CLA-2-62:OT:RR:NC:N3:360
Ms. Laura S. Rabinowitz
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
101 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10178
RE: The tariff classification and eligibility under 9802.00.8068, HTSUS, of woman’s trousers from Mexico
Dear Ms. Rabinowitz:
In your letter dated April 13, 2017, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, Topjean S.A. De C.V. Your request concerns the applicability of 9802.00.8068, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, (HTSUS) to certain women’s trousers that will be assembled in Mexico. Your samples will be returned as requested.
Style 1764648-657 is a pair of women’s trousers constructed from 81% cotton, 17% polyester, and 2% spandex woven fabric. The trousers feature a front fly opening with a zipper closure and a metal button on a flat waistband, five belt loops, two rear patch pockets, three front pockets, and hemmed leg openings.
In your letter, you state that the fabric will be made in China and imported into the United States. In the United States, the fabric will be cut into component parts. The component parts will then be sent to Mexico for assembly into finished garments, and the finished garments will be packaged and imported into the United States.
The applicable subheading for style 1764648-657 will be 6204.62.8021, HTSUS, which provides for Women’s or girls’ suits, ensembles, suit-type jackets, blazers, dresses, skirts, divided skirts, trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts (other than swimwear): Trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts: Of cotton: Other: Other: Other: Other: Other: Women’s trousers and breeches: Other. The rate of duty will be 16.6 percent 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 the World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
Subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, provides for:
Articles, except goods of heading 9802.00.90 and goods imported under provisions of subchapter XIX of this chapter and goods imported under provisions of subchapter XX, assembled abroad in whole or in part of fabricated components, the product of the United States, which (a) were exported in condition ready for assembly without further fabrication, (b) have not lost their physical identity in such articles by change in form, shape or otherwise, and (c) have not been advanced in value or improved in condition abroad except by being assembled and except by operations incidental to the assembly process such as cleaning, lubricating and painting.
All three requirements of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, must be satisfied before a component may receive a duty allowance. An article entered under this tariff provision is subject to duty upon the full appraised value of the imported assembled article, less the cost or value of the U.S. components assembled therein, upon compliance with the documentation requirements of section 10.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.24).
Section 10.14(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.14(a)), provides in part that the components must be in a condition ready for assembly without further fabrication at the time of their exportation from the U.S. to qualify for the exemption. Components will not lose their entitlement to the exemption by being subjected to operations incidental to the assembly either before, during, or after their assembly with other components. Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)), provides that the assembly operation performed abroad may consist of any method used to join or fit together solid components, such as welding, soldering, riveting, force fitting, gluing, laminating, sewing, or the use of fasteners. Operations incidental to the assembly process are not considered further fabrication operations, as they are of a minor nature and cannot always be provided for in advance of the assembly operations. However, any significant process, operation or treatment whose primary purpose is the fabrication, completion, physical or chemical improvement of a component precludes the application of the exemption under HTSUS subheading 9802.00.80 to that component. See 19 CFR 10.16(c). Section 10.25, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.25), provides that where a textile component is cut to shape (but not to length, width or both) in the United States from foreign fabric and exported to another country, territory, or insular possession for assembly into an article that is then returned to the United States and entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after July 1, 1996, the value of the textile component shall not be included in the dutiable value of the article.
In this case, the assembly of the women’s trousers in Mexico from component parts cut in the United States is an acceptable operation for the purposes of reduced duty treatment in heading 9802. As such, the trousers are eligible for a duty allowance under HTS 9802.00.8068, upon compliance with the documentary requirements of section 10.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.24).
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 Kimberly Rackett via email at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division