CLA-2-64: OT:RR:NC:SP:247
Ms. Melissa Stanczak
Ballet Makers, Inc.
1 Campus Road
Totowa, NJ 07512
RE: The tariff classification of leg warmers from China
Dear Ms. Stanczak:
In your letter dated August 13, 2008 you requested a classification ruling.
The submitted sample, style # HZZ101, is identified by you as a leg warmer and is made of a knit textile material that you state has a textile fiber content of 52% cotton and 48% acrylic. The leg warmer is approximately 20-inches in length, of a tubular knit construction and is designed to cover a part of the wearer’s leg but not the foot.
The applicable subheading for the leg warmer, identified as style # HZZ101, will be 6406.99.1550, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for gaiters, leggings and similar articles of textile materials, which are leg-warmers, of cotton. The rate of duty will be 14.9% 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 World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
The submitted sample is not marked with the country of origin. Therefore, if imported as is, it will not meet the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Accordingly, the leg warmers would be considered not legally marked under the provisions of 19 C.F.R. 134.11 which states, "every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit, in such manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article."
Leg warmers of cotton fall within textile category 359. With the exception of certain products of China, quota/visa requirements are no longer applicable for merchandise which is the product of World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries. The textile category number above applies to merchandise produced in non-WTO member-countries. Quota and visa requirements are the result of international agreements that are subject to frequent renegotiations and changes. To obtain the most current information on quota and visa requirements applicable to this merchandise, we suggest you check, close to the time of shipment, the “Textile Status Report for Absolute Quotas” which is available on our web site at www.cbp.gov. For current information regarding possible textile safeguard actions on goods from China and related issues, we refer you to the web site of the Office of Textiles and Apparel of the Department of Commerce at otexa.ita.doc.gov.
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 Richard Foley at 646-733-3042.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division