CLA-2 RR:CR:TE 961205 RH
Area Director
U.S. Customs Service
200 Granby Street
Suite 839
Norfolk, VA 23510
RE: Protest Number 1401-97-100011; offset printing blanket; heading 5911; heading 4008
Dear Sir:
This is in reply to your memorandum of December 18, 1997, regarding the Application for Further Review of Protest (AFR) 1401-97-100011, filed by the law firm of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., on behalf of KinyoVirginia, Inc.
The protest covers three entries and is against the classification and liquidation of 3-ply and
4-ply rubberized offset printing blankets under subheading 5911.10.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), as printers’ rubberized blankets.
Customs liquidated the three entries between October 25, 1996, and January 3, 1997. The protest was timely filed on January 1, 1997, and review is warranted pursuant to 19 CFR §174.24.
FACTS:
The record reveals that between July 10, 1996, and September 13, 1996, the protestant entered three shipments of 3-ply and 4-ply rubberized offset printing blankets into the United States under subheading 4008.21.0000, HTSUSA, as sheets of noncellular rubber.
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The offset blankets at issue consist of a textile backing coated with vulcanized rubber. The protestant does not describe the manufacturing process for the offset printing blankets but lists the weight breakdown for the blankets as follows:
3-Ply Blanket Compressible Total weight 1800 grs/m²
Fabric weight
555 grs/m²
30.8%
Non Cellular Rubber
1059 grs/m²
58.9%
Cellular Rubber
186 grs/m²
10.3%
4-Ply Blanket Compressible Total weight 2130 grs/m²
Fabric weight
696 grs/m²
32.7%
Non Cellular Rubber
1249 grs/m²
58.6%
Cellular Rubber
186 grs/m²
8.7%
ISSUE:
Is the merchandise under consideration classifiable in heading 4008, HTSUSA, as plates of rubber, or under heading 5911, HTSUSA, as technical products and articles for technical uses?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of goods under the HTSUSA is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes. Additionally, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN), while not legally binding, are recognized as the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level.
Heading 5911, HTSUSA, provides for “[t]extile products and articles, for technical uses, specified in note 7 to this chapter.” The other heading at issue, 4008, HTSUSA, provides for, “[p]lates, sheets, strip, rods and profile shapes, of vulcanized rubber other than hard rubber.”
The EN to heading 4008 state, in part, that “[t]he classification of products made from vulcanised [sic] rubber other than hard rubber, combined (either in the mass or on the surface) with textile materials is subject to the provisions of . . . Note 4 to Chapter 59."
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Note 4, Chapter 59, reads as follows:
For the purposes of heading 5906, the expression “rubberized textile fabrics” means:
(a) Textile fabrics impregnated, coated, covered or laminated with rubber:
(i) Weighing not more than 1,500 g/m²; or
(ii) Weighing more than 1,500 g/m² and containing more than 50 percent by
weight of textile material;
Counsel argues that the blankets do not meet the definition of “rubberized textile fabric” in
Note 4, Chapter 59, HTSUSA, because they weigh more than 1,500 grams per square meter and contain less than 50 percent by weight of textile material. Counsel further argues that the merchandise must be classified under heading 4008, HTSUSA, as sheets of noncellular rubber, in accordance with Note 1(ij), Section XI, HTSUSA, which excludes from classification therein "[w]oven, knitted or crocheted fabrics, felt or nonwovens, impregnated, coated, covered or laminated with rubber, or articles thereof, of chapter 40."
In support of her position that offset printing blankets are classifiable under heading 4008, counsel cites Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 955372, dated May 4, 1994, wherein Customs reclassified “engraving rubber” under subheading 4008.21.0000, HTSUSA. Customs originally classified the merchandise under subheading 5911.10.2000, HTSUSA, as a textile fabric laminated with rubber, of a kind used for technical purposes. In HQ 955372, this office held that the engraved rubber did not satisfy the definition of “rubberized textile fabric” – i.e., it weighted more than 1,500 g/m² and contained less than 50 percent by weight of textile material, and was, therefore, classifiable under heading 4008, HTSUSA.
We disagree with counsel that offset printing blankets are not classifiable in heading 5911. First of all, the merchandise in question does not have to satisfy the terms of Note 4, Chapter 59, as that note is limited to articles of heading 5906. The offset printing blankets are specifically provided for at the subheading level under heading 5911. Moreover, the EN to heading 5911 state, in part, that “[t]he textile products and articles of this heading present particular characteristics which identify them as being for use in various types of machinery, apparatus, equipment or instruments or as tools or parts of tools.” In the ninth edition of the Pocket Pal (1966), a definition of the term “blanket” reads: “In offset-lithography, a rubber-surfaced sheet clamped around the cylinder, which transfers the image from plate to paper.”
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Additionally, Pocket Pal describes an offset press as follows:
All offset presses operate on the principle of making one impression with each revolution of the cylinders. Sheet-fed offset presses have three same-size printing cylinders (plate, blanket and impression) as well as inking and dampening systems. The plate is clamped to the plate cylinder. In rotating, it comes in contact with the dampening rollers first, then the inking rollers. The dampeners wet the plate so the non-printing area will repel ink.
The inked image is then transferred to the rubber blanket on the second cylinders. Makeready is minimal; the image is on a one-piece plate which can be shifted slightly for proper register. The resilient rubber blanket compensates for the varying thicknesses and textures of paper stocks, largely eliminating a source of considerable trouble in other printing processes. A wide range of papers can be used. Half-tones can be printed with solids on both rough and smooth papers.
Clearly, offset printing blankets are a unique product known in the trade for their end use. "An eo nomine designation is one which describes a commodity by a specific name, usually one well known to commerce." 2 R. Sturm, Customs Law and Administration 53.2 (3rd Edition 1990).
The common meaning of an eo nomine designation is determined by the meaning it had at the time of enactment of the tariff act. United States v. Brager Larsen, 36 C.C.P.A. 1, 3 4, C.A.D. 388 (1948); Davies Turner & Co. v. United States, 45 C.C.P.A. 39, C.A.D. 669 (1957). In their determination of what this "common meaning" encompasses, Customs and the courts may examine the use to which the imported goods are put. United States v. Quon Quon Co., 46 C.C.P.A. 70, 73 ,C.A.D. 699 (1959).
Thus, it is proper to take use into account when classifying an article under an eo nomine provision where the common and commercial meaning of the article at the time the tariff schedule was drafted included references to use. Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 950783, dated September 10, 1992, citing Admiral Div. of Magic Chef, Inc. v. United States, 754 F. Supp. 881, (Ct. Int'l Trade 1990) (it is necessary to examine legislative history and other extrinsic sources to determine the common meaning of merchandise); Hummel Chemical Co. v. United States, 29 C.C.P.A. 178, 183, C.A.D. 189 (1941) (tariff terms generally "are not drafted in terms of science, but in the language of commerce, which is presumptively that in common use.").
As the offset printing blankets are specifically provided for in the HTSUSA under subheading 5911.10.1000, they will be classified under that provision. See, HQ 555361, dated August 3, 1989 (Merchandise designed and sold for use as blankets on offset presses was classified under subheading 5911.10.1000, HTSUSA, according to GRI 1).
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HOLDING:
The offset printing blankets under consideration are classifiable under subheading 5911.10.1000, HTSUSA, which provides for “Textile products and articles, for technical uses, specified in note 7 to this chapter: Textile fabrics, felt and felt-lined woven fabrics, coated, covered or laminated with rubber, leather or other material, of a kind used for card clothing, and similar fabrics of a kind used for other technical purposes, including narrow fabrics made of velvet impregnated with rubber, for covering weaving spindles (weaving beams): Printers’ rubberized blankets.” They are dutiable at the 1997 general column one rate at 4.9 percent ad valorem.
The protest should be denied in full.
In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550 065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision should be mailed by your office to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to the mailing of the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations & Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS, and to the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, Lexis, Freedom of Information Act, and other public access channels.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division