CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 951998 NLP
Ms. Judy Kearney
Network Brokers International, Inc.
Airport Industrial Office Park, Building A2-C
145th Avenue & Hook Creek Blvd.
Valley Stream, NY 11581
RE: Reconsideration of NYRL 871889; glasscloth adhesive tape;
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 950102
Dear Ms. Kearney:
This is in response to your request for reconsideration of
New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 871889, dated March 9, 1992, which
dealt with the classification of adhesive glasscloth tape under
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
FACTS:
The article at issue is glass cloth tape, style PPI 8611, a
sample of which was enclosed. This tape is a plain woven glass
fiber fabric which has been coated on both sides with a colorless
synthetic rubber adhesive. The tape will be imported in one inch
widths and was cut from wider fabric. The fabric contains 7.5
yarns per centimeter in warp and 7 yarns per centimeter in
filling. It is constructed with 340 decitex yarns in both the
warp and filling. The glass fiber fabric tape has been packed
with a polyester release film applied to one side which
facilitates handling the tape and is discarded when the tape is
used. It weighs 56 grams per square meter. This product will be
used to prevent television tube implosion by being wrapped around
the metal frame of a television tube.
NYRL 871889 held the glasscloth tape to be classifiable 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.
ISSUE:
Is the glasscloth tape 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;
NYRL 871889 held that while the glasscloth tape was imported in
one inch widths, the edges had not been made fast. Therefore,
although the fabric satisfied the width requirement of Legal Note
5 to Chapter 58, HTSUS, it was found not to have had a selvedge
and the tape was classified as "other not colored woven fabric"
in 7019.20.20, HTSUS, and not as "narrow fabric" in subheading
7019.20.10, HTSUS.
It is your argument that, based on Headquarters Ruling
Letter 950102, dated February 10, 1992, the glasscloth tape
should be classified as "narrow fabric" in subheading 7019.20.10,
HTSUS, and NYRL 871889 should be revoked. HRL 950102 dealt with
the classification of vertical blind fabric coated with plastics
and cut into 3-1/5 inch wide strips. The coating acted primarily
as a stiffener but it also prevented the edges of the fabric from
unravelling.
In determining whether this coating was considered 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.
Based on the guidelines in HRL 950102, we must look at this
glasscloth tape to determine whether the adhesive coating, which
appears to have been applied prior to cutting the tape to a
narrow width, serves to prevent the edges of the fabric from
unravelling. The synthetic rubber coating does prevent the
fabric from unravelling and the tape has a false selvedge. Thus,
because the tape 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 glasscloth tape 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. The rate of
duty is 6 percent ad valorem.
This decision should be considered a revocation of NYRL
871889 pursuant to 19 CFR 177.9(d)(1).
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division