CLA-2 CO:R:CV:G: 084546 JLV
Margaret R. Polito, Esq.
Coudert Brothers
200 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10166
RE: Coated aluminum foil; backed aluminum foil; backing
materials; coated aluminum strip
Dear Ms. Polito:
In a letter of May 12, 1989, on behalf of your client,
Hunter Douglas, Inc., you requested a ruling on the
classification of certain aluminum foil products. This
request concerns the same merchandise that was the subject of
a request dated October 17, 1988, and which was withdrawn in
your letter of May 12. Our decision follows.
FACTS:
The imported merchandise is a coiled, flat-rolled
aluminum product in widths that vary from 16 mm to 50.4 mm and
in thickness of 0.195 mm or 0.155 mm. The aluminum products,
referred to as strip and as foil, will be treated on both
sides with one or more of the following materials:
transparent acrylic resin; acrylic with metallic finish;
opaque colored polyester resin; polyester with metal flecking
("luminescent" finish), with a coating containing iriodine
("pearlescent" finish), or with a pattern imprint simulating
woodgrains, weaves, and abstract designs; chromium phosphate
and wax. The products, to be imported from the Netherlands,
will be used in the manufacture of slats for venetian blinds.
- 2 -
The basic process used to apply the acrylic or the
polyester is the same: a liquid resin is applied by rollers
onto both surfaces as the strip or foil is drawn through the
rollers; the resin is then cured as the strip or foil travels
through a baking oven. The acrylic is transparent; the
polyester is opaque and may be colored.
The metallic finish with the acrylic resin treatment is
achieved by first laminating the strip or foil with a clear
polyester film, coating the film with a metal by a vacuum
vapor process, and then application of the transparent acrylic
resin. The three variations in the polyester resin treatment
are achieved by adding metal particles to the polyester resin
(the luminescent finish), by applying an additional
translucent polyester resin layer over the opaque polyester
resin layer (the pearlescent finish), or by imprinting a
pattern on the opaque layer.
The third surface treatment is a two-step process in
which the strip or foil is first coated with a solution
containing a chromium phosphate compound and then passed
through rollers which apply a liquid wax which subsequently
hardens onto the aluminum and chromium phosphate compounds.
The various treatments obviously add a desired aesthetic
and permanent protective finish to the strip. The chromium
phosphate treatment serves to reflect infrared light, thereby
increasing the thermal efficiency of the product. However,
you state that the various treatments are necessary to prevent
damage to the slats during the high speed crowning, punching,
and cutting operations used to produce the venetian blind
slats. These operations, performed under pressure and at high
speed under steel rollers, generate friction and stress which
could gouge, scratch, and abrade the surface of the softer
aluminum metal. The surface treatments, which add
approximately 0.03 mm to the thickness of the aluminum
products, substantially decrease the friction coefficient
between the strip and steel rollers, prevent staining of the
aluminum during the process, and provide additional strength
and flexibility to the finished slats.
You conclude that the surface treatments constitute
"backing" and, as such, is not included in the measurement of
aluminum foil, and, therefore, that the aluminum products are
backed aluminum foil for purposes of heading 7607, Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).
- 3 -
ISSUE:
Are the surface treatments "backing materials" under
heading 7606, HTSUSA, or are the surface treatments "coatings"
or similar surface finishes and included in the measurement of
the thickness of the aluminum products?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The imported product falls within the definition for
strip and foil in note 1(d) of chapter 76, HTSUSA. The
competing headings are 7606 and 7607, HTSUSA. Products in
heading 7606 are aluminum plates, sheets, and strip, of a
thickness exceeding 0.2 mm; products in heading 7607 are
aluminum foil of a thickness (excluding any backing) not
exceeding 0.2 mm. The term "coated" as used in note 1(d) is
not defined; the term "backing" as used in heading 7607 is not
defined.
The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System (HS) are the official
interpretation of the HTSUSA at the international level of
nomenclature breakouts. Although not dispositive, they may be
instructive as to the scope of the headings. Surface
finishing with plastics, metal, or similar finishes in order
to improve the properties or appearance of the aluminum, or to
protect it from corrosion or damage during handling, or to
assist in further processing, are "coatings" that do not
affect the classification of the aluminum as strip or foil.
See EN General Note to chapter notes for chapter 76 (page
1063) and EN General Note to chapter notes for chapter 72
(pages 981 and 982). Coatings are to be included in the
measurement of the strip or foil for purposes of the limiting
dimensions in headings 7606 and 7607. See EN to these
headings (page 1066) and the EN to headings 7409 and 7410
(pages 1047 and 1048), incorporated by reference. Backings,
however, are not included in determining whether or not the
strip or foil is subject to the limiting dimensions.
The EN to heading 7410 describes "backing" as a material
such as paper, paperboard, plastics, or similar material with
which a foil is "backed" either for convenience of handling or
transport, or in order to facilitate subsequent treatment,
etc. The EN states further that foil remains classified as
foil whether or not it has been "coated (gilded, silvered,
varnished, etc.), or printed [emphasis added]."
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The various surface finishes constitute processes
designed to impart a specific permanent decorative and
protective finishes to the aluminum strip. This is the type
of finishing that is described as a "coating," both in the EN
and in a technical article on "Metal Coatings," McGraw-Hill
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 6th Edition, Vol. 11,
pages 35 - 37. These coatings are included in the measurement
of the thickness of strip or foil.
These types of coatings do not become "backing materials"
simply by application to an aluminum product that does not
exceed 0.2 mm in thickness. Backing materials, as
distinguished from coatings, are reinforcement materials that
facilitate subsequent treatment or are for the convenience of
handling or transport. The surface treatments in issue are
for the permanent, decorative surface finishing of the
aluminum strip. The protection afforded during the processing
is not the principal function of the treatments. In fact, it
appears that the coated aluminum product is lubricated by
other means during the crowning, punching, and cutting into
slats. Page 3 of the October 17, 1988, letter refers to
"chemical and emulsive lubricants utilized in the processing
operations." Therefore, we conclude that the treatments are
"coatings" and not "backings" for purposes of heading 7607,
HTSUSA.
Some of the coated strip is processed by a three-step
process involving lamination of a polyester sheet to the
strip, vacuum vapor deposition of metal, and coating with a
layer of baked-on acrylic resin. In this case, the polyester
sheet is not a "backing" but is a carrier for the vapor
deposition of metal which gives the resulting product a high
gloss metal color.
Finally, the wax coating appears to be either a
protective sealant for the chromium phosphate or a lubricant
for the mechanical processing. It is not, however, a "backing
material" which is used in the transport or handling of the
aluminum product. See EN General Note (IV)(C) to the legal
notes to chapter 72, incorporated by reference into the EN to
heading 7607.
HOLDING:
The various surface treatments on the merchandise in
issue are coatings or finishing treatments, not backings, and
are to be included in the measurement of the thickness of the
merchandise.
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If the coated aluminum product does not exceed 0.2 mm in
thickness, it is classified as aluminum foil, not backed, in
subheading 7607.19.6000, HTSUSA, and dutiable at 3 percent ad
valorem.
If it exceeds 0.2 mm in thickness, it is classified as
aluminum strip in subheading 7606.11.3060 (if not alloyed),
HTSUSA, and dutiable at 3 percent ad valorem, or in subheading
7606.12.3090 (if alloyed), and dutiable at 3 percent ad
valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division
6cc: AD NY Seaport
2cc: Chief, CIE
1cc: John Fitzgerald, NIS
1cc: AC, CO
1cc: Director, Trade Ops
1cc: Director, CommRulDiv
1cc: Reading File
Library: valentin
File Name: 084546