CLA-2-39:RR:NC:SP:221 K85865
Ms. Adrianne Hollie
E & M Engineering, Inc.
1705 Dabney Rd.
Richmond, VA 23230
RE: The tariff classification of silicone kitchen products from China.
Dear Ms. Hollie:
In your letter dated May 7, 2004, you requested a classification ruling.
The products include oven mitts, hot dish holders and trivets made of silicone with a cotton fabric insert. One sample was included with your request. The silicone product is bonded to the fabric insert in a mold. The products are not made from a pre-existing fabric of cotton backed silicone. The silicone predominates overwhelmingly by bulk, weight and value, and imparts the essential character to these goods.
In your letter you describe silicone as a rubber material. Note 4 to Chapter 40, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), describes synthetic rubber as applying to unsaturated synthetic substances which can be irreversibly transformed by vulcanization with sulfur into non-thermoplastic substances which, at a temperature between 18 and 29 degrees Centigrade, will not break on being extended to three times their original length and will return, after being extended to twice their original length, within a period of 5 minutes, to a length not greater than 1-1/2 times their original length. Silicone is not unsaturated, and thus is not cross-linkable with sulfur. Therefore, silicone is not considered to be rubber for tariff classification purposes.
The applicable subheading for the silicone oven mitts, hot dish holders and trivets will be 3924.10.4000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for tableware, kitchenware, other household articles…of plastics: tableware and kitchenware: Other. The rate of duty will be 3.4 percent ad valorem.
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 Joan Mazzola at 646-733-3023.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division