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NY A85303




July 26, 1996

CLA-2-59:RR:NC:TP:350 A85303

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 5906.10.1000

Ms. Gabriela Palouda-Price
Permacel
P.O. Box 671
New Brunswick, NJ 08903

RE: The tariff classification of a pressure sensitive rubber coated nylon fabric for use in the manufacture of diapers, from Japan.

Dear Ms. Palouda-Price:

In your letter dated June 27, 1996, you requested a classification ruling.

The representative sample is a warp knit fabric measuring 20cm in width which is composed of nylon man-made fibers. This fabric contains a pressure sensitive adhesive coating on one surface. You state that your company in the U.S. manufactures such fabric in rolls and exports them to Japan where a coating of a "synthetic rubber adhesive" is applied to one side of the fabric before the material is returned to the United States. Your Fax message of July 24, 1996, provided greater detail on the composition of the synthetic adhesive, which we consider to be a rubber. This coating does not appear to be over 70 percent by weight of the total weight of the material.

Your additional submission on the rubber compound indicates a rather high degree of plasticizer. This could alter the rubber properties of the compound. To be a rubber, a substance must meet the definition of a rubber found in Chapter 40, note 1. At the time of inquiry, since an accurate test was not possible with the sample, i.e., a dumbbell shape piece of the compound was necessary. For the time being, we will take at face value your claim of rubber and so classify accordingly.

In your correspondence, you ask what tariff number would apply when exporting the nylon fabric to Japan for processing. Such inquiries must be addressed to the U.S. Customs Service Headquarters in Washington D.C. for their reply.

Finally, your letter asks if an allowance can be made under tariff subheading 9802.00.5060 for the cost or value of the nylon material sent to Japan for processing. Subheading 9802.00.5060 provides for the assessment of duty on the value of repairs or alterations performed on articles returned to the U.S. after having been exported for that purpose. However, the application of this tariff provision is precluded in circumstances where the operations performed abroad destroy the identity of the article or create a new or commercially different article. In the instant situation, the exported nylon material is incomplete for its intended use and the foreign processing operations are a necessary step in the preparation or manufacture of the finished article (diapers). Accordingly, no allowance in duty can be made for the cost or value of the U.S. supplied component.

The classification of this product is predicated upon the fact that the material does not exceed 20cm in width. Accordingly, the applicable subheading for the product will be 5906.10.1000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUSA), which provides for rubberized textile fabrics ... adhesive tape of a width not exceeding 20 cm. The duty rate will be 5.2 percent ad valorem.

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 George Barth at 212-466-5884.

Sincerely,

Roger J. Silvestri
Director

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