CLA-2-90:OT:RR:NC:N4:405
Mr. Quinn O’Rourke
LaCrosse Footwear
17634 NE Airport Way Portland, OR 97230
RE: The tariff classification of a Lace Abrasion Tester from China
Dear Mr. O’Rourke:
In your letter dated April 26, 2010, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The merchandise at issue in your submission is a Lace Abrasion Tester, a device that you state is principally used to test the frictional properties of shoelaces. Your description of the device states that it is capable of measuring the frictional properties of laces as they abrade other laces, as well as when they abrade shoe eyelets, and that it is suitable for all types of shoelaces and shoe eyelets.
The Lace Abrasion Tester is a mechanical device consisting of several pulleys at one end to which the laces being tested are affixed. On the other end of the machine, opposite the pulleys, there are fixed mounts to which the shoe eyelets or laces that will be rubbed against are placed (the laces held in the fixed mount are held in a closed loop). The pulleys are designed to repeatedly draw the laces under test back and forth against the eyelets or laces held by the fixed mounts, presumably mimicking the strength an individual would apply when tying their shoes. The machine continues to perform this action until the laces under test break, and it keeps track of how many rubs it took for the laces to fail. Through this method the machine tests the laces’ resistance to wear when rubbed against one another, as well as against the eyelets. The device is not testing the eyelet’s resistance to wear, nor is it testing the tensile strength or elasticity of the laces.
Though you state in your description that the Lace Abrasion Tester is designed to test the frictional properties of shoelaces, that does not appear to be the case. The device does not attempt to measure the coefficient of friction between the shoelace and the eyelet or another lace as they rub together. The device is testing the shoelace’s resistance to wear and tear. In that respect your device is similar in function to the abrasion and wear testers described by Harmonized System Explanatory Note (II)(3) to Heading 9024. The wear and tear tests described by that note involve a textile product or yarn, stretched at a suitable tension, being worn away by a friction instrument. Wear and tear resistance is measured by the number of revolutions required to cause the fabric or yarn to break.
The applicable subheading for the Lace Abrasion Tester will be 9024.80.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for "other" Machines and appliances for testing the hardness, strength, compressibility, elasticity or other mechanical properties of materials. The rate of duty will be 1.7%.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist J. Sheridan at (646) 733-3012.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division