CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 951938 NLP
District Director
United States Customs Service
300 South Ferry Street- Room 2017
Terminal Island
San Pedro, CA 90731
RE: Protest No. 2704-92-100086; fiberglass fabric used for
vertical blinds; narrow woven fabric; false selvedges;
subheading 7019.20.20; Additional U.S. Note 6 to Chapter
70; Legal Note 5 to Chapter 58; Explanatory Note
58.06(A)(2); HRL 089551; HRL 950102
Dear Sir:
The following is our response to the Protest and Request For
Further Review No. 2704-92-100086, dated January 8, 1992,
concerning the classification of fiberglass fabric for vertical
blinds under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS).
FACTS:
The product in question is a fiberglass fabric used for
vertical blinds. The fabric is coated with polyvinyl chloride
(PVC), which is weave set or "gummed" for stability, and is then
slit to finished widths of 3.5 inches.
Upon importation, the fiberglass fabric was classified in
subheading 7019.20.20, HTSUS, which provides for "[g]lass fibers
(including glass wool) and articles thereof (for example, yarn,
woven fabrics): [w]oven fabrics, including narrow fabrics:
[o]ther: [n]ot colored.
In liquidating the fiberglass fabric in subheading
7019.20.20, HTSUS, you relied on Headquarters Ruling Letter
085991, dated March 13, 1990, which dealt with the classification
of woven fabrics used to manufacture vertical blinds that were
coated with polyvinyl or polyethylene. While the fabric edges
did not unravel, this was the result of the plastic finish
applied to the entire fabric and not as the result of some
treatment to the edges of the fabric to make them fast.
Therefore, HRL 085991 held that the fabrics did not have real or
false selvedges and they were not classified as "narrow woven
fabrics" in heading 5806, HTSUS.
In addition, you relied on Los Angeles Customs Laboratory
Report No. 7-92-30104-001, dated February 20, 1992, which tested
the sample and determined that the sample failed to have fast
edges and therefore, did not have a real or false selvedge.
The protestant argues that the fiberglass fabric is
classified in subheading 7019.20.10, HTSUS, which provides for
"[g]lass fibers (including glass wool) and articles thereof (for
example, yarn, woven fabrics): [w]oven fabrics, including narrow
fabrics: [n]arrow fabrics.
ISSUE:
Is the fiberglass fabric used for vertical blinds classified
as "other not colored woven fabric" in subheading 7019.20.20,
HTSUS, or as "narrow fabric" in subheading 7019.20.10, HTSUS?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by
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. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely
on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not
otherwise require, the remaining GRI's may be applied, taken in
order.
Subheading 7019.20, HTSUS, provides for "[g]lass fibers
(including glass wool) and articles thereof (for example, yarn,
woven fabrics): [w]oven fabrics, including narrow fabrics."
Additional U.S. Note 6 to Chapter 70, HTSUS, provides the
following:
For the purposes of subheading 7019.20, the expression
"narrow fabrics" covers fabrics which meet the
definition of "narrow woven fabrics" in note 5 to
Chapter 58.
Legal Note 5 to Chapter 58, HTSUS, provides the following, inter
alia:
For the purposes of heading 5806, the expression
"narrow woven fabrics" means:
(a) Woven fabrics of a width not exceeding 30 cm,
whether woven as such or cut from wider pieces,
provided with selvages (woven, gummed or otherwise
made) on both edges;
Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 950102, dated February 10,
1992, also dealt with the issue of whether vertical blind fabric
coated with plastics and cut into small (3-1/2 inch wide) strips
was classified as "narrow woven fabric" pursuant to Legal Note 5
to Chapter 58, HTSUS. In determining that the fabric had a
"false" selvedge, Customs looked to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs). The ENs,
although not dispositive, are to be used to determine the proper
interpretation of the HTSUS. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August
23, 1989). EN 58.06 (A)(2) states the following:
In accordance with Note 5 to this Chapter, this heading
includes as narrow woven fabrics:
* * * *
(2) Strips of a width not exceeding 30 cm, cut (or
slit) from wider pieces of warp and weft fabric
(whether cut (or slit) longitudinally or on the
cross) and provided with false selvedges on both
edges, or a normal woven selvedge on one edge and
a false selvedge on the other. False selvedges
are designed to prevent unravelling of a piece of
cut (or slit) fabric and may, for example, consist
of a row of gauze stitches woven into the wider
fabric before cutting (or slitting), of a simple
hem, or they may be produced by gumming the edges
of strips, or by fusing the edges in the case of
certain ribbons of man-made fibres. Strips cut
(or slit) from fabric but not provided with a
selvedge, either real or false, on each edge, are
excluded from this heading and classified with
ordinary woven fabrics....
Moreover, Customs stated that Legal Note 5 to Chapter 58,
HTSUS, does not define selvedges apart from stating that, in
addition to being woven or gummed, they may be "otherwise made".
As the coating on the vertical blind fabric prevented the fabric
from unravelling and it measured less than 30 cm, Customs held
that the fabric had a false selvedge and was classifiable as
narrow woven fabric in heading 5806, HTSUS.
HRL 950102 cited HRL 085991, as it dealt with a similar type
of fabric. However, HRL 950102 did not revoke this case. In
order to insure uniformity in Customs classification of this
merchandise and eliminate uncertainty, we have revoked HRL 085991
in HRL 952436, a copy of which is enclosed.
Thus, in determining whether the subject fabric has a
selvedge we must now look to the guidelines in HRL 950102. We
have to look at this fabric to determine whether the plastic
coating, which appears to have been applied prior to cutting the
fabric to a narrow width, serves to prevent the edges of the
fabric from unravelling. The PVC coating does prevent the fabric
from unravelling and the fabric has a false selvedge. Therefore,
because the fabric meets the criteria for "narrow woven fabric"
in Legal Note 5 to Chapter 58, HTSUS, it is classified as narrow
fabric in subheading 7019.20.10, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The protest should be allowed in full. A copy of this
decision should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and provided
to the protestant as part of the notice of action on the protest.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division