Buckle and hardware materials generally do not shift a leather belt out of this heading — the essential character is determined by the leather or composition leather strap. However, if a metal buckle is of significant value or weight relative to the whole article, it could affect customs valuation or trigger separate component reporting in some circumstances.

Composition leather (also called bonded leather or reconstituted leather) is made from leather fiber or hide scraps combined with a binding agent and formed into sheets. It is treated equivalently to genuine leather under this heading, but importers should retain supplier documentation confirming the material composition, as misrepresenting composition leather as full-grain leather can raise fraud concerns.