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HQ 088003

January 14, 1991

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 088003 HP

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 4107.90.3000; 5101.11.2000; 5101.11.4000; 5101.11.5000; 5101.11.6030; 5101.11.6060; 5101.19.6030; 5101.19.6060

Dr. C.T. Stacey
Founder
Harrington Organization
P.O. Box 148
Tallassee, AL 36078-0148

RE: Crossbred Arabian and Australian wool is improved. Camelskin; tanned; Merino; greasy; unimproved

Dear Dr. Stacey:

This is in reply to your letter of September 24, 1990, concerning the tariff classification of camelskin and wool, imported from Saudi Arabia, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).

FACTS:

The merchandise at issue consists of the following:

Fully tanned camelskins valued at $3.00/ft. These skins will be sold to factories manufacturing leather products.

Three types of raw wool, valued at $3.00/kg.

Pure Arabian wool in greasy1 condition. The wool is unimproved2 and is to be used in the United States by carpet and rug manufacturers. It has not been carded or combed. It is shorn. It is a very coarse wool ranging in fiber diameter from 76Grading3 by spinning count is not finer than 40s.

Pure Australian wool processed in Saudi Arabia from Australian sheep. It is not unimproved, and is to be used in the United States by wool garment
manufacturers. It is neither carded nor combed. It is either shorn or taken from the skins of slaughtered sheep. It is either finer or not finer than 58s. We assume all is finer than 46s.

Crossbred Australian and Saudi Arabian wool processed in Saudi Arabia, in greasy condition. It is to be used in the United States for both wool garment manufacturing or special rug design. It is neither carded nor combed. It is always finer than 40s and sometimes finer than 44s. We assume none is finer than 46s.

ISSUE:

What is the appropriate classification of this merchandise under the HTSUSA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Camelskins

Heading 4107, HTSUSA, provides for leather of other animals. This includes, inter alia, camels.

Wool

Pure Arabian & Pure Australian

Heading 5101, HTSUSA, provides for, inter alia, these varieties of wool if for special uses. Additional U.S. Note 2 to Chapter 51 states that

(d)(i) The term "wool for special uses" means unimproved wool and other wool of whatever blood or origin not finer than 46s entered by a dealer, manufacturer or processor, and certified for use only in the manufacture of felt or knit boots, floor coverings, heavy fulled lumbermen's socks, press cloth, papermakers' felts or pressed felt for polishing plate and mirror glass....

As you are neither a dealer, manufacturer or processor, these subheadings do not apply.

Crossbred

As we stated above, Arabian wool can be "improved" by the admixture of Merino blood. The WOOL GLOSSARY AND REFERENCE BOOK (Eavenson & Levering Co. 1941) describes crossbred
as:

The offspring resulting from mating a ram and ewe of different breeds, usually a Merino ewe, with a long-wool ram.

Australian wool is described as a fine Merino originally developed by Captain MacArthur by crossing the Electoral and Negrettis strain of Merinos. Based upon these references, therefore, it is our opinion that the crossbred wool at issue is considered improved under Additional Note 2, Supra.

Endnotes

1.Wool as shorn from sheep prior to degreasing contains varying amounts of natural grease, dried perspiration, dirt, and different kinds of vegetable matter. Pohle, E.M., et al., Value- Determining Physical Properties and Characteristics of Domestic Wools (Marketing Research report No. 211), United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Livestock Division (1958) (hereinafter Pohle), at 5.

2.Additional U.S. Note 2(e) to Chapter 51, HTSUSA, defines the term "unimproved wool" as, inter alia, Arabian and similar wool not improved by the admixture of Merino or English blood.

3.The word grade when used in connection with wool refers to the quality of wool from the standpoint of fitness or fiber diameter. The yarn count is the measure of relative fineness or dimension of the yarn. For example, a 64s grade of wool, when processed and spun to capacity, theoretically results in 64 hanks of yarn weighing, together, approximately one pound. A hank is 560 yards. Pohle, supra note 1,at 23.

HOLDING:

As a result of the foregoing, the instant merchandise is classified as follows:

Camelskin

... under subheading 4107.90.3000, HTSUSA, as leather of other animals, without hair on, other than leather of heading 4108 or 4109, of other animals, not fancy. The applicable rate of duty is 5 percent ad valorem.

Arabian Wool

... under subheading 5101.11.2000, HTSUSA, as wool, not carded or combed, greasy, including fleece-washed wool, shorn wool, unimproved wool; other wool, not finer than 46s, other unimproved wool; other wool not finer than 40s. While the applicable rate of duty under this subheading is normally 5.5/clean kg, subheading 9902.51.01 provides a Free rate of duty for this merchandise when entered on or before December 31, 1992.

Australian Wool, Not Shorn, Not Finer than 58s

... under subheading 5101.19.6030, HTSUSA, as wool, not carded or combed, greasy, including fleece-washed wool, other, other, not finer than 58s. The applicable rate of duty is 22/clean kg.

Australian Wool, Not Shorn, Finer than 58s

... under subheading 5101.19.6060, HTSUSA, as wool, not carded or combed, greasy, including fleece-washed wool, other, other, not finer than 58s. The applicable rate of duty is 22/clean kg.

Australian Wool, Shorn, Not Finer than 58s

... under subheading 5101.11.6030, HTSUSA, as wool, not carded or combed, greasy, including fleece-washed wool, shorn wool, other, not finer than 58s. The applicable rate of duty is 22/clean kg.

Australian Wool, Shorn, Finer than 58s

... under subheading 5101.11.6060, HTSUSA, as wool, not carded or combed, greasy, including fleece-washed wool, shorn wool, other, finer than 58s. The applicable rate of duty is 22/clean kg.

Crossbred Wool, Finer than 40s

... under subheading 5101.11.4000, HTSUSA, as wool, not carded or combed, greasy, including fleece-washed wool, shorn wool, unimproved wool; other wool, not finer than 46s, other, other wool, finer than 40s but not finer than 44s. While the applicable rate of duty under this subheading is normally 6.6/clean kg, subheading 9902.51.01 provides a Free rate of duty for this merchandise when entered on or before December 31, 1992.

Crossbred Wool, Finer than 44s

... under subheading 5101.11.5000, HTSUSA, as wool, not carded or combed, greasy, including fleece-washed wool, shorn wool, unimproved wool; other wool, not finer than 46s, other, other wool, finer than 44s. While the applicable rate of duty under this subheading is normally 22/clean kg, subheading 9902.51.01 provides a Free rate of duty for this merchandise when entered on or before December 31, 1992.

Sincerely,


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See also:

• Tariff No.: 4107.90.30 - Leather of animals, nesi, without hair on, not including chamois, patent, patent laminated or metallized, not fancy
• Tariff No.: 5101.11.20 - Unimproved wool and other wool not finer than 40s, greasy, shorn, not carded or combed, not for special uses
• Tariff No.: 5101.11.40 - Wool, excluding unimproved, finer than 40s but not 44s, greasy, shorn, not carded or combed, not for special uses
• Tariff No.: 5101.11.50 - Wool, excluding unimproved, finer than 44s but not 46s, greasy, shorn, not carded or combed, not for special uses
• Tariff No.: 5101.11.60 - Wool, excluding unimproved, finer than 46s, greasy, shorn, not carded or combed
• Tariff No.: 5101.19.60 - Wool, excluding unimproved, finer than 46s, greasy, incl. fleece-washed, not shorn, not carded or combed