NY I89728 - The tariff classification of two woven Kevlar® man-made fiber fabrics, with and without applied PTFE plastic, from various countries. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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NY I89728

February 7, 2003

CLA-2-39:RR:NC:TA:350 I89728

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 3921.90; 5803.90; 5903.90; 5910.00

Mr. W. Christopher Lewis
Advanced Flexible Composites, Inc.
14 Walter Court
Lake in the Hills, IL 60156

RE: The tariff classification of two woven Kevlar® man-made fiber fabrics, with and without applied PTFE plastic, from various countries.

Dear Mr. Lewis:

In your letter dated December 27, 2002, and Fax dated January 13, 2003, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

You submitted two representative samples, one of a woven mesh construction (PTFE coated) and the other a solid woven (PTFE coated).

In your correspondence, you indicate that you purchase the woven base materials from various sources. After further processing via a plastics coating operation, you intend to export the resulting goods. You list a range of products, but without specific details, and, as such, we can not provide you with definitive answers. However, additional literature supplied with your letter indicates that the two samples furnished will be used as belting material(s) or belts. Therefore, we will address this reply only as respects belting material or belts.

Firstly, the solid woven material is composed of woven aramid (Kevlar®) man-made fibers and is completely covered on both sides with a thin solid sheet of clear polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) plastics which is visible to the naked eye.

Second, the leno woven mesh material, because of the open mesh grid of the fabric, is not considered to be encased in a sheet of plastic as required by the pertinent headnotes in the tariff. The thin application of the PTFE plastic is, however, visible to the naked eye other than by a change of color.

You provided the following chart containing the pertinent technical information for these two materials:

Part
Number
Glass (Kevlar) Style
Weave
Thread Count (Warp x Fill)
Raw Weight (lbs/sq.yd)
Coated Weight (lbs/sq.yd)
% PTFE
50-14
5281 Kevlar
Plain
17 x 17
.3125
.87
57-42
5592 Kevlar
1 Pick Leno
10 x 5
.248
.42

The following classifications, which are all at the six-digit level, are deemed to be uniform in all relevant tariff schedules here and abroad.

The applicable subheading for the solid woven material, as belting measuring under 3 mm in thickness, will be 3921.90, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other plates, sheets, film, foil and strip, of plastics...combined with a single type of textile fiber (man-made), other, weighing not more than 1.492 kg/m2, other. The rate of duty will be 5.3 percent ad valorem.

If measuring over 3 mm in thickness, the applicable tariff subheading will be 5910.00, HTS, which provides for transmission or conveyor belts or belting, of textile material, whether or not reinforced with metal or other material, of man-made fibers The rate of duty will be 4.4 percent ad valorem.

As a finished belt, that is, endless or fitted with linking devices, etc., classification would fall, again, in subheading 5910.00, HTS, which provides for transmission or conveyor belts or belting, of textile material, whether or not reinforced with metal or other material, of man-made fibers The rate of duty will be 4.4 percent ad valorem.

The mesh belting material, because of the open grid, is not considered to be encased in a sheet of plastic. The thin application of the PTFE plastic is visible to the naked eye other than by a change of color.

The mesh material, imported as piece goods measuring under 3 mm in thickness, is classifiable in tariff subheading 5903.90, HTS, which provides for textile fabrics impregnated, coated, covered or laminated, with plastics, , of man-made fibers, not over 70 percent by weight of plastics. The duty rate is 7.6 percent ad valorem.

The mesh material, imported as a finished belt, would be classifiable under subheading 5910.00, HTS, which provides for transmission or conveyor belts or belting, of textile material, whether or not reinforced with metal or other material, of man-made fibers The rate of duty will be 4.4 percent ad valorem.

Finally, it was not clear from your correspondence, whether or not these base fabrics (uncoated) were produced from spun or filament yarns and, additionally, there was no mention about yarn tenacity. As such, with respect to the solid woven material, we can only state that if the fabric is composed of man-made filament yarns, classification will likely fall in chapter 54. If however, of spun man-made fiber yarns, classification would be in chapter 55.

The uncoated mesh material, being of a leno woven construction, would fall in tariff subheading 5803.90. which provides for gauze, of man-made fibers. The duty rate is 1.7 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 646-733-3044.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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