CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 086528 CRS
Robert T. Stack, Esq.
Tompkins & Davidson
One Whitehall Street
New York, NY 10004
RE: Classification of Used Terry Towels
Dear Mr. Stack:
This is in reply to your letter dated January 23, 1990, to
our New York office, on behalf of your client, Fab Tech, Inc.,
concerning the classification of used terry towels. Samples of
the towels were submitted with your request.
FACTS:
The merchandise at issue consists of used towels purchased
from suppliers in France, Germany, Holland and Belgium, and
imported through various ports including Baltimore, Houston and
Philadelphia.
The towels are purchased in lots of colored towels, white
towels, or mixed white and colored towels. All have been
subjected to repeated washings and exhibit signs of wear such as
fading, stains, minor tears and fraying. Specifically, the
towels consist of the following:
White or Mixed Towels
1. Solid white, 49 inches x 34 inches, worn and
thinning, with several minor holes and frayed on all
edges;
2. Solid white, 28 inches x 25 inches, frayed on three
edges, worn and with a large tear;
3. Striped, 36 inches x 17 inches, one stain and
frayed on one edge;
4. Striped, 35 inches x 18 inches, faded and with
several holes;
5. Striped, 38 inches x 19 inches, faded.
Colored Towels
1. Blue floral pattern, 35 inches x 17 inches,
stained, frayed and with several holes;
2. Blue stripe, 35 inches x 18 inches, dirty;
3. Orange, pink and green floral pattern, 29 inches x
19 inches, with several holes;
4. Green and white stripe, 33 inches x 17 inches,
dirty;
5. Orange, 40 inches x 18 inches, faded, dirty and
with holes.
The towels are purchased from rag sorting companies in
Western Europe which grade merchandise according to industry
standards, and have been determined to be so worn as not to
qualify as second grade toweling. The towels are imported in
bales of approximately 100 kilograms each and are sold by Fab
Tech to wholesalers which supply industrial wipers to industry in
the United States.
ISSUE:
Whether the articles in question are classifiable as rags in
heading 6310, HTSUSA.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Heading 6310, HTSUSA, covers, inter alia, used and new rags.
According to the Explanatory Notes, which constitute the official
interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international
level (four and six digits), rags of heading 6310
may consist of articles of furnishing or clothing or of
other old textile articles so worn out, soiled or torn as to
be beyond cleaning or repair, or of new small cuttings
(e.g., dressmakers' or tailors' snippings).
* * *
To fall in the heading, these products must be worn, dirty
or torn, or in small pieces. They are generally fit only
for recovery (e.g., by pulling) of the fibers (which are
usually re-spun), for the manufacture of paper or plastics,
for the manufacture of polishing materials (e.g., polishing
wheels), or for use as industrial wipers (e.g., machine
wipers).
The towels at issue are all either worn, dirty or torn. Many
have holes or frayed edges, while others are stained. The towels
are not suitable for use as face or bath towels, therefore, it is
Customs' view that the towels in question are beyond practicable
or commercially feasible repair. Since the merchandise at issue
is dirty and torn, and beyond repair, it meets the requirements
for classification in heading 6310, HTSUSA.
HOLDING:
The articles in question, if sorted, are classifiable in
subheading 6310.10.2010, HTSUSA, under the provision for used or
new rags...of textile materials, sorted, other, of cotton. If
imported unsorted, the articles in question are classifiable in
subheading 6310.90.2000, HTSUSA, under the provision for used or
new rags...of textile materials, other, other. Articles in these
subheadings are duty-free.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division