CATEGORY: Classification s234

NY L80053

October 13, 2004

CLA-2-39:RR:NC:SP:221 L80053

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 3919.90.5060; 3920.49.0000

Mr. John Stearns Coker Portage Cove Company P.O. Box 95940 Seattle, WA 98145-2940

RE: The tariff classification of plastic shims from China.

Dear Mr. Coker:

In your letter dated September 9, 2004, on behalf of Greensward Co Ltd., you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The two products that are the subject of this request are said to be shims used in the installation of U.S. manufactured windows. Product 1 is a flat, rectangular strip of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) identified as a vinyl strip. The sample submitted with your request measures 12 inches by 1½ inches by 1/16 inch. One surface is printed to simulate wood grain. The other surface is coated with adhesive that is protected with a peel-off paper backing. You state that the strip is used to fair or smooth a rough opening in a wall before installing the prefabricated window.

Product #2 is identified as a sill shim. Sill shims are the spacers that prefabricated windows are set on, buried in the wall, to center the window vertically within the rough opening. You describe the imported sill shims as 48 inches long, 1½ inches wide and ¼ inch thick, and made of PVC. You state that the small sample piece submitted with your request is made of styrene and illustrates the cross section of the sill shim, but is not representative of the plastic material of the imported shim. It is assumed for purposes of this reply that the sill shim is a rectangular sheet that has not been further worked, for example with drilled holes or beveled edges or rounded corners. It is also assumed for purposes of this reply that the shim is rigid, like the sample piece, and that the PVC formulation does not contain at least 6 percent of plasticizers.

The applicable subheading for the pressure sensitive vinyl strip shims will be 3919.90.5060, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for 2

self-adhesive plates, sheets, film, foil, tape, strip and other flat shapes, of plastics, whether or not in rolls...other. The rate of duty will be 5.8 percent ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for the sill shims, when imported in the form of rectangular strips that have not been further worked and when made of a PVC formulation that contains less than 6 percent of plasticizers will be 3920.49.0000, HTS, which provides for other plates, sheets, film, foil and strip, of plastics, noncellular and not reinforced, laminated, supported or similarly combined with other materials: of polymers of vinyl chloride: other. The rate of duty will be 5.8 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