OT:RR:CTF:FTM H325360 PJG
Ms. Krisanne Fischer
Geodis
965 W. Maple Drive
Southampton, Pennsylvania 18966
RE: Tariff classification of a knit women’s upper body garment
Dear Ms. Fischer:
This is in response to your correspondence, dated March 11, 2022, requesting a binding ruling on behalf of your client, QVC, concerning the tariff classification of a knit woman’s upper body garment (Item No. A509472) under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). Your client initially requested a binding tariff classification ruling from the National Commodity Specialist Division (“NCSD”), and the request was forwarded to our office for a response. You provided a sample of the garment, which we are returning to you.
FACTS:
The garment (Item No. A509472) is a women’s knit upper body garment constructed of 100% cotton, by weight. The garment has a hemmed bottom that extends below the waist, a round neckline without an opening, and short sleeves. The garment measures more than 10 stitches per linear centimeter in each direction counted on an area measuring at least 10 cm by 10 cm.
ISSUE:
Whether the women’s knit upper body garment is a blouse of heading 6106, HTSUS, which provides for “Women’s or girls’ blouses and shirts, knitted or crocheted: Of cotton” or a pullover of heading 6110, HTSUS, which provides for “Sweaters, pullovers, sweatshirts, waistcoats (vests) and similar articles, knitted or crocheted.”
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRI”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI may then be applied.
The 2022 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
6106 Women’s or girls’ blouses and shirts, knitted or crocheted:
6110 Sweaters, pullovers, sweatshirts, waistcoats (vests) and similar articles, knitted or crocheted:
Note 1 to Chapter 61, HTSUS, states that “[t]his chapter applies only to made up knitted or crocheted articles.”
Note 4 to Chapter 61, HTSUS, provides as follows:
Headings 6105 and 6106 do not cover garments with pockets below the waist, with a ribbed waistband or other means of tightening at the bottom of the garment, or garments having an average of less than 10 stiches per linear centimeter in each direction counted on an area measuring at least 10 cm by 10 cm. Heading 6105 does not cover sleeveless garments.
“Shirts” and “shirt-blouses” are garments designed to cover the upper part of the body, having long or short sleeves and a full or partial opening starting at the neckline. “Blouses” are loose-fitting garments also designed to cover the upper part of the body but may be sleeveless and with or without an opening at the neckline. “Shirts”, “shirt-blouses” and “blouses” may also have a collar.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes
(“ENs”) constitute the “official interpretation of the Harmonized System” at the international level. See 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989). While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs “provide a commentary on the scope of each heading” of the HTSUS and are “generally indicative of [the] proper interpretation” of these headings. See id.
The EN to 61.06 provides, in relevant part, as follows:
* * *
This heading does not cover garments with pockets below the waist, with a ribbed waistband or other means of tightening at the bottom of the garment, or garments having an average of less than 10 stitches per linear centimetre in each direction counted on an area measuring at least 10 cm x 10 cm (see Chapter Note 4).
* * *
The subject garment is not excluded by Note 4 to Chapter 61, HTSUS, because it does not meet the exclusions provided for in that note, specifically it does not have “pockets below the waist, … a ribbed waistband or other means of tightening at the bottom of the garment.” Moreover, the garment measures more than 10 stiches per linear centimeter in each direction counted on an area measuring at least 10 cm by 10 cm. Next, we must determine whether the subject garment meets the definitions for “shirts,” “shirt-blouses” or “blouses” provided for in Note 4 to Chapter 61, HTSUS.
Note 4 to Chapter 61, HTSUS, defines “shirts” and “shirt-blouses” as “garments designed to cover the upper part of the body, having long or short sleeves and a full or partial opening starting at the neckline.” The subject garment has a round neckline, therefore, it does not have a “full or partial opening starting at the neckline,” which is required for a “shirt” or “shirt-blouse” pursuant to Note 4 to Chapter 61, HTSUS. Accordingly, the subject garment is not a “shirt” or “shirt-blouse.”
Note 4 to Chapter 61, HTSUS, defines “blouses” as “loose-fitting garments also designed to cover the upper part of the body but may be sleeveless and with or without an opening at the neckline.” To determine whether the subject garment is a “blouse” of heading 6106, HTSUS, we must determine whether the garment is “loose-fitting.” This term is not defined in the legal notes, the ENs, or in previously issued CBP rulings. “When…a tariff term is not defined in either the HTSUS or its legislative history,” its correct meaning is its common or commercial meaning. See Rocknel Fastener, Inc. v. United States, 267 F.3d 1354, 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2001). “To ascertain the common meaning of a term, a court may consult ‘dictionaries, scientific authorities, and other reliable information sources’ and ‘lexicographic and other materials.’” Id. at 1356-1357 (quoting C.J. Tower & Sons v. United States, 69 C.C.P.A. 128, 673 F.2d 1268, 1271 (1982); Simod Am. Corp. v. United States, 872 F.2d 1572, 1576 (Fed. Cir. 1989)). The Oxford English Dictionary defines “loose” in the context of clothes as “[n]ot clinging close to the figure; loosely-fitting.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2022, www.oed.com/view/Entry/110192 (last visited May 6, 2022).
In Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) 951900, dated September 28, 1992, CBP suggested that to determine whether the garment is “loose-fitting,” we place the garment on a size 10 (medium) mannequin. Similarly, in HQ H293112, dated April 26, 2018, wherein CBP was considering whether a garment had pockets below the waist, CBP stated that to maintain consistency when examining garments for classification purposes, it cannot “cannot rely on photos of garments worn by different body types. Instead, CBP must rely on the mannequins to measure certain elements of the garment that would influence its classification. The mannequins used by CBP are standard sizes.”
CBP draped sample Item No. A509472 onto a size 10 (medium) mannequin and upon reviewing the photographs of the sample on the mannequin we have determined that the garment does not cling close to the mannequin. Accordingly, we have determined that the upper-body garment is loose-fitting and meets this criterion required for the term “blouses” in Note 4 to Chapter 61, HTSUS. Moreover, the CBP Laboratories and Scientific Services Directorate (“CBP Laboratory”) has confirmed that the subject garment is composed of 100% cotton. Based on this information, the subject garment is classified under heading 6106, HTSUS, and specifically in subheading 6106.10.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Women’s or girls’ blouses and shirts, knitted or crocheted: Of cotton.”
HOLDING:
By application of GRI 1 and 6, the knit woman’s upper body garment (Item No. A509472) is classified under heading 6106, HTSUS, and specifically, in subheading 6106.10.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Women’s or girls’ blouses and shirts, knitted or crocheted: Of cotton.” The 2022 column one, general rate of duty is 19.7 percent ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the internet at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and incorporated in the ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. The application of a ruling letter by a Customs Service field office to the transaction to which it is purported to relate is subject to the verification of the facts incorporated in the ruling letter, a comparison of the transaction described therein to the actual transaction, and the satisfaction of any conditions on which the ruling was based.”
Sincerely,
Yuliya A. Gulis, Chief
Food, Textiles & Marking Branch