HQ 087523: Needled padding and resinated padding used as floor covering material in the manufacture of automobiles classifiable as nonwoven material of heading 5603. Needling complementary to other types of bonding. Application for further review of Protest No. 0901-9-700975.

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 087523

                        October 11, 1990



CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 087523 CRS

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  5603.00.1000

Ms. Patricia Bulaski
C.J. Tower
128 Dearborn Street
Buffalo, New York 14207

RE:  Needled padding and resinated padding used as floor covering
     material in the manufacture of automobiles classifiable as
     nonwoven material of heading 5603.  Needling complementary
     to other types of bonding.  Application for further review
     of Protest No. 0901-9-700975.

Dear Ms. Bulaski:

     This is in reply to protest no. 0901-9-700975 filed May 17,
1989, at Buffalo, New York, on behalf of Bauer Industries, Ltd.,
of Waterloo, Ontario.  Samples of the merchandise were provided.
Further information was provided in a letter from Bauer dated
September 21, 1990, and in a meeting with Messrs. E.J. Bauer and
Larry Patterson of Bauer on September 25, 1990.

FACTS:

     The merchandise at issue consists of two types of underlay
material (needled padding and resinated padding) imported in
rolls from Canada.  The material is made by Bauer Industries to
automotive industry specifications and is used in the manufacture
of automobiles as carpet underlay.  The padding material is also
used for sound insulation in door panels, pillars and dash areas.

     Needled Padding

     The needled padding is manufactured from a blend of shoddy
fiber comprised of 30 percent low grade rag shoddy, 52 percent
intermediate grade shoddy and 18 percent high grade shoddy.  Of
this, cotton fibers will constitute 55 percent and synthetic
fibers 45 percent.




     The fibers are blended based on the grade of material and
then are processed through garnetts where the fibers are laid in
a parallel process into a continuous web formation.  The web is
then laid by cross lappers onto a main apron in a "Z" pattern.
The apron takes the web to a needle loom where it is needled and
further compressed.  The web continues through a foamer where
sizing, an emulsion consisting of acrylic polymer, residual
monomers and water, is applied to the bottom layer of the web.
After exiting the foamer, the web passes over a gas fired hot
roll at approximately 400 degrees Fahrenheit driving the water
contained in the sizing out through the top of the web.  In this
manner, the polymer is spread throughout the bottom layer of the
web, thereby locking the fibers in place.

     The application of sizing to the needled product imparts
dimensional stability without which the web would be deformed in
length and width.  Sizing also adds substantially to the web's
tensile strength.  Attached to Bauer's submission of September
21, 1990, is a comparison of sized and unsized material which
indicates that the addition of sizing effectively doubles the
article's tensile strength in both the warp and weft, without
adding significantly to the weight of the product.

     The needled padding is also manufactured on one production
lone using an air laid process, which replaces the garnetts in
the web laying stage.  The hot roll is replaced on one production
line by the use of an oven.

     Resinated Padding

     The resinated padding is made from a of denim shoddy fiber
blend of approximately 90 percent cotton and 10 percent synthetic
fibers.  This product is not needled at any point during the
manufacturing process; instead, a powdered phenolic resin (phenol
formaldehyde polymer in a non-reactive, stable form) is added to
bond the fibers.

     The fibers are blended, then are passed through a feeder
onto garnetts which carry the fibers to a forming chamber.  There
resin is introduced and distributed evenly throughout the fibers
and the web formed.  From the forming chamber, a conveyor moves
the web into an oven heated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  The heat
melts the resin thus causing the fibers to bond.  After the web
passes through the oven it is rolled or else is die cut.
     Both the needled and resinated padding are manufactured to
automotive specifications.  These include weight, thickness,
dimension, bonding and thermal requirements.



ISSUE:

     Whether resinated padding material is classifiable as a felt
or a nonwoven; whether the mechanical bonding (needling) process
used in the manufacture of the needled padding is complementary
to other types of bonding.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

      Heading 5602, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated (HTSUSA), provides for felt, whether or not
impregnated, coated, covered or impregnated.  The Explanatory
Notes, which although not legally binding, nevertheless
constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System
at the international level, state in pertinent part at 773-774,
EN 56.02, that:

     Felt is usually obtained by superimposing, one on the other,
     a number of layers of textile fibres (usually the laps as
     produced by carding or by air-laying); these are then
     moistened...and subjected to pressure and a rubbing or
     beating action.  This causes the fibres to interlock and
     produces sheets of even thickness, much more compact and
     difficult to disintegrate than wadding, and quite distinct
     from felted woven fabrics (generally Chapters 50 to 55).

                       *        *        *

     This heading also includes needleloom felt which is made
     either:

     (1)  by punching a sheet or web of textile staple fibres
     (natural or man-made), without a textile fabric base, with
     notched needles; or

     (2)  by needling such textile fibres through a base of
     textile fabric or other material which is finally more or
     less hidden by the fibres.

                       *        *        *

     Needled webs of staple fibers in which the needling is
     complementary to other types of bonding and needled
     filament-based webs are regarded as nonwovens (heading
     56.03).

     In contrast, EN 56.03, 775-776, describes nonwovens of
heading 5603 in pertinent part as follows:

     Nonwovens can be produced in various ways and production can
     be conveniently divided into three stages:  web formation,
     bonding and finishing.

     I.   Web formation

          Four basic methods exist:

          (a)  by carding or air-laying fibres in order to form a
          sheet.  These fibers may be parallel, cross or random
          oriented (dry-laid process);

                      *         *         *

     II.  Bonding

          After web formation the fibres are assembled throughout
          the thickness and width of the web (continuous method)
          or in spots or patches (intermittent method).

          This bonding can be divided into three types:

          (a)  Chemical bonding, in which the fibres are
          assembled by means of a bonding substance.  This may be
          done by impregnation with an adhesive binder such as
          rubber, gum, starch, glue or plastics, in solution or
          emulsion, by heat treatment with plastics in powder
          form, by solvents, etc.  Binding fibres can also be
          used for chemical bonding.

          (b)  Thermal bonding, in which the fibres assembled by
          submitting them to a heat (or ultrasonic) treatment,
          passing the web through or between heated rollers(area
          bonding) or through heated embossing calenders (point
          bonding).  Binding fibres can also be used for thermal
          bonding.

          (c)  Mechanical bonding, in which webs are strengthened
          by the physical entanglement of the constituent fibres.
          This may be achieved by means of high pressure air or
          water jets.  It may also be achieved by needling but
          not by stitch-bonding.  However, needled products
          regarded as nonwovens are restricted to:

          - filament based webs;

          - staple fibre webs where the needling is complementary
          to other types of bonding.

          These various bonding processes may also frequently be
          combined.




     III. Finishing

          Nonwovens may be dyed, printed, impregnated, coated,
          covered or laminated.  Those covered on one or both
          surfaces (by gumming, sewing or by any other process)
          with textile fabric or with sheets of any other
          material are classified in this heading only if they
          derive their essential character from the nonwoven.

     The resinated padding is produced by carding or garnetting
the shoddy fibers, then chemically bonding the fibers by heat
treatment with plastics in powdered form (powdered phenolic
resin).  Subsequent to the general manufacturing process, the
fabric is coated with glue and polyurethane.  The manufacturing
process is distinct from that discussed in the Explanatory Note
to heading 5602.  The web is formed using a dry-laid process and
the fibers are not moistened, nor are they subjected to a rubbing
or beating action; however, the production process is consistent
with the three stage process described by the Explanatory Note to
heading 5603.

     With regard to the needled padding, the Explanatory Notes
suggest the possibility that it could be classified in either
heading 5602 or heading 5603.  If the needling is complementary
to other types of bonding, the padding would be classifiable in
heading 5603; however, if the needling is the primary method of
bonding, the padding would be classifiable in heading 5602.

     Once needled, the padding in question is treated with
sizing, an acrylic cross linking polymer.  The application of
sizing gives the padding increased stability and tensile strength
by locking the fibers in place.  Without sizing, the padding
would not conform to the required automotive company
specifications.  In view of this, Customs considers the needling
to be complementary to the chemical bond produced by the polymer
in that the polymer not only supplements the needling but is also
an integral part of the manufacturing process.  Since the padding
conforms in all other respects to the description of nonwovens as
set forth in EN 56.03, Customs also is of the opinion to that the
needled padding is classifiable in heading 5603.

HOLDING:

     Both the needled and resinated paddings are classifiable in
subheading 5603.00.1090, HTSUSA, under the provision for
nonwovens, whether or not impregnated, coated, covered or
laminated, floor covering underlays, other and is dutiable at the
rate of 3.4 percent ad valorem.

     Due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation
(the ninth and tenth digits of the classification) and the
restraint (quota/visa) categories, you should contact your local
Customs office prior to importation of this merchandise to
determine the current status of any import restraints or
requirements.

                         Sincerely,





                         John Durant, Director
                         Commercial Rulings Division