CLA-2-98:OT:RR:E:NC:TA:348
Caroline M Riley
Gunston Hall
10709 Gunston Road
Mason Neck VA 22079
RE: The tariff classification of wool/silk fabric from United Kingdom
Dear Ms. Riley:
In your letter dated February 9, 2009, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason, is a non-profit organization owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Gunston Hall has commissioned Humphries Weavers (Sudbury, Suffolk, England) to recreate fabric from the 1750’s for display in the interior of the home. The fabric, identified as Damask 2095, is composed of 60% wool and 40% silk. The fabric is jacquard woven and contains 82.28 single yarns per centimeter in the warp and 32 single yarns per centimeter in the filling. The weight of this fabric is 194 g/m2 and it will be imported in 140 centimeter widths. The fabric will remain permanently affixed to the walls of Gunston Hall.
In your ruling request, you have suggested classification of the woven fabric under 9812.00.20, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
Subheading 9812.00.20, HTSUS, (19 CFR 1202) provides in pertinent part for an exemption from duty on any article imported for exhibition. “Prior to the release of articles under heading 9812.00.20 or 40, bond shall be given for the payment of lawful duties which may accrue should any of the articles be sold, transferred or used contrary to the provisions of this subchapter within 5 years after the date of entry hereunder, and such articles shall be subject at any time within such 5-year period to examination and inspection by Customs officers. Surety on such bonds shall be waived in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury”.
The statute is implemented by 19 CFR 49. That regulation allows the port director of Customs with whom the entry is filed to require a declaration of compliance by a qualified office of Gunston Hall and a bond that would guarantee Gunston Hall’s compliance with the statute and regulation. U.S. Note 1 to Subchapter XII states that the provisions of this subchapter do not apply to articles intended for sale or for any purposes other than exhibition or erecting a public monument, nor do they apply to an institution or society engaged in or connected with business of a private or commercial character.
Under Note 2 to the subchapter XII, Chapter 98, HTSUS, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to waive surety on bonds posted by institutions to cover entries under subheading 9812.00.20, HTS. That authority to waive surety has been delegated to Customs and Border Protection.
The applicable subheading for the Damask 2095 will be 9812.00.20, HTSUS, which provides for articles imported for exhibition by any institution or society established for the encouragement of agriculture, arts, education or science, or for such exhibition by any State or for a municipal corporation. The duty rate will be free, under bond, as prescribed in U.S. Note 2 to this subchapter.
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/.
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 at (646) 733-3064.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division