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HQ 952762


December 10, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 952762 CC

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 4504.10.1000

Mr. Peter Gonzalez
Area Director
U.S. Customs Service
110 S. Fourth St.
Minneapolis, MN 55401

RE: Internal Advice (IA) 58/92; Classification of composite cork and rubber blocks

Dear Sir:

This ruling is in response to a request for internal advice. At issue is the tariff classification of composite cork and rubber blocks.

FACTS:

The original submission by the importer requested internal advice for composition cork cylinders, and cork and rubber composites, consisting of cylinders, frame members, and blocks. Subsequently, counsel for the importer withdrew the internal advice request for all of this merchandise, except for the cork and rubber blocks.

The blocks in question consist mainly of cork and rubber. Other materials are added according to various formulas. In Portugal, the blocks are manufactured by combining ground cork, synthetic rubber, and other materials in a Banbury mixer. Each batch is then milled into sheets ranging from 3/4 inch to 1 inch in thickness. The sheets are stacked, cut into uniform shape, and pressed into molds to form blocks. The blocks are then heat cured.

The imported blocks range in size from 36 inches to 50 inches in length and from 26 inches to 36 inches in width. The thickness can range from 2 inches to 6 inches; however, 90 percent of the imported blocks are 6 inches thick.

After importation the blocks are often sliced to form sheets or punched out to form gaskets. In addition, some blocks are cut into smaller and thinner pieces to be glued together to produce frame members.

The importer maintains that the cork blocks are classified as vulcanized cork slabs under subheading 4504.10.10 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).

ISSUE:

Whether the merchandise at issue is classifiable under subheading 4504.10.10, 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 4504, HTSUSA, provides for agglomerated cork (with or without a binding substance) and articles of agglomerated cork. Subheading 4504.10, HTSUSA, provides for blocks, plates, sheets and strip; tiles of any shape; solid cylinders, including disks. At the eight digit level, subheading 4504.10.10, HTSUSA, provides for vulcanized sheets and slabs wholly of ground or pulverized cork and rubber; subheading 4504.10.50, HTSUSA, provides for other.

The subject blocks are clearly agglomerated cork, provided for in Heading 4504. In addition, blocks are specifically listed in subheading 4504.10; consequently, the subject merchandise is classifiable in this subheading. The merchandise at issue is considered vulcanized since rubber has been used as a binding agent. If the subject merchandise is considered a "sheet or slab," it is classifiable under subheading 4504.10.10. If not, it is therefore classifiable under subheading 4504.10.50.

There is nothing in the terms of Heading 4504 or the legal notes to Chapter 45 that indicates whether vulcanized cork blocks are classifiable as slabs of subheading 4504.10.10. Neither is the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, Explanatory Notes, the official interpretation of the HTSUSA at the international level, instructive regarding this issue. Therefore we must look to other sources.

The Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary (1984) defines block as "1.a. A solid piece, as of wood, with one or more flat sides." This same dictionary defines slab as "1. A broad, flat, rather thick piece, as of cake, stone, or cheese."

The cork at issue, ranging from 36 inches to 50 inches in length, 26 inches to 36 inches in width, and 2 to 6 inches in thickness, consists of broad, flat, thick pieces, which will undergo further manufacture. We believe that the subject merchandise meets the definition of slabs. In addition, there are no prior rulings that exclude similar merchandise from classification as slabs. Therefore the subject merchandise is classifiable under subheading 4504.10.10, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

The composite cork and rubber blocks at issue are classified under subheading 4504.10.1000, HTSUSA, which provides for agglomerated cork (with or without a binding substance) and articles of agglomerated cork: blocks, plates, sheets and strip; tiles of any shape; solid cylinders, including disks: vulcanized sheets and slabs wholly of ground or pulverized cork and rubber. The rate of duty is 3.7 percent ad valorem.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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