Textile classification under Chapter 59 hinged on Chapter Note 4, confirming dust catcher filter media fell outside Heading 59.16/17.

Classification of imported dust catcher bag tubing turned on whether the non-woven filter media could fall within Tariff Heading 59.16/17 as textile fabrics of a kind commonly used in machinery or plant, or instead under Tariff Heading 59.01/15 as felt. The analysis applied Chapter Note 4(a) to Chapter 59, which confines Heading 59.16/17 to the specified categories and does not extend to goods merely intended for later use in machinery after cutting and stitching. As the goods were not straining cloth or any other listed category, and the alleged special finishes did not enlarge the heading's scope, Heading 59.16/17 was inapplicable and classification under Heading 59.01/15 was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the imported dust catcher bags tubing, described as non-woven filter media, was classifiable under Tariff Heading 59.16/17 as textile fabrics of a kind commonly used in machinery or plant, or under Tariff Heading 59.01/15 as felt.

Analysis: The imported goods were acknowledged to be fabric intended for eventual use in dust collector machinery after cutting and stitching. The claimed classification under Tariff Heading 59.16/17 depended on bringing the goods within Chapter Note 4(a) to Chapter 59, which exhaustively limits the scope of the expression "textile fabrics and textile articles, of a kind commonly used in machinery or plant" to the specified categories. The goods did not answer the description of straining cloth used in oil presses or any other category in the Note. The special finishes described by the importer, including liquid repellent treatment, did not expand the scope of the heading and in fact made the goods unsuitable for the claimed analogous use.

Conclusion: Tariff Heading 59.16/17 was held inapplicable and the departmental classification under Tariff Heading 59.01/15 was upheld.

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