CLA-2 CO:R:C:V 555650 KAC
Ms. Chriselle B. Deignan
Product Manager
Hope Webbing Co.
P.O. Box 6387
Providence, Rhode Island 02940-6387
RE: Applicability of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, to various
products made from woven and braided fabrics.Assembly;
crimping;sewing;sliding;555205;555564;L'Eggs;Mattell
Dear Ms. Deignan:
This is in response to your letters dated April 2, and 18,
1990, to the District Director, Providence, Rhode Island,
requesting a ruling regarding the applicability of subheading
9802.00.80, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) to various products made from woven and braided fabric.
Your letters and samples were forwarded to this office for a
response.
FACTS:
Hope Webbing will be shipping various U.S. components to
Mexico for assembly into belts, lanyards, neck lanyards, key
lanyards, wrist straps, map pockets, tapered straps, and shock
cords. The operations performed in Mexico involve feeding
webbing through a buckle or hook and sewing the webbing onto
itself in order to attach a buckle; sewing pieces of braid
together; crimping clasps together over cable to secure a hook,
ring or loop; crimping rings over one strand of cable to form a
loop; crimping barb tips to ends of mesh pocket; and sliding a
bead slide, santoprene sleeve, or cinch slide over braid. The
above-described operations will be performed in various
combinations in order to manufacture the previously described
products.
After completion of the above operations, the various
products will be returned to the U.S.
ISSUE:
Whether the products made from woven and braided fabrics
will be eligible for the partial duty exemption available under
subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, when imported into the U.S.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
HTSUS subheading 9802.00.80 provides a partial duty
exemption for:
[a]rticles assembled abroad in whole or in part of
fabricated components, the product of the United States,
which (a) were exported in condition ready for assembly
without further fabrication, (b) have not lost their
physical identity in such articles by change in form, shape,
or otherwise, and (c) have not been advanced in value or
improved in condition abroad except by being assembled and
except by operations incidental to the assembly process,
such as cleaning, lubrication, and painting.
All three requirements of HTSUS subheading 9802.00.80 must be
satisfied before a component may receive a duty allowance. An
article entered under this tariff provision is subject to duty
upon the full cost or value of the imported assembled article,
less the cost or value of the U.S. components assembled therein,
upon compliance with the documentary requirements of section
10.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.24).
Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)),
provides that the assembly operation performed abroad may consist
of any method used to join or fit together solid components, such
as welding, soldering, riveting, force fitting, gluing,
laminating, sewing, or the use of fasteners.
The operations that entail sewing fabric onto itself and
attaching two or more components together by sewing or crimping
are considered acceptable assembly operations. See, 19 CFR
10.16(a); L'Eggs Products v. United States, Slip Op. 89-5, 13
CIT , 704 F.Supp. 1127 (CIT 1989), which held that sewing
together the end of a pantyhose tube is considered an acceptable
assembly operation as the thread serves as a joining agent by
joining the tube to itself; and Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL)
555205 dated August 25, 1989, which held that crimping a terminal
onto a wire was an acceptable assembly operation.
Sliding the bead slide, santoprene sleeve, and cinch slide
onto the cord or braid is an acceptable joinder of two
components. See, 19 CFR 10.16(a), and HRL 555564 dated May 1,
1990, which held that sliding one component over another is an
acceptable assembly operation. Even though the joinder is not a
permanent attachment as the components may be detached from one
another, the components are not designed to be detached and the
joinder is necessary for the assembled article to function
properly. See, Mattell, Inc. v. United States, 67 CCPA 74,
C.A.D. 1248, 624 F.2d 1076 (1980), rev'g, 82 Cust.Ct. 234, C.D.
4805, 475 F.Supp. 683 (1979), in which the court held that
phonograph records packaged in envelopes and stapled to talking
toy phones were classified under item 807.00, Tariff Schedules of
the United States (TSUS) (now subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS). In
Mattel, the records were not meant to be permanently attached to
the toy phone as the consumer was to pull off the record to use
it in the talking toy phone.
HOLDING:
On the basis of the information and samples submitted, it is
our opinion that the operations performed abroad to create the
various products are considered proper assembly operations
Therefore, they may enter under subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS,
with allowances in duty for the cost or value of the U.S.
components incorporated therein, upon compliance with the
documentary requirements of 19 CFR 10.24.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division