CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 088001 HP
4107.90.3000; 4108.00.0000
Dr. C.T. Stacey
Founder
Harrington Organization
P.O. Box 148
Tallassee, AL 36078-0148
RE: Skins; leather; goat; sheep; camel; tanned; wet blue;
wetblue; hair
Dear Dr. Stacey:
This is in reply to your letter of September 25, 1990,
concerning the tariff classification of skins, imported from
Saudi Arabia, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated (HTSUSA).
FACTS:
The merchandise at issue consists of five types of wet blues
and skins, described as follows:
Preparatio Skin Type Value
n
Wet Blue Domestic Goatskin with Hair Removed $2.25/ft
(Oil Base)
Wet Blue Domestic Camelskin with Hair $2.50/ft
(Oil Base) Removed
Fully Sheepskin with Hair Removed $3.00/ft
Tanned
Fully Chamois with Hair Removed $3.00/ft
Tanned
Fully Goatskin with Hair Removed $3.00/ft
Tanned
You state that these wet blues and skins will be sold to
factories manufacturing leather products. Volume 10 of The New
Encyclopdia Britannica (Macropdia) (1975) describes chamois as
a type of "leather, which, unlike other leathers, can be
repeatedly wetted and dried without detrimental effects."
ISSUE:
What is the correct classification of these skins under the
HTSUSA?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Chamois
Heading 4108, HTSUSA, provides for chamois (including
combination chamois) leather. No further characteristics are
required.
Sheepskin
Heading 4105, HTSUSA, provides for sheep or lamb skin
leather, sans wool. The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the HTSUSA
constitute the official interpretation of the tariff at the
international level. While not legally binding, they do
represent the considered views of classification experts of the
Harmonized System Committee. It has therefore been the practice
of the Customs Service to follow, whenever possible, the terms of
the Explanatory Notes when interpreting the HTSUSA. The EN to
this heading includes therein "... skins of sheep or lambs ...
without the wool on, which have been pre-tanned or tanned,
parchment-dressed or further prepared after tanning." As this
describes the instant epidermis, classification in heading 4105
is correct.
Goatskins
Fully Tanned
Heading 4106, HTSUSA, provides for hairless
goatskin or kidskin leather, pretanned, tanned, or retanned.
Wet Blue
We stated in C.I.E. 956/65 of July 1, 1965, that
[w]et blue ... skins are processed in a
manner that they are considered to be
leather. It is true that they are imported
wet and often retanned after importation, but
this is to avoid certain difficulties in the
handling of such skins.
* * *
However, these conditions do not alter the
fact that [these] skins are leather and
considered as such for tariff purposes.
As the wet blues are not considered raw skins, they are also
classifiable in heading 4106, HTSUSA.
Camelskin
Heading 4107, HTSUSA, provides for hairless leather of
other animals. Camel leather is classifiable hereunder.
HOLDING:
As a result of the foregoing, the instant merchandise is
classified as follows:
Wet Blue Goatskin
... under subheading 4106.12.0000, HTSUSA, as goat or
kidskin leather, without hair on, other than leather of
heading 4108 or 4109, pretanned, tanned or retanned but not
further prepared, whether or not split, otherwise pretanned.
The applicable rate of duty is 3.7 percent ad valorem.
Wet Blue Camelskin
... under subheading 4107.90.3000, HTSUSA, as leather of
other animals, without hair on, other than leather of
heading 4108 or 4109, of other animals, not fancy. The
applicable rate of duty is 5 percent ad valorem.
Fully Tanned Sheepskin
... under subheading 4105.19.0000, HTSUSA, as sheep or lamb
skin leather, without wool on, other than leather of heading
4108 or 4109, pretanned or retanned but not further
prepared, whether or not split, other. The applicable rate
of duty is 5 percent ad valorem.
Fully Tanned Chamois
... under subheading 4108.00.0000, HTSUSA, as chamois
(including combination chamois) leather. The applicable
rate of duty is 4.9 percent ad valorem.
Fully Tanned Goatskin
... under subheading 4106.19.0000, HTSUSA, as goat or
kidskin leather, without hair on, other than leather of
heading 4108 or 4109, pretanned, tanned or retanned but not
further prepared, whether or not split, other. The
applicable rate of duty is 3.7 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division