CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 953756 CC
John E. Brady
Vice President
Western Overseas Corporation
343 So. Glasgow Ave.
Inglewood, CA 90301
RE: Classification of a cushion
Dear Mr. Brady:
This letter is in response to your inquiry of March 2, 1993,
on behalf of Sweet Sun International Inc., requesting the tariff
classification of a "cold and warm cushion" from China. A sample
was submitted for examination and will be returned under separate
cover.
FACTS:
The submitted sample is an approximately 12-inch square
cushion. It consists of a bladder (rubberized textile fabric),
fill hose, funnel, one centimeter thick foam pad, and a man-made
fiber cover. The fitted cover has a 7-inch zippered opening
which allows access to the fill hose. When filled (inflated)
with water, the 2+-inch to 3-inch thick cushion has a "warm" side
(foam pad side) and a "cold" side. There is a small amount of an
unspecified chemical inside the cushion that accomplishes this
temperature variation. You state that this merchandise is for
use in the home and the automobile.
ISSUE:
Whether the submitted merchandise is classifiable in Heading
9404 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Annotated (HTSUSA)?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in
accordance with 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.
Heading 9404 provides for articles of bedding and similar
furnishing fitted with springs or stuffed or internally fitted
with any material. The Harmonized Commodity Description and
Coding System, Explanatory Notes, the official interpretation of
the HTSUSA at the international level, at page 1580, states that
Heading 9404 covers the following articles:
(B) Articles of bedding and similar furnishing which are
sprung or stuffed or internally fitted with any
material (cotton, wool, horsehair, down, synthetic
fibers, etc.), or are of cellular rubber or plastics
(whether or not covered with woven fabric, plastics,
etc.). For example:
...
(2) Quilts and bedspreads (including counterpanes, and
also quilts for baby-carriages), eiderdowns and
duvets (whether of down or any other filling),
mattress-protectors (a kind of thin mattress
placed between the mattress itself and the
mattress support), bolsters, pillows, cushions,
pouffes, etc.
...
This heading also excludes:
...
(b) Pneumatic mattresses or pillows (heading 3926,
4016 or 6306) or pneumatic cushions (heading 3926,
4014, 4016, 6306 or 6307).
...
The term pneumatic is defined by the Webster's II New
Riverside University Dictionary (1984), at page 906, as "1. Of or
relating to air or other gases. ... 4. Filled with air, esp.
compressed air, as a tire." Although not made to be filled with
air, the submitted merchandise is to be filled with water, which
would have a cushioning effect more similar to pneumatic cushions
than those of Heading 9404. In addition, this merchandise
contains a bladder, but it is not stuffed or internally fitted
with cotton, man-made fibers, etc. that provides any cushioning
effect. In its construction, the merchandise at issue is more
similar to pneumatic cushions than to those of Heading 9404.
Consequently, this merchandise is excluded from Heading 9404.
The bladder is made of both textile and rubber. Chapter 59
provides for material described as "rubberized textile fabrics."
Chapter 59, Legal Note 4, HTSUSA, states, in pertinent part that
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.
The national import specialist for bedding and furnishings
examined the submitted sample and found that it did not weigh
over 1,500 g/m2. Consequently, this merchandise is considered an
article of rubberized textile fabric, classifiable as an article
of textile of Section XI.
Heading 6306, HTSUSA, provides for camping goods, which
according to the Explanatory Notes include pneumatic cushions.
This merchandise is not a camping good and, therefore, is not
classifiable in Heading 6306.
Heading 6307, HTSUSA, provides for other made up articles.
The Explanatory Notes to this heading include pneumatic cushions
in its list of exemplars. In addition, the Explanatory Notes
state at page 867 that Heading 6307 covers made up articles of
any textile material which are not included more specifically in
other headings of Section XI or elsewhere in the Nomenclature.
The submitted merchandise is a made up article of textile
material not more specifically provided for elsewhere in the
Nomenclature; consequently, it is classifiable in Heading 6307.
HOLDING:
The merchandise at issue is classified under subheading
6307.90.9986, which provides for other made up articles, other,
other, other, other, other. The rate of duty is 7 percent ad
valorem. No textile category is currently assigned to
merchandise classified under this subheading.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division