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HQ 967929




June 30, 2006

CLA-2 RR:CTF:TCM 967929 TMF

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8708.29.5060

Port Director
Port of Detroit
Customs and Border Protection
477 Michigan Ave
Room 210
Detroit, Michigan 48226

RE: Request for Internal Advice; Automotive Seat Belt Webbing; Protest #3801-05-100154 and Others; Subheading 8708.29; New York Ruling Letter (NY) G89009, dated April 2, 2001

Dear Port Director:

This letter is in response to a Request for Internal Advice (File:APP6-CT:ML), dated September 29, 2005, which was initiated by your office. This request concerns the tariff classification under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated of certain seat belt webbing and eligibility under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

FACTS:

The subject automotive seat belt webbing is woven in Canada from yarns of either Canada or the Netherlands. You state that the webbing is woven and cut to specific size in Canada and then exported to the United States for manufacture into seat belts that will be installed as original equipment in automobiles.

According to you, the current classification is under subheading 8708.29.5060, HTSUSA, which provides for “Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705: Other parts and accessories of bodies (including cabs): Other: OtherOther” in accordance with New York Ruling Letter (NY) G89009, dated April 2, 2001.

You also referenced HQ 085686, dated December 28, 1989, in which CBP classified seat belt webbing of man-made woven fibers that were imported in rolls into Canada in subheading 5806.32.2000, which provides for other woven fabrics, of man-made fibers, other. The webbing was manufactured in Canada and imported in the US where it would be cut to size, sewn and buckles attached. You state that HQ 085686 described the merchandise as “not [emphasis added] a seat belt, [but an article used in the manufacture of seat belts] because ‘it has not been fitted with buckles or any other components of finished seat belts.’”

ISSUE:

Is the subject seat belt webbing, which is cut to specific lengths, classified under heading 5806, as narrow woven fabric, or under heading 8708, as parts and accessories of motor vehicles?

Is the subject seat belt webbing eligible for NAFTA preference?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. When goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1 and if the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes do not require otherwise, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may be applied.

Additionally, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) are the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).

Heading 5806, HTSUSA, covers narrow woven fabrics. Note 5 to Chapter 58 defines narrow woven fabrics for the purposes of heading 5806 as woven fabrics of 30 centimeters or less in width and with selvages on both edges. Explanatory Note (A) to Heading 5806 states in relevant part that narrow woven fabrics "include both ribbons and webbing...."

Heading 8708, HTSUSA, covers parts and accessories of motor vehicles; subheading 8708.21.00 specifically covers safety seat belts.

We refer to HQ 085686, dated December 28, 1989, which defines webbing from Fairchild's Dictionary of Textiles, 637 (1973) as:

Strong, closely woven, narrow fabric made of cotton, jute, hemp, linen, nylon, etc., in a variety of weaves. Uses: belts and straps which will have to withstand strain...

The subject merchandise is used in the manufacture of seat belts, a restraining device designed to protect automobile passengers by reducing the likelihood of injury in the event of a collision. Seat belt webbing is manufactured to precise specifications to ensure that the finished belt will be strong enough to withstand the strain of impact. Thus, the subject merchandise is a strong, closely woven, narrow fabric of man-made fiber designed to withstand strain.

In your request, you inquired whether the subject merchandise’s classification should follow HQ 085686, dated December 28, 1989, or NY G89009, dated April 2, 2001. In HQ 085686, the subject merchandise was webbing made of man-made fibers that was not fitted with buckles or any other components of finished seat belts, but imported in rolls and subsequently cut to length in the United States for use as automobile seat belts. CBP classified the seat belt webbing as woven fabric of heading 5806, specifically subheading 5806.32.2000, HTSUSA, which provided for other woven fabrics of man-made fibers, others. The ruling describes the merchandise as “[w]ebbing [ for use in the manufacture of] seat belts.” In this case, the subject merchandise is distinguishable from the webbing of HQ 085686 since it is cut to a specific length in Canada and imported into the United States.

In G89009, CBP classified woven nylon/polypropylene webbing, cut to specific size measuring 48 centimeters x 1.25 meters x 3.1 meters, for use as automotive seat belts in a motor vehicle in subheading 8708.29.5060, HTSUSA, which provides for: “parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705: Other parts and accessories of bodies (including cabs): Other: OtherOther.” In this case, the subject article is not similar to the webbing of HQ 085686, but more like the webbing of NY G89009 supra, since it is cut to a specific length that is “fixed with certainty” for use as a seatbelt. See Baxter Healthcare Corporation of Puerto Rico v. United States, 182 F.3d 1333, 1339 (CAFC 1999); see also NY B80765, dated January 10, 1997, subsequently revoked by Baxter, supra, which classified polyester seat belt webbing as narrow woven fabric in heading 5806, HTSUSA.

In sum, as the subject webbing is dedicated solely or principally for use as seat belts that simply require enhancement by fitting buckles and other components, we believe it meets the terms of heading 8708, which provides, in pertinent part, for motor vehicle parts. Therefore, we find the subject merchandise is classifiable in subheading 8708.29.5060, HTSUSA, which provides for: “parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705: Other parts and accessories of bodies (including cabs): Other: OtherOther.”

NAFTA Eligibility

General Note 12(b), HTSUS, which incorporates Article 401, of the NAFTA within the HTSUS provides, in pertinent part:

For the purposes of this note, goods imported into the customs territory of the United States are eligible for the tariff treatment and quantitative limitations set forth in the tariff schedule as "goods originating in the territory of a NAFTA party" only if--
they are goods wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of Canada, Mexico and/or the United States; or they have been transformed in the territory of Canada, Mexico and/or the United States so that—
except as provided in subdivision (f) of this note, each of the non-originating materials used in the production of such goods undergoes a change in tariff classification described in subdivisions (r),(s) and (t) of this note or the rules set forth therein, or, the goods otherwise satisfy the applicable requirements of subdivisions (r), (s) and (t) where no change in tariff classification is required, and the goods satisfy all other requirements of this note; or

In this case, you state that the subject seat belt webbing is woven in Canada from yarns of either Canada or the Netherlands. If the yarns originate from the Netherlands, the yarns will not be “wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of Canada, Mexico and/or the United States” within the meaning of General Note 12(b)(i), HTSUS. If the yarns originate in Canada, we need to know the origin of the fibers that form the yarns in order to determine whether the subject belt is “wholly obtained or produced.” As we do not have this information, we will consider whether the subject webbing of heading 8708 meets the tariff shift requirement below.

General Note 12(t), states in pertinent part:

Chapter 87.

Chapter rule 1: For the purposes of the subdivisions pertaining to this chapter, whenever the subdivision designation is underscored, the provisions of subdivision (d) of this note apply.

19. (A) A change to subheading 8708.29 from any other heading; or (B) No required change in tariff classification to subheading 8708.29, provided there is a regional value content of not less than 50 percent under the net cost method.

In this instance, the subject webbing undergoes a change as the yarn is woven into webbing in Canada and subsequently cut to specific size to be used as seat belts before being imported into the U.S. Therefore, we find that the tariff shift rule has been met and the subject webbing does qualify for NAFTA preference.

HOLDING:

The subject seat belt webbing is classifiable in heading 8708, HTSUSA, specifically, subheading 8708.29.5060, HTSUSA, which provides for: “parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705: Other parts and accessories of bodies (including cabs): Other: OtherOther.” The general, column one duty rate (2005) is 2.5 percent ad valorem. The subject webbing does qualify for NAFTA preference.

You are to mail this decision to the internal advice applicant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. On that date, the Office of Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public on the CBP Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other means of public distribution.

Sincerely,

Myles B. Harmon, Director

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