CLA-2-:OT:RR:NC:N3:351
Mr. Edward Beck
M.G. Maher & Co., Inc.
One Canal Place, Suite 1600
New Orleans, LA 70130
RE: The tariff classification of a Jute Felt Geo Bag from India and Bangladesh
Dear Mr. Beck:
In your letter dated Nov. 22, 2012, and received in our office on Dec. 27, 2012, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, BMT Commodity Group, of New York City.
You submitted a sample of two products, a Jute Felt Geo Bag and the textile fabric from which it is made. You describe the bag as follows: “needle punched jute felt nonwoven on inside of bag with a woven jute backing on the outside.” The sample bag measures 9” square and 9” deep, with a three-gallon capacity, but it comes in 13 sizes, ranging from one gallon to 100. It is seamed around the bottom and lengthwise along one corner. The top is folded over and sewn down. There is no closure and it more resembles an open square basket or box than a bag. You state it is made with and without handles. The outer surface may or may not have a PVA coating; the sample we received is said to have the coating.
You did not state an intended use for the bag, but such items are generally used in flood or erosion control applications, to be filled with sand or soil and placed permanently in one location.
The applicable subheading for the Jute Felt Geo Bag will be 6307.90.9889, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for other made up textile articles, other. The rate of duty will be 7% ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
Your inquiry does not provide enough information for us to give a classification ruling on the fabric. Your request for a classification ruling should include the following:
1) Has the needleloom felt portion been formed by needling through the woven jute scrim material, or were the two materials simply needled together?
2) What is the purpose of the plastics coating on the woven portion?
3) What is the end use of these baskets and does the felt portion serve a special purpose vis-a-vis the woven material?
If it turns out that this is not a needleloom felt for tariff classification purposes, we also need to know the following:
1. Specify the trade name and style name and number by which the fabric is designated.
2. Is it 100% jute? If not, provide the generic name in English of each fiber and indicate its relative weight, treating staple and filament fibers of the same generic fiber as separate materials. For example:
52% jute fibers 18% staple acrylic
20% filament polyester 10% staple polypropylene
3. Provide the number of single yarns per centimeter in the warp and the number of single yarns per centimeter in the filling.
4. Specify the weave employed in producing the fabric, e.g., plain, twill, satin, jacquard, pique, dobby, etc. If twill, state whether or not it is 3-thread, 4-thread or cross twill.
5. Provide the width in centimeters of the fabric to be imported.
6. Provide the weight of the fabric in grams per square meter.
7. Provide a sample at minimum 18 inches square to include at least one selvage (from selvage to selvage if possible), if there is in fact a selvage, as opposed to a cut edge, which the sample appears to have.
9. Provide separate information for each of the two fabrics.
When this information is available, you may wish to consider resubmission of your request. We are returning the related samples, exhibits, etc. If you decide to resubmit your request, please include all of the material that we have returned to you, including the sample of the fabric (as above, if possible).
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Mitchel Bayer at (646) 733-3102.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Russo
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division