the merchandise at issue. This merchandise consists essentially of nonwoven fabric of nylon fibers coated with plastic.

Note 2 to Chapter 59 applies to plastic coated textiles. It states that Heading 5903 applies to the following:

(a) Textile fabrics, impregnated, coated, covered or laminated with plastics, whatever the weight per square meter and whatever the nature of the plastic material (compact or cellular), other than:

(3) Products in which the textile fabric is either completely embedded in plastics or entirely coated or covered on both sides with such material, provided that such coating or covering can be seen with the naked eye with no account being taken of any resulting change of color (chapter 39).

An examination of the samples shows that the plastics material is visible to the naked eye. The submitted merchandise is entirely coated or covered with plastic, and is therefore classifiable in Chapter 39, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

The merchandise at issue is classified under subheading 3921.90.1500, HTSUSA, which provides for other plates, sheets, film, foil and strip, of plastics, other, combined with textile materials and weighing not more than 1.492 kg/m, products with textile components in which man-made fibers predominate by weight over any other single textile fiber, other. The rate of duty is 8.5 percent ad valorem, and the textile category is 229.

NYRL 855970, dated October 5, 1990, is affirmed.

Due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation (the ninth and tenth digits of the classification) and the restraint (quota/visa) categories applicable to textile merchandise, you should contact your local Customs office prior to importation of this merchandise to determine the current status of any import restraints or requirements.

The designated textile and apparel category may be subdivided into parts. If so, visa and quota requirements applicable to the subject merchandise may be affected. Since part categories are the result of international bilateral agreements which are subject to frequent renegotiations and changes, to obtain the most current information available, we suggest that you check, close to the time of shipment, the Status Report On Current Import Quotas (Restraint Levels), an internal issuance of the U.S. Customs Service, which is available for inspection at your local Customs office.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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