OT:RR:NC:N5:137

TARIFF NO: 3921.13.1500

Philip Lanitis
Lanitis & Associates Inc.
5422 County Road 862
McKinney, TX 75071

RE: The classification and country of origin of a coated fabric

Dear Mr. Lanitis:

In your letter dated April 22, 2025, you requested a classification and country of origin ruling on a coated fabric.

In your submission you included fabric sample “0819” which was subsequently sent to the Customs and Border Protection Laboratory. Laboratory analysis has determined that the textile portion of the sample is of woven construction and composed wholly of man-made fibers. The sample has been coated on one side with a cellular urethane-type plastic material. The plastic material accounts for 15.2 percent of the weight of the sample while the textile accounts for the remaining 84.8 percent.

The applicable subheading for the fabric “0819” will be 3921.13.1500, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), which provides for “Other plates, sheets, film, foil and strip, of plastics: Cellular: Of Polyurethanes: Combined with textile materials: Products with textile components in which man-made fibers predominate by weight over any other single textile fibers: Other.” The general rate of duty will be 6.5 percent ad valorem.

Country of Origin:

When determining the country of origin for purposes of applying duty rates, the substantial transformation analysis is applicable. See, e.g., Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) H301619, dated November 6, 2018. The test for determining whether a substantial transformation will occur is whether an article emerges from a process with a new name, character, or use different from that possessed by the article prior to processing. See Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States, 681 F.2d 778 (C.C.P.A. 1982). This determination is based on the totality of the evidence. See National Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 C.I.T. 308 (1992), aff’d, 989 F.2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993). You have described a scenario wherein “(a)ll of the steps in manufacturing this fabric are completed in India. Fiber: India; Yarn Spinning: India; Yarn dyeing: India; Weaving, India; Coating: India.” Therefore we find that the fabric is wholly produced in India and the substantial transformation occurs there. The country of origin for fabric “0819” will be India.

The tariffs and additional duties cited above are current as of this ruling’s issuance. 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 at https://hts.usitc.gov/.

The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise description as identified in the ruling request. This position is clearly set forth in Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (“CFR”), Section 177.9(b)(1). This section states that a ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in the ruling letter, whether directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. In the event that the facts are modified in any way, or if the goods do not conform to these facts at time of importation, you should bring this to the attention of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) and submit a request for a new ruling in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2. Additionally, we note that the material facts described in the foregoing ruling may be subject to periodic verification by CBP.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR 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, please contact National Import Specialist Christina Allen at [email protected].
Sincerely,

(for)
Evan Conceicao
Designated Official Performing the Duties of the Division Director
National Commodity Specialist Division