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NY N022797




March 4, 2008

CLA-2-61:OT:RR:NC:TAB:354

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6115.21.0020, 6115.22.0000, 6212.20.0020

Ms. Barbara Tuttle
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 women’s wear.

Dear Ms. Tuttle:

In your letter dated January 28, 2008, written on behalf of your client, Holt Hosiery, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

Style #EXP 13085 “Mid-Thigh Capri Length Shaper,” is a pair of capri-length footless pantyhose that reaches to below the knees and is constructed of 85% nylon, 15% spandex knit fabric. The hosiery is knit-to-shape and features a separately sewn-in gusset crotch, an elasticized waistband, hemmed leg openings, and an elasticized front and back center flatlock seam at the panty portion. For purposes of this ruling this office will assume that the panty hose measures per single yarn less than 67 decitex.

Style #EXP 13084 “Torso Shaper,” is made up of a tightly knit 85% nylon, 15% spandex fabric. The undergarment measures approximately 17 inches in length from the waist down to the leg openings, which extend to the mid-thigh. The knit-to-shape article has a separately sewn-in gusset crotch. Other features include two-ply leg extensions, an elasticized waistband and an elasticized front and back center flatlock seam. The highly supportive undergarment provides body support throughout and exhibits the structural characteristics of a girdle.

The applicable subheading for style #EXP 13085 if measuring per single yarn less than 67 decitex will be 6115.21.0020, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for other panty hose and tights: of synthetic fibers, measuring per single yarn less than 67 decitex, panty hose. The rate of duty will be 16% ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for style #EXP 13085 if measuring per single yarn 67 decitex or more will be 6115.22.0000, which provides for panty hose, tights, stockings, socks and other hosieryknitted or crocheted, panty hose and tights, of synthetic fibers, measuring per single yarn 67 decitex or more, other. The duty rate will be 14.9% ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for style #EXP 13084 will be 6212.20.0020, 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-girdlesof man-made fibers. The rate of duty 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/.

You have indicated that the components will be knit-to-shape in the United States with U.S. yarns. The knit-to-shape components will be exported to Colombia in greige (undyed) state along with the crotch gussets (of U.S. origin), waistbands (of U.S. origin), and U.S. origin thread for completion of the articles. In Colombia, the garments are slit and the crotch gussets are inserted, and the waistbands are attached. The finished but undyed garments are imported into the U.S. where they will then 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:” We are assuming that for this scenario, all materials incorporated into the subject undergarments are originating, therefore paragraph (c)(2) of Section 102.21 is inapplicable.

Section 102.21(c)(3) states,

Where the country of origin of a textile or apparel product cannot be determined under paragraph (c)(1) or (2) of this section:

(i) If the good was knit to shape, the country of origin of the good is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which the good was knit;

As the articles are knit-to-shape in a single country, that is, the United States, the country of origin is conferred in the U.S. Please note that approval of markings such as “Made in USA” is within the authority of the Federal Trade Commission. We suggest that you contact the FTC on the propriety of proposed markings indicating that an article is made in the United States.

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,

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