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HQ 953756


June 21, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 953756 CC

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6307.90.9986

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


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