HQ 086551: Stay Put Rug Pad

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                                       HQ 086551

                                     May 10, 1990





            CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  086551 DRR

            CATEGORY:  Classification

            TARIFF NO.:  3918.10.1050

            Ms. Elaine G. Ponce
            Homemaker Industries, Inc.,
            295 5th Avenue
            New York, New York 10016

            Re:  Stay Put Rug Pad

            Dear Ms. Ponce:

                 This is in reference to your letter dated January 11,
            1990, requesting the classification of a stay put rug pad under
            the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
            (HTSUSA).

            FACTS:

                 The sample consists of an open mesh warp knit polyester
            fabric, with a mesh size of approximately 3/8 inch.  The fabric
            is completely covered in foamed polyvinyl chloride plastic.
            The fabric will be imported in various sizes.  It will be
            available in rolls which are 100 meters long and 70, 80, 150 or
            240 centimeters in width.  The rolls of fabric will be imported
            from West Germany and sold as rolls or cut and packaged in the
            United States.  It will be available in five packaged sizes
            ranging from 20 inches by 32 inches to 95 inches by 132 inches.
            The pads serve to prevent area rugs from sliding or buckling
            and extend the life of the rugs by absorbing the effects of
            traffic.

            ISSUE:

                 Whether the rug pads at issue are classifiable under
            subheading 3918.10.1050, HTSUSA, or 3921.12.1500, HTSUSA.

















                                          -2-


            LAW AND ANALYSIS:

                 Classification of merchandise is in accordance with the
            General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), 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.  Chapter 57 provides for carpets and other textile floor
            coverings.  However, Note 2 to that chapter states that floor
            covering underlays are not included in that chapter.  Note 1,
            Chapter 59, states that that chapter only covers woven fabrics
            and the knitted or crocheted fabrics of heading 6002.  Note
            3(b), Chapter 56 indicates that nonwoven fabrics which are
            completely coated or embedded in plastics are classifiable
            under Chapter 39.  Heading 3918 provides for, among other
            things, floor coverings of plastics, in rolls or in the form of
            tiles.  Heading 3921, HTSUSA, provides for other plates,
            sheets, film, foil and strip, of plastics.  Although some of
            the rug pads are cut into rectangular pieces and packaged as
            flat goods after entering the United States, the product is
            imported in rolls and is therefore more specifically provided
            for in Heading 3918.

            HOLDING:

                 The stay put rug pad at issue is classifiable under
            subheading 3918.10.1050, HTSUSA, as floor coverings of
            plastics, whether or not self adhesive, in rolls or in the form
            of tiles..., with a duty rate of 5.3 percent ad valorem.

                                        Sincerely,




                                        Jerry Laderberg
                                        Acting Director
                                        Commercial Rulings Division
























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