CLA-2-40:RR:NC:TA:350 E87823

Mr. Robert E. Gladstone
Emery Worldwide
280 Eastern Avenue
Chelsea, MA 02150

RE: The tariff classification of two round power drive belts for chenille yarn textile machines, from Italy.

Dear Mr. Gladstone:

In your letter dated September 22, 1999, on behalf of Rebtex Textile Products & Machinery, you requested a classification ruling. The manufacturer is Pratocorde SNC, Montale, Italy.

Two representative samples were submitted (a red and a white) along with a brochure. You describe both belts in your correspondence as “Round Textile Coated Elastic Bands.” Both of these bands are, in fact, industrial belts for use in power transmission.

The red sample is a closed loop round cross section belt measuring 5 mm in diameter and about 65 cm in circumference. It consists of a core composed of some 25 extruded rubber filaments which are covered with a double braid of yarns which were reported in a telephone conversation to be cotton. This belt contains a wax-like coating.

The white belt consists of a 3-ply cord with each ply composed of 6 gimped yarns. Each gimped yarn contains a core of some type of elastomeric filament, which does not have the characteristics of rubber. This belt, as you indicate in your letter, does contain a hook at one end which is designed for fastening to the belt’s other end to form a closed loop. It also measures about 65 cm in circumference and contains a wax-like coating.

In a three-way telephone conversation with you and the importer, the textile fiber of both belts was believed to be cotton. Because of the presence of filament yarns in the white belt, both samples were sent to the U.S. Customs laboratory for analysis. The textile in the red belt was found to be nylon man-made fibers, not cotton. The gimped yarns of the white belt were found to be composed of one ply of olefin man-made fiber filament yarn and one ply of polyester man-made fiber filament yarn gimped around the core filament, which the laboratory determined to be an elastomeric of plastic, not rubber.

The applicable subheading for the red belt will be 4010.29.5000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for transmission belts or belting, combined with textile materials, combined with a single textile fiber, other. The duty rate will be 1.9 percent ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for the white belt will be 5910.00.1030, HTS, which provides for transmission belts or belting, of textile material, whether or not impregnated, coated, covered or laminated with plastics, … of man-made fibers, … other than V-belts or synchronous. The duty rate is 5.6 percent ad valorem.

Neither of these belts, being round in cross section, are subject to the ongoing anti-dumping investigation from Italy.

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 George Barth at 212-637-7085.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division