CLA-2-64:RR:NC:TA:346 B87773
Mr. Arthur Danforth
Hyde Athletic Industries, Inc.
POB 6046
Peabody, MA 01961
RE: The tariff classification of shoe uppers from China; External Surface Area
Dear Mr. Danforth:
In your letter, dated July 18, 1997, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
You submitted two samples, 41690 and 42690, Women`s and Men`s, Grid Stabil, together with related pages from your footwear catalog. Both samples will be used, we presume, in a slip-lasted construction in which the front fabric flap will be joined, after importation, to the lower edge of the quarters. Even after this joining, the samples would not cover all of the bottom of the heel of the wearer. We assume that there will be no other parts of the shoe in the shipments of these uppers.
You state that the percent of external surface area of the uppers (ESAU) that is plastic, varies between 71.5 and 67.6 percent, with a 3 percent margin of error. You further state, "The saddle pieces (with three holes each),the silver reflective pieces, the back tab piece (the irregularly shaped piece on the heel with "Saucony" embroidered on it), and the tip underlay pieces (green on the style 41690, blue on the style 42690) are accessories and reinforcements. This determination has been made in light of ruling NY B86166." We basically agree with your determination, but it is possible that the tip underlay pieces are not A-Rs. For their whole length, the stitch joining them to the mesh upper material is the only connection that the "structural" toe overlay piece has to the mesh upper since the structural piece is stitched only to tip underlay in that area. However, since the removal of the textile tip underlay pieces would only expose additional textile, their status is moot.
You refer in your letter to styles 41691 and 42691. You indicate that they differ from the samples only in that the saddle pieces are textile, instead of plastic, and that the "lower foxing" is a different type of plastic. If these are, in fact, the only differences, the same classification will apply to them as to the samples.
The applicable subheading for both samples will be 6406.10.6000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for, inter alia, shoe uppers, which are less than "formed uppers" and in which the upper's external surface is predominately rubber and/or plastics. The rate of duty will be free.
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 James Sheridan at 212-466-5889.
Sincerely,
Paul K. Schwartz
Chief, Textiles & Apparel Branch
National Commodity
Specialist Division