CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 955223 KCC
Mr. William A. Phelps
W.A. Phelps & Co., Inc.
One World Trade Center
Suite 2109
New York, New York 10048
RE: Super Quick Disc; 6804.22.10; EN 68.04; EN 68.05; HRL 951607
Dear Mr. Phelps:
This is in response to your letter dated September 21, 1993,
to Customs in New York, on behalf of Noritake Co., Inc,
requesting the tariff classification of Noritake Skyhawk Super
Quick Disc under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS). A sample was submitted for examination.
FACTS:
The Super Quick Disc ("disc") is an abrasive product made of
aluminum oxide (corundum) grit coated on woven textile strips
that are arranged spherically around an aluminum hub. The
abrasive is "sandpaper" or a sanding belt cut into small strips.
Epoxy glue is used to bond the abrasive strips to the aluminum
hub.
The disc is designed to fit hand-held angle grinders without
any adaptor. Depending on grit size and speed, etc., the disc
has wide application in various industries for heavy grinding to
fine polishing of wood, metal and plastic products.
You contend that the disc is classified under heading
6805.10.00, HTSUS, as natural or artificial abrasive powder or
grain, on a base of woven textile fabric only. The competing
subheadings are:
6804 Millstones, grindstones, grinding wheels and the like,
without frameworks, for grinding, sharpening,
polishing, trueing or cutting, hand sharpening or
polishing stones, and parts thereof of natural stone,
of agglomerated natural or artificial abrasives, or of
ceramics, with or without parts of other materials...
6804.22.10 Other millstones, grindstones, grinding wheels and
the like...Of other agglomerated abrasives or of
ceramics...Bonded with synthetic resins.
6805 Natural or artificial abrasive powder or grains, on a
base of textile material, of paper, of paperboard or of
other materials, whether or not cut to shape or sewn or
otherwise made up...
6805.10.00 On a base of woven textile fabric only.
ISSUE:
Is the Super Quick Disc classified under heading 6805.10.00,
HTSUS, as natural or artificial abrasive powder or grain, on a
base of woven textile fabric only?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is
governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1,
HTSUS, states, in part, that "for legal purposes, classification
shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and
any relative section or chapter notes...."
In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs),
may be utilized. 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 68.04 (pgs. 899-900) states, in part, that:
(3) Grinding wheels, heads, discs, points, etc., as used on
machine-tools, electro-mechanical or pneumatic hand tools,
for the trimming, polishing, sharpening, trueing or
sometimes for the cutting of metals, stone, glass, plastics,
ceramics, rubber, leather, mother of pearl, ivory, etc....
The heading covers such tools not only when they are
predominantly of abrasive materials, but also when they
consist...of a centre or core of rigid material (metal,
wood, plastics, cork, etc.) on to which compact layers of
agglomerated abrasive have been permanently bonded....
Agglomerated grinding wheels, etc., are made by mixing
ground abrasive or stone with binders such as ceramic
materials (for example, powdered clay or kaolin, sometimes
with added felspar), sodium silicate, cement (especially
magnesian cement) or less rigid cementing materials (such as
rubber, shellac or plastics). Textile fibres such as
cotton, nylon or flax are sometimes incorporated in the
mixtures. The mixtures are moulded to shape, dried, and
then heated (if necessary to the stage of vitrification in
the case of ceramic binders) or cured (in the case of the
rubber, plastics, etc., binders). The articles are then
trimmed to size and shape...
The heading does not include:...
(b) Natural or artificial abrasive powder or grain coated
on to textile material, paper, paperboard or other
materials (heading 68.05), whether or not the textile
material, paper, etc., is subsequently glued on to
supports such as discs or strips of wood (buff-sticks
for use in the clock and watch industry, mechanical
engineering, etc.).
EN 68.05 (pg. 901) for natural or artificial abrasive powder
or grain states that:
This heading covers textile material, paper, paperboard,
vulcanised fibre, leather or other materials, in rolls or
cut to shape (sheets, bands, strips, discs, segments, etc.),
or in threads or cords, on to which crushed natural or
artificial abrasives have been coated, usually by means of
glue or plastics. The heading also covers similar products
of nonwovens, in which abrasives are uniformly dispersed
throughout the mass and fixed on to textile fibres by the
binding substance. The abrasives used include emery,
corundum, silicon carbide, garnet, pumice, flint, quartz,
sand and glass powder. The bands, discs, etc., may be sewn,
stapled, glued or otherwise made up;....But the heading
excludes grinding wheels composed of a rigid support (e.g.,
of paperboard, wood, metal) fitted with a compact
agglomerated layer, rather than powder or grain, of
abrasive, and similarly constituted hand tools (heading
68.04).
The goods of this heading are mainly used (by hand or
mechanically) for smoothing or cleaning up metal, wood,
cork, glass, leather, rubber (hardened or not) or plastics;
also for smoothing or polishing varnished or lacquered
surfaces, or for sharpening card clothing.
It is our opinion that the disc is provided for under
heading 6805, HTSUS. EN 68.05 specifically describes the disc at
issue. The disc consist of woven textile which is coated on one
side with aluminum oxide (corundum). Inasmuch as the base for
the abrasive powder or grain is the woven textile fabric, the
disc is specifically provided for under subheading 6805.10.00,
HTSUS, as natural or artificial abrasive powder or grain, on a
base of woven textile fabric only. Pursuant to EN 68.05, the
base is not the aluminum hub, as strips of abrasive coated
material "may be sewn, stapled, glued or otherwise made up...."
See, Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 951607 dated July 13, 1992,
in which similar abrasive wheels were classified under subheading
6805.30.10, HTSUS.
The disc is not provided for under heading 6804, HTSUS. EN
68.04 states that heading 6804, HTSUS, covers actual agglomerated
material which has been molded to shape and heated or cured. As
previously stated, the material at issue is woven textile strips
which are coated with abrasives and allowed to dry; they are not
molded to shape and heated or cured. Moreover, EN 68.04 states
that abrasive powder or grain coated on to textile material which
is subsequently glued on to supports such as a discs is excluded
from classification under heading 6804, HTSUS, but is
classifiable under heading 6805, HTSUS. The disc is not of the
class or kind of grindstones classifiable under heading 6804,
HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The Super Quick Disc is classified under subheading
6805.10.30, HTSUS, as natural or artificial abrasive powder or
grain, on a base of woven textile fabric only, which is dutiable
at the Column 1 rate of 2.5 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division