HQ 951632: Reconsideration of Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 088638; Rattan Webbing Sheets Used in the Manufacture of Furniture; Heading 4601

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 951632
                         August 12, 1992


CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 951632 jlj

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 4601.91.2000

Mr. J. A. Kaufman, Jr.
St. John's Import & Export Co., Inc.
P. O. Box 4460
Jascksonville, Florida 32201

RE: Reconsideration of Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 088638;  
    Rattan Webbing Sheets Used in the Manufacture of Furniture;
    Heading 4601

Dear Mr. Kaufman:

     In your letter of April 7, 1992, you requested
reconsideration of HRL 088638 of May 7, 1991, concerning rattan
webbing sheets imported from China and used in the manufacture of
furniture.  HRL 088638 classified the rattan webbing under the 
provision for plaiting materials, plaits and similar products of
plaiting materials, ... woven, in sheet form ... : other: of
vegetable materials: of one or more of the materials bamboo,
rattan, willow or wood, in subheading 4601.91.2000, Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). 

     You state that, when you imported rattan furniture, it was
free of duty.  You don't understand why you must pay a 6.6
percent ad valorem duty on rattan webbing.  You request that the
rattan webbing be reclassified under subheading 4601.20, HTSUSA,
which provides for mats, matting and screens of vegetable
material.

     The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is a
statutory enactment by the Congress.  While we understand your
bewilderment over the duty rates applicable to furniture vis a
vis the material to make furniture, these rates are based on the
historical treatment of the particular imported merchandise
involved, as well as the effect that merchandise may have in
general on our domestic economy.  In any event, the Customs
Service is without authority to administratively alter any
portion of the tariff.  

     In HRL 088638, we stated that the instant rattan webbing
sheets fit neither the definition of mats and matting (i.e.,
floor coverings or horticultural coverings) nor the definition of
screens (i.e., room dividers, building panels or devices to close
off windows or doors), and therefore they could not be classified
in subheading 4601.20, HTSUSA.  

     Inasmuch as the instant merchandise does not fit within the
definitions of mats, matting or screens, it still cannot be
classified as such in subheading 4601.20, HTSUSA.  HRL 088638 is
affirmed.  The instant merchandise is classified in subheading
4601.91.2000, HTSUSA.

                                   Sincerely, 



                                   John Durant, Director
                                   Commercial Rulings Division