CLA-2-64:S:N:N8:346 805759
Mr. Donald Kuhl
BWI Corp
890 Airport Park Road, Suite 118
Glen Burnie, MD 21061
RE: The country of origin marking and tariff classification of
athletic shoes from Indonesia, Accessories-Reinforcements
Dear Mr. Kuhl:
In your letter dated 12-6-94 for Head Sports Wear, you
requested a tariff classification ruling.
The samples, labelled "Anatom, Run-A-Way, 00625", have a
very unusual upper. Almost all that is visible covering the
wearer's foot when worn, laces and tongue excluded, are the top
part of the rubber sidewalls of the simultaneous molded bottom,
and several substantial areas of nylon mesh and plastic coated
leather. The exposed nylon mesh is not part of a complete upper
of nylon mesh, which is the norm in similar shoes, but several
patches of an unusually thin mesh cemented to a sturdy fabric
with a relatively fuzzy, napped surface. The nylon fabric here
thus seems to serve a simply decorative purpose. The leather
pieces are all stitched to this same fuzzy fabric. The fuzzy
fabric has its own lining inside it, covers the entire foot, is
stitched to the underfoot in these slip-lasted constructed shoes,
and is clearly the only possible base material of the "upper".
Although it is an unusual upper since fuzziness is not the norm
in the aesthetics of athletic footwear uppers and since none of
its surface is visible in the finished shoe, we believe it must
be the "upper" by the process of elimination so we consider the
rubber sidewalls, the cemented-on nylon mesh, and the leather
pieces all to be "accessories or reinforcements".
We note that the "Made in Indonesia" is on the part of the
sewn in label which leaves it right at the sock line,in fact the
last two letters of "Indonesia" are covered up by the removable
insole in one of the samples, and it is about two inches further
forward inside the shoe compared to the top edge of the tongue.
Even though this label also has the USA, JPN, EUR, UK shoe sizes,
which is a general indication that the label is in a reasonably
"conspicuous" location, it is clear that the "Made in Indonesia"
here is not in a location which is as conspicuous as the nature
of the article will allow. Therefore, if imported as is, Customs
should refuse delivery of these shoes into USA commerce until
remarked in a more conspicuous location, e.g., on the inside of
the top of the tongue.
The applicable subheading for this style will be 6404.11.20,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which
provides for footwear, in which the upper's external surface is
predominately textile materials (Note that an accessory or
reinforcement on top of another material is not part of the
upper's external surface, but the material hidden underneath is);
in which the outer sole's external surface is predominately
rubber and/or plastics; which is either "sports footwear" or
tennis, basketball, gym, or training shoes or the like; and in
which the upper's external surface area is over 50% leather after
every leather accessory and reinforcement present is included as
part of the upper's external surface. The rate of duty will be
10.5 percent.
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