CLA-2-61:OT:RR:NC:N3:356
Ms. Sandra Tovar
CST, INC.
500 Lanier Ave.
W. Suite 901
Fayetteville, GA 30214
RE: The tariff classification of a men’s high visibility knit pullover garments from China.
Dear Ms. Tovar:
In your letter dated February 11, 2015, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of NAFECO. As requested, your sample will be returned.
The submitted sample, Style ANSI/ISEA 107-2010 “Contrast Tee Shirts” is a men’s cut and sewn pullover constructed from 100% polyester, finely knit fabric that measures 28 stitches per two centimeters counted in the horizontal direction. Style ANSI/ISEA 107-2010 is designed as a high visibility safety garment and features a contrast color crew neckline; contrast color short, hemmed sleeves; a contrast color patch pocket on the left chest; two inch wide strips of reflective tape on the front and back panels that extend over each shoulder and encircle the waist; and a straight, hemmed bottom.
The applicable subheading for Style ANSI/ISEA 107-2010 will be 6110.30.3053, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for sweaters, pullovers, sweatshirts, waistcoats (vests) and similar articles, knitted or crocheted: of man-made fibers: other: other: other: other: men’s or boys’: other. The rate of duty is 32% ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
You have also inquired as to whether the garment qualifies for subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS.
Subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, provides for:
Articles, except goods of heading 9802.00.90 and goods imported under provisions of subchapter XIX of this chapter and goods imported under provisions of subchapter XX, assembled abroad in whole or in part of fabricated components, the product of the United States, which (a) were exported in condition ready for assembly without further fabrication, (b) have not lost their physical identity in such articles by change in form, shape or otherwise, and (c) have not been advanced in value or improved in condition abroad except by being assembled and except by operations incidental to the assembly process such as cleaning, lubricating and painting. All three requirements of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, must be satisfied before a component may receive a duty allowance. An article entered under this tariff provision is subject to duty upon the full appraised value of the imported assembled article, less the cost or value of the U.S. components assembled therein, upon compliance with the documentation requirements of section 10.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.24).
Section 10.14(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.14(a)), provides in part that the components must be in a condition ready for assembly without further fabrication at the time of their exportation from the U.S. to qualify for the exemption. Components will not lose their entitlement to the exemption by being subjected to operations incidental to the assembly either before, during, or after their assembly with other components. Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)), provides that the assembly operation performed abroad may consist of any method used to join or fit together solid components, such as welding, soldering, riveting, force fitting, gluing, laminating, sewing, or the use of fasteners. Operations incidental to the assembly process are not considered further fabrication operations, as they are of a minor nature and cannot always be provided for in advance of the assembly operations. However, any significant process, operation or treatment whose primary purpose is the fabrication, completion, physical or chemical improvement of a component precludes the application of the exemption under HTSUS subheading 9802.00.80 to that component. See 19 CFR 10.16(c). Section 10.25, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.25), provides that where a textile component is cut to shape (but not to length, width or both) in the United States from foreign fabric and exported to another country, territory, or insular possession for assembly into an article that is then returned to the United States and entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after July 1, 1996, the value of the textile component shall not be included in the dutiable value of the article. In the instant situation, the 3M reflective tape, from the U.S., is exported into China in 2” wide continuous rolls. In China, the pullover is manufactured and the reflective tape is applied to the garment. The reflective tape is cut to length and applied in strips around the arms, the mid-section and across the chest. The tape is not cut to width. The tape contains adhesive on one side; and is further secured to the garment by sewing the tape into the seams. There are no lines of demarcation on the 3M tape.
The cutting to length and assembling of the tape to the foreign components are acceptable operations for the purposes of reduced duty treatment in heading 9802. Therefore, the garment may enter under subheading 9802.00.8068, HTSUS, with allowances in duty for the cost or value of the U.S. produced component, upon compliance with the documentary requirements of 19 C.F.R. 10.24. 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 Rosemarie Hayward via e-mail at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division