CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 950567 KWM
TARIFF: 4202.32.1000
Mr. Steven S. Weiser, Esq.
Siegel, Mandell & Davidson. P.C.
One Astor Plaza
1515 Broadway, 43rd Floor
New York, New York 10036
RE: Louis Vuitton flatgoods; Style numbers M56-362, M60-930,
M61-660, M61-665,
M62-650; Articles of a kind normally carried in the pocket
or handbag; Plastic
sheeting; Outer surface; Reinforced or laminated.
Dear Mr. Weiser:
This is in response to your letter of October 22, 1991,
requesting a binding tariff
classification ruling for flatgoods imported from France and/or
Spain. Our ruling follows.
FACTS:
We have received your submission detailing the manufacture
and use of the imported
flatgoods, as well as the materials used to manufacture the
flatgoods. In addition, a sample of
each of the five styles was received. Your letter describes them
as:
Style M56-362: A business card holder containing two
interior pockets and one
exterior pocket.
Style M60-930: A wallet containing compartments for paper
currency, credit
cards, I.D. cards, etc.
Style M61-660: A change and bill holder.
Style M61-665: A wallet with compartments for paper currency
and credit cards
and an interior change compartment with snap
closure.
Style M62-650: A change purse with a top zipper closure.
Each article is constructed from a PVC plastics and textile
material. Briefly, the process is
described as follows. First, polyvinyl chloride ("PVC") powder is
combined with other
materials to form a paste. The paste is applied to a release
paper using a blade to achieve the
desired thickness. The paper and paste combination is passed
through a heating chamber and
cooled rollers to create a PVC sheet. The PVC sheet has
additional PVC paste applied and is
then mated with textile fabric through the application of heat
and pressure. The PVC/textile
combination is heated again, cooled, and separated from the
release paper before being
printed and finished. The end product is a PVC plastic sheet
laminated to a textile material.
Your letter does not indicate whether the PVC/textile material is
produced in roll or sheet
form. Your submission indicates that the textile is necessary to
prevent stretching, tearing or
shrinking of the plastic sheeting, and to meet the material
specifications set by Louis Vuitton.
The textile is, you assert, reinforcement applied by lamination.
The shell or structural part of each flatgood is composed of
piece goods cut from the
above described material. Other materials present include split
leather and what appears to be
a finished nonwoven substance.
ISSUE:
Are the flatgoods classified in subheading 4202.32.1000,
HTSUSA, as articles of a
kind normally carried in the pocket or handbag, having an outer
surface of plastic sheeting, of
reinforced or laminated plastics?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
We have considered at length all of the points raised in
your submission, and without
specifically endorsing any of the assertions made by you, we
concur that the goods are
classified in subheading 4202.32.1000, HTSUSA. Our finding is
based solely on the rationale
below.
Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States Annotated
(HTSUSA) is made in accordance with the General Rules of
Interpretation (GRI's). The
systematic detail of the harmonized system is such that virtually
all goods are classified by
application of GRI 1, that is, according to the terms of the
headings of the tariff schedule and
any relevant Section or Chapter Notes.
Heading 4202, HTSUSA
Heading 4202, HTSUSA, imposes two express conditions for
classification in that
heading. First, an article must be one of the named exemplars, or
be a similar container.
Second, those articles named in the latter half of the heading
must be of or wholly or mainly
covered with one of the named materials.
Included in the exemplars of heading 4202, HTSUSA, are
articles described as
"wallets", "purses" and "similar containers." The Explanatory
Notes to Chapter 42,
HTSUSA, indicate that "similar containers" includes ticket case,
key case, etc. All of the
sample items may be described by these terms. In addition, these
terms are found in the latter
half of the heading (after the semicolon) and must therefore be
of or wholly or mainly
covered with one of the named materials, which include both
plastic sheeting and textile
materials.
The material found in the sample flatgoods is a laminate of
noncellular plastics (PVC)
and a woven textile material. Combinations of plastics and
textiles are governed by several
legal notes to the HTSUSA. Among those, Note 2 to Chapter 59,
HTSUSA, provides, inter
alia, that:
2. Heading No. 59.03 applies to:
(a) Textile fabrics, impregnated, coated, covered or
laminated with plastics,
whatever the weight per square metre and whatever
the nature of the
plastic material (compact or cellular), other
than:
(5) Plates, sheets or strip of cellular plastics,
combined with textile
fabric, where the textile fabric is present
merely for reinforcing
purposes.
The plastics found in the instant samples is noncellular in
nature. Therefore, the noncellular
plastics and woven textile laminate is not excluded from Chapter
59, HTSUSA, by the above
legal note. It would be classified in heading 5903, HTSUSA, as a
textile fabric. As noted,
heading 4202, HTSUSA, includes flatgoods of or wholly or mainly
covered with textile
materials. Textile fabrics of heading 5903, HTSUSA, are textile
materials. We find that the
sample flatgoods are of or wholly covered with a textile
material, specifically a textile fabric
classifiable in heading 5903, HTSUSA. The sample flatgoods are
therefore properly included
within the scope of heading 4202, HTSUSA.
Subheading classification
Within heading 4202, HTSUSA, subheading 4202.32 provides for
"Articles of a kind
normally carried in the pocket or handbag, with outer surface of
plastic sheeting or of textile
materials." All of the sample articles are of the kind normally
carried in the pocket or
handbag. The outer surface is defined in Additional U.S. Legal
Note 2, which provides that:
For the purposes of classifying articles under subheadings
4202.12, 4202.22, 4202.32,
and 4202.92, articles of textile fabric impregnated, coated,
covered or laminated with
plastics (whether compact or cellular) shall be regarded as
having an outer surface of
textile material or of plastic sheeting, depending on
whether and the extent to which
the textile constituent or the plastic constituent makes up
the exterior surface of the
article.
In this case, it is the plastic constituent which comprises the
outer surface of the flatgoods.
We note that a flatgood may be made of or covered with a textile
material, yet have an outer
surface of "plastic sheeting" due to the nature of the materials
and the application of the legal
note.
Within subheading 4202.32, HTSUSA, subheading 4202.32.1000
provides for articles
with an outer surface of plastic sheeting, of reinforced or
laminated plastics. Your submission
asserts, and our examination confirms, that the textile and PVC
plastics have been combined
through a lamination process, i.e., the application of heat and
pressure to create a single
material. We find therefore that it has an outer surface of
plastic sheeting, reinforced or
laminated, and is classified in subheading 4202.32.1000, HTSUSA.
HOLDING:
Style numbers M56-362, M60-930, M61-660, M61-665, M62-650
are classified in
subheading 4202.32.1000, HTSUSA, as wallets, purses or similar
articles, of a kind normally
carried in the pocket or handbag, with an outer surface of
plastic sheeting, of reinforced or
laminated plastics. The applicable rate of duty is 12.1 cents per
kilogram plus 4.6 percent ad
valorem.
Sincerely,
John A. Durant, Director