CLA-2-62:OT:RR:NC:TAB:354
Ms. Sandra Tovar
CST, Inc.
500 Lanier Ave.
W. Suite 901
Fayetteville, GA 30214
RE: The tariff classification and status under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) of a woman’s undergarment from Colombia.
Dear Ms. Tovar:
In your letter dated March 4, 2008, written on behalf of your client, Holt Hosiery, you requested a classification ruling.
You have submitted a sample of a “Panty Smoother,” style #6010, which is a woman’s girdle constructed of 86% nylon and 14% spandex knit fabric. The garment reaches down to the mid thigh and features a self-fabric hemmed waistband, a separately sewn-in gusset crotch, and two-ply fabric making up each leg extension. The panty girdle portion features a front and back center seam. The undergarment provides body support throughout, from the waist to the mid thighs.
The applicable subheading for style #6010 “Panty Smoother” will be 6212.20.0020, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for brassieres, girdles, corsets, braces, suspenders, garters and similar articles and parts thereof, whether or not knitted or crocheted: girdles and panty-girdles…of man-made fibers. The duty rate will be 20% 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 garment components will be knit-to-shape in North Carolina, using nylon and spandex yarns of U.S. origin, where knitting machines will create a separate tubular knit component with a self-start bottom for each leg/panty girdle portion, as well as the gusset crotch component that makes up the garment. The knit-to-shape components will be shipped to Colombia, along with U.S.-origin thread for completion of the garment. In Colombia, the two leg/panty girdle components are slit open and then sewn together, creating the front and back center seam of the panty girdle portion, and the gusset crotch portion is sewn in. The girdles will then be imported directly into the U.S., where they will be dyed, boarded, steamed, and packaged for retail sale.
Colombia is a designated beneficiary Andean country under ATPDEA. See U.S. Note 1, Subchapter XXI, HTSUS.
Subheading 9821.11.01, HTSUS, provides for preferential treatment for articles imported from a designated beneficiary Andean country, as follows:
Apparel articles sewn or otherwise assembled in one or more such countries, or the United States, or both, exclusively from any of the following:
Fabrics or fabric components wholly formed, or components knit-to-shape, in the United States, from yarns wholly formed in the United States or in one or more such countries (including fabrics not formed from yarns, if such fabrics are classifiable in heading 5602 or 5603 of the tariff schedule and are formed in the United States), provided that, if such apparel articles are assembled from knitted or crocheted fabrics or from woven fabrics, all dyeing, printing and finishing of the fabrics is carried out in the United States.
Based on the information you provided, the articles are eligible for duty free treatment in subheading 9821.11.01, HTSUS, which provides for special tariff benefits for certain textile and apparel goods under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, provided the apparel articles meet the remaining requirements of the relevant ATPDEA provisions.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Section 334 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (codified at 19 U.S.C. 3592), enacted on December 8, 1994, provided rules of origin for textiles and apparel entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on and after July 1, 1996. Section 102.21, Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 102.21), published September 5, 1995 in the Federal Register, implements Section 334 (60 FR 46188). Section 334 of the URAA was amended by section 405 of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, enacted on May 18, 2000, and accordingly, section 102.21 was amended (68 Fed. Reg. 8711). Thus, the country of origin of a textile or apparel product shall be determined by the sequential application of the general rules set forth in paragraphs (c)(1) through (5) of Section 102.21.
Paragraph (c)(1) states, “The country of origin of a textile or apparel product is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which the good was wholly obtained or produced.” As the subject merchandise is not wholly obtained or produced in a single country, territory or insular possession, paragraph (c)(1) of Section 102.21 is inapplicable.
Paragraph (c)(2) states, “Where the country of origin of a textile or apparel product cannot be determined under paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the country of origin of the good is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which each of the foreign materials incorporated in that good underwent an applicable change in tariff classification, and/or met any other requirement, specified for the good in paragraph (e) of this section:”
19 CFR 102.21(e) for heading 6212 states “if the good consists of two or more component parts, a change to an assembled good of heading 6210 through 6212 from unassembled components, provided that the change is the result of the good being wholly assembled in a single country, territory, or insular possession.”
The term “wholly assembled” when used with reference to a good means that all components, of which there must be at least two, preexisted in essentially the same condition as found in the finished good and were combined to form the finished good in a single country, territory, or insular possession. Minor attachments and minor embellishments (for example, appliqués, beads, spangles, embroidery, buttons) not appreciably affecting the identity of the good, and minor subassemblies (for example, collars, cuffs, plackets, pockets) will not affect the status of a good as “wholly assembled” in a single country, territory, or insular possession.
As the finished article consists of two or more parts that are wholly assembled in a single country, that is Colombia, as per the terms of the tariff shift requirement, country of origin is conferred in Colombia.
Based on the information that you supplied, and provided all requirements are met, the article meets the requirements set forth in the aforementioned interim regulations and the description contained at subheading 9821.11.01, HTSUS, for preferential treatment under the ATPDEA. In view of the foregoing, the subject garment is eligible for duty free treatment under subheading 9821.11.01, HTSUS. You also state that a qualifying nylon filament yarn of subheading 5402.31, HUSUS, from Israel may be used in the production of the panty smoothers. Subchapter XXI, U.S. Note 4(d) states that:
For purposes of subheadings 9821.11.01 through 9821.11.13, inclusive, and subheading 9821.11.25, an article otherwise eligible for preferential treatment under such subheadings shall not be ineligible because the article contains nylon filament yarn (other then elastomeric yarn) that is classifiable in subheading 5402.10.30, 5402.10.60, 5402.31.30, 5402.31.60, 5402.32.30, 5402.32.60, 5402.45.10, 5402.45.90, 5402.51.00 or 5402.61.00 of the tariff schedule that is a product of Israel, Canada or Mexico.
In this regard, the imported articles that are made with qualifying nylon filament yarn of subheading 5402.31, HTSUS, would also be eligible for duty free treatment under subheading 9821.11.01, HTSUS.
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 Deborah Marinucci at 646-733-3054.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division