CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 953931 jlj
Mr. Istvan Kiss
Aga Designs
11638 Van Allen Road
Felton, California 95018
RE: Classification of 100 percent cotton, plain weave, hand
painted fabric intended as a needlepoint canvas
Dear Mr. Kiss:
In your letters of March 22, 1993, and February 22, 1993,
you requested a tariff classification under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) for a piece of
hand painted cotton fabric intended as a needlepoint canvas. You
submitted a sample along with your second letter.
FACTS:
The sample is a 100 percent cotton, plain weave, hand
painted fabric intended as a needlepoint canvas. The fabric is
hand painted with a needlepoint design in Hungary. The sample
submitted measures approximately 9-1/2 inches by approximately 9-
1/4 inches. It has a selvage at one end.
A Customs laboratory report of September 8, 1993, provides
the following information:
Average yarn number 24
Warp ends/cm 7
Filling picks/cm (4-ply) 7
Single yarns/sq cm 56
Grams/sq meter 229.15
Fiber content 100% cotton, bleached
Construction plain weave
Additionally, a member of the Office of Laboratories & Scientific
Services informed this office that the material at issue
constitutes duck as defined by Statistical Note 1 (h) of Chapter
52, HTSUSA.
ISSUE:
What is the correct HTSUSA classification of this piece of
fabric?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), taken
in order. GRI 1 provides that classification shall be according
to the terms of the headings and any relevant section or chapter
notes.
The instant merchandise is a textile article, a piece of
cotton fabric with a hand painted design on it. Since Section XI
covers textile articles, we must first look at the legal notes of
Section XI.
Subheading Note 1 (ij) of Section XI states as follows:
1. In this section...the following expressions have the
meanings hereby assigned to them:
* * *
(ij) Printed woven fabric:
Woven fabric which has been printed in the piece,
whether or not made from yarns of different
colors.
(The following are also regarded as printed woven
fabrics: woven fabrics bearing designs made, for
example, with a brush....) [Emphasis added.]
This is a woven fabric bearing a design made with a brush,
therefore it falls within the definition for printed woven fabric
in Section XI. Since it is cotton fabric, it falls within
Chapter 52, HTSUSA. Specifically, it falls within the provision
for woven fabrics of cotton, containing 85 percent or more by
weight of cotton, weighing more than 200 grams per square meter:
printed: plain weave: other: plain weave duck, in subheading
5209.51.6090, HTSUSA.
Because the possibility of classification under Chapter 49
provisions as printed matter was raised in your submission, we
will discuss why Chapter 49 does not apply to the instant
merchandise.
Chapter 49, HTSUSA, covers printed matter. The instant
fabric does not meet the criteria for Chapter 49 because the
fabric is hand painted. Chapter Note 2 of Chapter 49 states
that, for purposes of Chapter 49, the term "printed" also means
"reproduced by means of a duplicating machine, produced under the
control of a computer, embossed, photographed, photocopied,
thermocopied or typewritten." Nowhere in the Chapter 49
definition of "printed" is there any allowance for hand painted
articles. By virtue of the legal notes discussed above, the
fabric is provided for in Section XI, as printed woven fabric,
and is classified as such.
HOLDING:
The instant fabric is classified in subheading 5209.51.6090,
HTSUSA, dutiable at the rate of 8.9 percent ad valorem, textile
category 219.
Due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation
(the ninth and tenth digits of the classification) and the
restraint (quota/visa) categories applicable to textile
merchandise, you should contact your local Customs office prior
to importation of this merchandise to determine the current
status of any import restraints or requirements.
The designated textile and apparel category may be
subdivided into parts. If so, visa and quota requirements
applicable to the subject merchandise may be affected. Inasmuch
as part categories are the result of international bilateral
agreements which are subject to frequent renegotiations and
changes, to obtain the most current information available, we
suggest that you check, close to the time of shipment, the Status
Report on Current Import Quotas (Restraint Levels), an internal
issuance of the U. S. Customs Service, which is available for
inspection at your local Customs office.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division