NY 878167
SEPTEMBER 25,1992
CLA-2-64:S:N:N3D:346-T 878167
Mr. Joe Thaier
Pagoda Trading Company Inc.
1950 Craig Road
St. Louis, MO 63146
RE: The tariff classification of a woman's low-heel shoe from
Taiwan.
Dear Mr. Thaier:
In your letter dated September 2, 1992, received by this
office on September 11, 1992, you requested a tariff
classification ruling.
The submitted sample, your pattern # 58166 W, "Silhouette",
is a woman's low-heel dress shoe. The shoe is of the slip-on
type, with a textile fabric upper composed of tightly woven
polypropylene strips approximately 2 mm in width. The shoe also
has a 3/8 inch wide top-line binding, which you state is of
polyurethane, a leather outer sole, a paperboard insole, a thin
foamed plastic footpad, a small plastic heel lift, a steel shank,
a 1 1/2 inch high wooden heel that is covered by the same
material used for the top-line, and a two layer textile lining
with a suede leather heel counter.
As part of this ruling request, you have provided an
attachment which states that the external surface of the upper
(excluding reinforcements and accessories) is composed of 100
percent rubber and plastics. This external surface area
determination is incorrect. Although you may consider the
external surface area of the upper to be "plastic" because the
fabric of the upper is woven from polypropylene strips, HTSUSA
heading 5404 provides in part for strip and the like ( for
example, artificial straw) of synthetic textile materials of an
apparent width not exceeding 5mm. In as much as the
polypropylene strips comprising the woven external surface of
this shoe are well under 5mm in width, the shoe is considered to
have a textile and not a plastic upper.
You also provide a component weight breakdown, on this same
attachment, indicating that the weight of the textile materials
plus the rubber and/or plastics (TM, R or P) accounts for 39.9
percent of the total weight of this shoe. Based on our weighing
of the pieces of the sample, we are confident that the actual
weight of these named component materials is less than 50 percent
of the shoe's total weight. However, since the shoe you have
provided appears to be a "prototype" sample, since the pieces you
provided were not completely separated between TM, R or P and
"other" and since we get a weight of TM, R or P considerably
closer to 50 percent than to your 39.9 percent, the accuracy of
the component weight breakdown figures for the actual imported
shoe should be verified by Customs at the time of importation.
The applicable subheading for the item described will be
6404.20.4060, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTS), which provides for women's footwear, in which the upper's
external surface is predominately textile materials; in which the
outer sole's external surface is predominately leather or
composition leather; which is, by weight, not over 50 percent as
a total of textile materials, rubber and plastics; and which is,
we assume, valued over $2.50 per pair. The rate of duty will be
10 percent ad valorem.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section
177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry
documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the
documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be
brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the
transaction.
Sincerely,
Jean F. Maguire
Area Director
New York Seaport