HQ 083148: Decision on Application for Further Review of Protest No. 37018000020 of March 22, 1988

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 083148

 	                       July 20, 1989

 CLA2 CO:R:C:G  083148  CMR

 CATEGORY: Classification

 TARIFF NO.: 358.1600

 District Director
 517 E. Wisconsin Avenue
 Room 554
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin  53202

RE: Decision on Application for Further Review of Protest No. 37018000020 of 
March 22, 1988

 Protest 37018000020 was filed against your decision to  classify certain machinery belting of manmade fibers coated with  plastics under the provision for belting and belts, for machinery, of
 textile fibers or of such fibers and rubber or plastics, of manmade  fibers, item 358.1400, Tariff Schedules of the United States  Annotated (TSUSA).

 FACTS:

 	The protested entry was liquidated December 28, 1987, as  machinery belting of manmade fibers coated with plastics classified  in item 358.1400, TSUSA.  This classifi  cation was made based on a  belief that the belts were in chief value of manmade fibers.  The  protestant claims that the belts are in chief value plastics, and  therefore are classifiable in item 358.1600, TSUSA, which provides  for machinery belts which are in chief value of a material other than
 those in items 358.05 to 358.14.

 	The various belting at issue in the entry are listed on the  shipment invoices.  They include the following types of Polymax  belting: 2EB018, 2LN024B, 1LN012BNP, 1E08WPU, 1E016WPU, 2E016, and  1M12G.  A statement is included on each invoice to the effect that
 the items listed on the invoice are in chief value of plastic and so  classifiable under item 358.1600, TSUSA.

 	Polymax submitted a chart with value and weight breakdowns for  various types of belting.  Of those listed, only one, 2B028, is in  chief value of textile materials.  However, types 2LN024B and 

	2


 1LN012BNP, which appear on invoices 470 and 472 respectively, are  not listed on the breakdown chart.  Upon our request, Polymax submitted breakdowns of the values of 
 the individual components for types 2LN024B and 1LN012BNP.  Their  submission shows both types to be in chief value of plastics.

 	Applying Headnote 4(b), Schedule 3, TSUSA, you determined that  the various belts were classifiable as in chief value of manmade  fiber under item 358.1400, TSUSA.  In reaching this decision, you  disregarded the plastics coating applied to the belts.

 ISSUE:

 	Was Headnote 4(b), Schedule 3, TSUSA, properly applied?

 	Are the subject belts classifiable under the provision for  belting and belts, for machinery, of manmade fibers, item 358.1400,  TSUSA, or under the same provision, other, item 358.1600, TSUSA?

 LAW AND ANALYSIS:

 	Classification of belting such as that at issue is based on the  component of chief value.  See, C.I.E. 2035/66.  Therefore,  the  values of the components must be ascertained.

 Headnote 4(b), Schedule 3, TSUSA, provides as follows:

 4. For the purposes of the tariff schedules 

    (b) In determining the component fibers of chief value in
    coated or filled, or laminated, fabrics and articles wholly
    or in part thereof, the coating or filling, or the nontextile
    laminating substances, shall be disregarded in the absence of
    context to the contrary.

 	Headnote 4(b) is applicable when determining the component  fibers of chief value.  However, it is not applicable when  determining the component of chief value.  Elbe Products Corp. v.  United States, Appeal No. 871619 (Fed. Cir. May 16, 1988).  The  plastic coating is a component of the belts at issue here.  It was an  error to disregard the coating when determining the component in  chief value.  Headnote 4(b) was improperly applied in this instance.
	-3-


 	The chart originally submitted by Polymax indicates that all but  two of the invoiced belts, 2LN024B and 1LN012BNP, are in chief value  of plastics.  The additional information submitted by Polymax, at our  request, shows that these two belts, 2LN024B and 1LN012BNP, are also  in chief value of plastics.

 HOLDING:

 Belt types 2EB018, 1E08WPU, 2E016, 1M12G, 2LN024B and  1LN012BNP, are classifiable under the provision for belting and  belts, for machinery, of textile fibers or of such fibers and rubber  or plastics, other, item 358.1600, TSUSA, dutiable at 2.4 percent ad
 valorem.

 	The protest should be allowed in full as provided for above.   A copy of this decision should be attached to the Form 19 to be  returned to the protestant.


                            			Sincerely,


                            			John Durant, Director
                            			Commercial Rulings Division