CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 952072 CC
Mr. George Young
George J. Young & Co.
P.O. Box 21240
Long Beach, CA 90801
RE: Classification of a windscreen; classifiable in Heading 6307
Dear Mr. Young:
This letter is in response to your inquiry of May 20, 1992,
on behalf of E-Z Sales & Manufacturing, Inc., requesting the
tariff classification of a "windscreen" from China.
FACTS:
You have submitted a representative swatch of the material
used to make the screen, which is composed of woven man-made
fiber fabric and coated with vinyl plastics material. The screen
will measure 7-1/2 feet by 2 feet in an open position. This
merchandise includes steel tubes for insertion through fabric
sleeves, steel table clamps, and a canvas carrying bag. You
state that this merchandise will be used at the beach, for
camping, or on picnic tables to protect the user from wind.
ISSUE:
Whether the merchandise at issue is classifiable in Heading
6306 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Annotated (HTSUSA)?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Under the HTSUSA merchandise is classifiable 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.
The classification of plastics and textile combinations is
governed by Note 2, Chapter 59, HTSUSA, which provides that in
order for a textile fabric coated with plastics to be considered
coated for tariff purposes, a coating must be visible to the
naked eye. Fabric visibly coated on both sides with plastics is,
with certain exceptions, considered to be a plastics material
rather than a textile. However, in this instance the plastic
coating is not visible to the naked eye and consequently, the
screen portion of the merchandise in question is considered to be
a textile product of Section XI, HTSUSA.
GRI 3(a) provides that when two or more headings each refer
to part only of the materials contained in a composite good, the
headings are to be regarded as being equally specific in relation
to the goods. The article in question is a composite good made
from textiles and steel and consists of a textile screen, steel
tubes, steel clamps and canvas carrying bag. While there is no
eo nomine provision for windscreens, several headings are
potentially applicable to the instant merchandise: Heading 6306,
HTSUSA, which covers, inter alia, tents and camping goods (of
textiles); Heading 6307, HTSUSA, which provides for other made up
(textile) articles; and Heading 7308, HTSUSA, which provides for
structures of steel. However, Customs does not consider Heading
4202, HTSUSA, which provides for a number of similar but related
containers, to be applicable to the instant merchandise, although
it may describe the canvas carrying bag. Under GRI 5(a),
containers that are specially shaped or fitted to hold a specific
article or set of articles, are classifiable with such articles
when sold therewith. The instant carrying bag is specially
shaped to hold the poles and textile material that form the
article in question. Accordingly, the bag is classifiable with
the windscreen under GRI 5(a).
Heading 6306 provides specifically for tarpaulins, awnings
and sunblinds; tents; sails for boats, sailboards or landcraft;
camping goods. According to the Harmonized Commodity Description
and Coding System, Explanatory Notes, the official interpretation
of the HTSUSA at the international level, at page 867, camping
goods include "canvas buckets, water bags, wash basins; ground-
sheets; pneumatic mattresses, pillows and cushions (other than
those of heading 40.16; hammocks (other than those of heading
56.08)."
The windscreen is not an article or type of article that is
specifically listed in the Explanatory Notes as classifiable as
camping goods of Heading 6306. Unlike the exemplars of camping
goods, the windscreen is not essential for camping, typically
associated with goods used in camping, or specially designed for
camping. In addition, the windscreen has uses other than
camping, for example, at the beach. Accordingly, the windscreen
is not classifiable in Heading 6306.
Headings 6307 and 7308 each refer to one of the materials
from which the product in question is made. Pursuant to GRI
3(b), composite goods consisting of different materials, which
cannot be classified according to GRI 3(a), are to be classified
according to their essential character. In this instance, it is
the textile portion of the windscreen which actually protects one
from the wind. The steel poles, on the other hand, serve merely
to support the textile screen. Consequently, in Customs' view it
is the textile screen which imparts the article's essential
character, and thus governs its classification.
Heading 6307, HTSUSA, provides for other made up articles.
According to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding
System, Explanatory Notes, at page 867, Heading 6307 covers "made
up articles of any textile material which are not included more
specifically in other headings of Section XI or elsewhere in the
Nomenclature." The windscreen meets those requirements and is
appropriately classified in Heading 6307.
HOLDING:
The merchandise at issue is classified under subheading
6307.90.9986, HTSUSA, which provides for other made up articles.
The rate of duty is 7 percent ad valorem. No textile category is
currently assigned to merchandise classified under this
subheading.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division