HQ 085840: Modification of NYRL 845565; Compressed Gasket Material; Asbestos replacement; Aramid fibers; Nonwoven textiles; Mineral fillers; Composite gasket material.

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 085840

                          July 25, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 085840 KWM

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF: 6815.99.4000


Mr. H. Perlman
Skylark International
29 John Street
New York, New York  10038

RE:  Modification of NYRL 845565; Compressed Gasket Material;
     Asbestos replacement; Aramid fibers; Nonwoven textiles;
     Mineral fillers; Composite gasket material.


Dear Mr. Perlman:

     This letter is in response to your inquiry dated October 17,
1989, in which you request reconsideration of a classification
ruling issued by our New York office.  After reviewing the
information submitted with your request we have determined that the
New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) issued to you, number 845565, should
be revoked and the goods in question reclassified.

FACTS:

     The merchandise at issue here is a compressed gasketing
material developed as a substitute for asbestos based gaskets.  The
manufacturing process is described in detail in NYRL 845565.  It
involves mixing rubber paste, aramid fibers, and a mineral filler
material to form a crumbly substance.  The combined substance is
placed in hoppers which in turn feed into compression rollers set
to produce the desired thickness of gasket material.  The gasketing
material is imported into the United States from Spain in sheet
form, uncut, and printed with the manufacturer's and/or product
name.  According to your letter, the component materials of the
gasket material break down as follows:

               5 - 20% Aramid fibers
               10 - 20% Natural or synthetic rubber
               60 - 85% Barium sulphate

     Your letter of October 17, 1989, takes issue with our
classification of these goods as nonwoven textile materials under
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA).  In support of your position, additional information is
provided about the product and its process of manufacture.  Lastly,
your letter suggests that the proper classification for these goods
would be under a heading of Chapter 40, HTSUSA, as an article of
rubber.

ISSUE:

     Was the compressed gasketing material properly classified in
New York Ruling Letter 845565?  If not, what is the correct
classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification under the HTSUSA is made in accordance with the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).  The systematic detail of
the harmonized system is such that virtually all goods are
classified by application of GRI 1, that is, according to the terms
of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relevant Section or
Chapter Notes.  In the event that the goods cannot be classified
solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes
do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI's may be applied, taken
in order.

     The original classification of this material was made by
applying GRI 1.  It was the opinion of our New York office that the
gasketing material consisted of a nonwoven textile immeshed in
rubber.  We disagree.  First, heading 5603 presupposes the
existence of a base textile onto which rubber may be applied or
coated.  In this case that base would be a nonwoven textile. 
Nonwoven textiles are described in the Explanatory Notes to Chapter
56, HTSUSA, as "a sheet or web of predominantly textile fibers
oriented directionally or randomly and bonded."  The production of
nonwoven textile includes web formation, bonding and finishing
stages.  These stages may occur separately or simultaneously, as
in the in situ process.  We believe that no web is ever formed in
this product, hence no base textile fabric is present.  The length
of the aramid fibers (less than 5 millimeters) precludes the
formation of a web as the nomenclature contemplates.  Instead, the
fibers in the instant gasket material are simply dispersed in
random fashion throughout the rubber and mineral substances for
strength and thermal resistance.

     Other than heading 5603, HTSUSA, we note heading 5911 which
provides for textile products for technical uses.  The goods of
this heading are specified in a Legal Note to the chapter and
include:

     7. (a)(i) Textile fabrics . . . coated, covered or
     laminated with rubber . . . or other material . . . used
     for technical purposes.

This would appear to include the instant goods, but for the
conclusion above that no base textile fabric (i.e., nonwoven
textile) is present here.  We find no other heading of the
nomenclature eligible for GRI 1 classification.  Those headings
which provide for "gaskets" by name are limited to cut or formed
gaskets, and do not include sheet material such as this from which
gaskets are made.

     The gasket material here is a composite good; that is, it is
composed of two or more constituent ingredients which combine to
produce the whole.  Articles "of" the components are described in
different HTSUSA headings:

     4008      Plates, sheets, strip, rods and profile shapes, of
               vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber.

     6815      Articles of stone or of other mineral substances,
               not elsewhere specified or included.

     The GRI's dictate that classification of goods such as these
is made by determining which of the constituent materials provides
the "essential character" of the item.  There are no "hard and
fast" rules for determining essential character.  It may be
determined by considering and weighing factors such as relative
weight, relative cost, and the role played by each element in the
item.  For the purposes of the HTSUSA, an item may be considered
to be wholly made of a particular element if that element is found
to convey the essential character.

     Each of the component materials here provides some element
necessary to the use of the goods.  The aramid fiber and mineral
filler combination is intended to duplicate the performance
characteristics of asbestos, which they replace.  Thus, the
qualities of strength, thermal and chemical resistance, and binding
are derived not from either single component, but from the
combination of the two.  Aramid fiber, being the technologically
advanced element is given first billing in marketing the product. 
Rubber provides compressibility, sealing and binding qualities, as
it did in older asbestos gasket material.

     We do not find that any individual element here provides the
essential character of the goods.  Therefore, we resort to GRI 3(c)
for classification of these goods.  Under GRI 3(c), that heading
which occurs last in the nomenclature provides classification.  In
this case, that would be heading 6815, which provides for articles
made of other mineral substances, not otherwise provided for.

HOLDING

     Pursuant to 19 CFR  177.9(d), New York Ruling Letter 845565
is hereby revoked.  The merchandise at issue in NYRL 845565,
composite gasket material, is classified in subheading
6815.99.4000, HTSUSA, as articles of mineral substance, not
otherwise specified.  The rate of duty is 4.5 percent ad valorem.


                                   Sincerely,


                                   John A. Durant
                                   Director
                                   Commercial Rulings Division