CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 084172 HP 838458
Mr. John M. Peterson
Neville, Peterson & Williams
39 Broadway
New York, NY 10006
RE: Classification of Flooring Sections and Building Components
Dear Mr. Peterson:
This is in reply to your letter of March 17, 1989,
concerning the tariff classification of certain flooring sections
and building components, produced in Italy, under the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). Your
reference file is 1605-01.
FACTS:
The merchandise at issue consists of floor and wall tiles,
measuring twelve inches square by 1/2 inch thick, and building
components, of the same thickness but measuring eleven feet high
by four feet wide. The flooring sections and the building
components are manufactured principally from small chips or bits
of marble and stone, agglomerated with plastic resin, cast into
form, polished, laminated, and cut. Each section is composed of
approximately 5 percent by weight of plastic resins and 95
percent by weight of marble or stone chips. You state that the
plastic resin accounts for approximately 65 percent of the cost
of the materials contained in the merchandise.
ISSUE:
What is the classification of the flooring sections and the
building components under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States Annotated (HTSUSA)?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Heading 6802, HTSUSA, provides for natural monumental or
building stone (except slate) which has been worked beyond the
stage of normal quarry products. For the purposes of Chapter 68,
HTSUSA, however, if an artificial binding is added to natural
marble, the marble is no longer considered to be natural but is
considered artificial stone. The Explanatory Notes to the HTSUSA
constitute the official interpretation of the tariff schedule at
the international level. Explanatory Note 68.02 states, in
pertinent part:
[a]rticles such as slabs, tiles, etc., obtained by
agglomerating pieces of natural stone with cement or
other binders (e.g., plastics), ... are classified as
artificial stone articles in heading 68.10.
Heading 6810, HTSUSA, covers moulded, pressed or centrifuged
articles of cement, concrete, or artificial stone. Explanatory
Note 68.10 defines artificial stone as
... an imitation of natural stone obtained by
agglomerating pieces of natural stone or crushed or
powdered natural stone (limestone, marble, granite,
porphyry, serpentine, etc.) with lime or cement or
other binders (e.g., plastics). [emphasis added]
You assert that the plastics in the merchandise are not mere
binders, but represent the essential character of the products.
This contention is incorrect. The Explanatory Notes clearly
indicate that stone agglomerated (clustered together) with
plastics is to be classified, not as worked natural stone in
Heading 6802, nor as plastics in Chapter 39, but as artificial
stone in Heading 6810, HTSUSA. Whether the pieces of stone are
chips or larger pieces, agglomeration clearly requires
classification as artificial stone. Even if you had not
requested a ruling on articles "agglomerated with plastice [sic]
resin" (Request for Binding Ruling, p.2), merchandise of five
percent plastic resin and 95 percent marble or stone by weight is
by definition of artificial stone.
Under Schedule 4, Part 4, subpart A, headnote 2 of the
Tariff Schedule of the Unites States (TSUS), marble agglomerated
with plastic resin was classified as a plastics product. In that
note, the term "synthetic plastics materials" was interpreted as
embracing "products formed by the condensation, polymerization,
or copolymerization of organic chemicals and to which a[] ...
filler ... may have been added." Since marble is a type of
"filler" material, agglomerated marble was considered to be a
synthetic plastics material. This argument is irrelevant. The
TSUS definition of plastics is no longer applicable, and has no
effect on the classification of the merchandise at issue.
HOLDING:
The flooring sections are classified under subheading
6810.19.1000, HTSUSA, as articles of cement, of concrete or of
artificial stone, whether or not reinforced, tiles, flagstones,
bricks and similar articles, other, floor and wall tiles. The
applicable rate of duty is 21 percent ad valorem. While neither
the HTSUSA nor its accompanying Explanatory Notes put any
limitation on the size of tiles (besides width in Additional U.S.
Note 2 to Chapter 68, HTSUSA), the description for the building
components provided is substantially similar to the definition of
"slabs," in Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 68, heading 6802.
It is our opinion that the building components in the instant
matter are ejusdem generis to building slabs of Heading 6802,
and, although similar to, are not classifiable as, tiles. The
building components are therefore classified under subheading
6810.19.5000, HTSUSA, as articles of cement, of concrete or of
artificial stone, whether or not reinforced, tiles, flagstones,
bricks and similar articles, other, other. The applicable rate
of duty is 4.9 percent ad valorem.
Due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation
(the ninth and tenth digits of the classification) and the
restraint (quota/visa) categories, you should contact your local
Customs office prior to importing the merchandise to determine
the current applicability of any import restraints or
requirements.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division