CLA-2-64:OT:RR:NC:N4:447
Ms. Cassandra L. Bauerle
Reliable of Milwaukee
1126 S. 70th Street, Suite 112-3
Milwaukee, WI 53201
RE: The tariff classification of footwear from China
Dear Ms. Bauerle:
In your electronic ruling submitted on January 29, 2014 and your follow-up received on February 14, 2014 you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The submitted sample identified by you as style #17285 “Chris Boot,” is a women’s slip-on “fashion” boot with a rubber or plastics outer sole and a “faux leather” PU (polyurethane) upper that covers the ankle. The upper has two metal “penny-size” decorative buttons on its lateral side that do not account for more than ten percent of its external surface area. The boot does not have a foxing or a foxing-like band and is not “protective.” You suggest classification under subheading 6404.19.3715, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for in pertinent part; Footwear with uppers of textile materials. Because the upper is rubber or plastics, we disagree with this suggested classification.
The applicable subheading for the women’s fashion boot, style #17285 “Chris Boot,” will be 6402.91.4050, HTSUS, which provides for footwear with outer soles and uppers of rubber or plastics: other footwear: covering the ankle: other: in which the upper’s external surface area measures over 90% rubber or plastics (including accessories or reinforcements); which does not have a foxing or a foxing-like band and is not designed to be worn over, or in lieu of, other footwear as a protection against water, oil, grease or chemicals or cold inclement weather: for women: other. The rate of duty will be 6% 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 submitted sample is not marked with the country of origin. Therefore, if imported as is, it will not meet the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Accordingly, the footwear would be considered not legally marked under the provisions of 19 C.F.R. 134.11 which states, “every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit, in such manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.”
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 Stacey Kalkines at (646) 733-3042.
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein-Kirschner
Acting Director
National Commodity Specialist Division