CLA-2 OT: RR: CTF: TCM H273353 GaK
Jay French
CCW Breakaways LLC
1619 Lowell Ln
New Cumberland, PA 17070
RE: Reconsideration of NY N270691; classification of men’s woven garment
Dear Mr. French:
This is in reply to your letter dated December 18, 2015, in which you requested reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N270691, dated December 8, 2015, which pertains to the tariff classification of a men’s woven garment with a cloth holster-pocket under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). In that ruling, the National Commodity Specialist Division (“NCSD”) determined that the men’s woven garment should be classified under subheading 6203.42.40, HTSUS, which provides for “[m]en’s or boys’ suits, ensembles, suit-type jackets, blazers, trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts (other than swimwear): Trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts: Of cotton: Other: Other.”
In your reconsideration request, you assert that the men’s woven garment is first and foremost a holster system integrated into a pair of pants and should be classified under heading 4202, HTSUS, which provides for, “[t]runks, suitcases, vanity cases, attache cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; traveling bags, insulated food or beverage bags, toiletry bags, knapsacks and backpacks, handbags, shopping bags, wallets, purses, map cases, cigarette cases, tobacco pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle cases, jewelry boxes, powder cases, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanized fiber or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper.”
The garment is men’s trousers with enlarged pockets. While you argue that the pocket is designed to carry a gun that allows the wearer to access the gun easily and should be a holster, we disagree. A holster is defined as a “case for carrying a firearm on the person.” When the pocket is removed from the trousers, it is simply fabric stitched around the edges with an opening on one side, which is then attached to the trousers and creating a pocket. The pocket is not designed to be used as a case for carrying a firearm on its own, unless it is sewn into trousers or other type of apparel. While you do not state that it is a composite good, we find that the product at issue is not a composite good since the pocket is not a good that is classifiable under a separate heading. The pocket is not an accessory or a made up article pursuant to note 7, Section XI, HTSUS. In addition, the cover pages of the patents for the pockets explicitly refer to the product as a “GARMENT POCKET FOR CARRYING AN OBJECT IN A CONCEALED STATE” (emphasis added).
For all of the foregoing reasons, we find that the men’s woven garment is correctly classified as men’s trousers under subheading 6203.42.45, HTSUS. We therefore affirm NY N270691, dated December 8, 2015.
Sincerely,
Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division