HQ 085382: Plain woven wool/nylon upholstery fabric coated with apolyakyl acrylate plastichas a change in surface character visible to the naked eye.

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 085382

                                      August 31, 1989


CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  085382  HP

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  5903.90.3000

Ms. Ann M. Williams
A.N. Deringer, Inc.
30 West Service Road
Champlain, NY 12919-9703

RE:  Plain woven wool/nylon upholstery fabric coated with a
polyakyl acrylate plastic
has a change in surface character visible to the naked eye.

Dear Ms. Williams:

     This is in reply to your letter of July 26, 1989, concerning
 the tariff classification of
coated fabric, produced in Canada, under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United
States Annotated (HTSUSA).  Please reference your client Trenton
Textile Mills Ltd.

FACTS:

     The merchandise at issue consists of a plain woven
upholstery fabric consisting of a
blend of 90 percent wool and 10 percent nylon, with a count of 6
ends and 5.5 picks
per centimeter.  The weight of the base material before coating
is 454 g/m2, and the
fabric will be imported in rolls 137 centimeters wide.  The
material has been finished
with what we have determined to be a polyakyl acrylate plastic.

ISSUE:

     Whether the fabric is considered coated with plastics under
the HTSUSA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Heading 5903, HTSUSA, provides for classification of textile
 fabrics impregnated,
coated, covered or laminated with plastics, other than tire cord
covered by Heading
5902.

     Note 2 of Chapter 59, HTSUSA, provides, in pertinent part:

          Heading No. 59.03 applies to:

          (a) Textile fabrics, impregnated, coated, covered or
          laminated with plastics, ...
          other than:
               (1) Fabrics in which the impregnation, coating or
               covering cannot be seen
               with the naked eye (usually Chapters 50 to 55, 58
               or 60); for the purpose
               of this provision, no account should be taken of
               any resulting change of
               colour; * * *

     The wording of Note 2(a)(1) ("cannot be seen with the naked
eye") is a clear expres
sion by the drafters of the Harmonized System that a significant,
 if not substantial,
amount of material must be added to a fabric for it to be
considered "impregnated,
coated, covered or laminated.  The plastics material added to the
 fabric must be visibly
distinguishable from that fabric without the use of magnification
.  Any change in the
"feel" of the material is not taken into account.  In essence,
the plastics coating must
alter the visual characteristic of the fabric in order for the
fabric to be considered
coated with plastics.

     Applying the statutory test to the submitted samples, using
normally corrected vision
in a well lighted room, the instant merchandise is coated with a
plastics application
visible to the naked eye.  The surface character of the non-
coated side is clearly of a
plain weave fabric, slightly fibrous due to the wool.  While the
coated side of the fabric
remains fuzzy, the weaving pattern of warp over weft is no longer
 visible.  It is our
opinion that this disappearance is a result of the matting down
of the fibrous yarns of
the wool, making the coated side appear quite different than the
non-coated side.

HOLDING:

     As a result of the foregoing, the instant merchandise is
classified under subheading
5903.90.3000, HTSUSA, as textile fabrics impregnated, coated,
covered or laminated with
plastics, other than those of heading 5902, other, other.
Articles which meet the
definition of "goods originating in the territory of Canada" (see
 General Note
3(c)(vii)(B), HTSUSA) are subject to reduced rates of duty under
the United States-
Canada Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act of 1988.  If the
merchandise con
stitutes "goods originating in the territory of Canada," the
applicable rate of duty is 4.7
percent ad valorem.  Otherwise, the rate of duty is 5.3 percent
ad valorem.

     The designated textile and apparel category may be
subdivided into parts.  If so, visa
and quota requirements applicable to the subject merchandise may
be affected.  Since
part categories are the result of international bilateral
agreements which are subject to
frequent renegotiations and changes, to obtain the most current
information available,
we suggest that you check, close to the time of shipment, the
Status Report On Current
Import Quotas (Restraint Levels), an issuance of the U.S. Customs
 Service, which is
updated weekly and is available at your local Customs office.


                                   Sincerely,


                                   John Durant, Director
                                   Commercial Rulings Division