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HQ 081618


November 16, 1988

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 081618 SM

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6104.42.0010; 6104.52.0010; 6109.10.0060; 6110.10.2080; 6110.20.2075; 6114.20.0010

Mr. William Ortiz
Import Supervisor
S. J. Stile Associates, Ltd.
153 66 Rockaway Boulevard
Jamaica, New York 11434

RE: Tariff classification of sequined apparel

Dear Mr. Ortiz:

Your letters of December 1 and 4, 1987, and May 5, 1988, on behalf of Lloyd Williams, addressed to the Area Director of Customs, New York Seaport, requesting tariff classification rulings for six styles of sequined garments, have been re- ferred here to Customs Headquarters for reply.

FACTS:

Samples of six styles of women's garments were sub- mitted. You state that all will be manufactured in Hong Kong except Style 78601/88902, which will be manufactured in China. All but Style 78601/88902 are of 100 percent cotton knit fab- ric; the latter style is of 95 percent lamb's wool and five percent nylon. All six styles are virtually covered on the outer surface with plastic sequins and bugles.

Style 78302 is a tank top with straps approximately two inches wide at the shoulder and low front and back neck- lines. It also has rib-knit neckline, armhole, and lower edges.

Style 78301 is similar to Style 78302 but does not reach the waist.

Style 88209 is a short tank dress dipping almost to the waist in back, with straps approximately two inches wide at the shoulder. It also has rib-knit neckline, armhole, and lower edges.

Style 78305 is a pull-on skirt with an elasticized waist and rib-knit lower edge.

Style 78303 is a pullover with short sleeves and rib- knit sleeve, neckline, and lower edges. Style 78601/88902 is a pullover with long sleeves and similar rib-knit edges, fitted with shoulder pads.

ISSUE:

How are sequined, or beaded, garments classified under the HTSUSA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Under the Tariff Schedules of the United States Anno- tated (TSUSA), textile apparel articles with beads or sequins were generally classified as ornamented textile apparel. Depending on the amount of beadwork, however, they might be classified as articles of beads or as articles of personal adornment. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), in contrast, makes no distinction between ornamented and unornamented textile articles. The HTSUSA is a new statute with new rules for the classification of imported articles.

Classification under the HTSUSA is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1 provides that classification is determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative sec- tion and chapter notes.

Various headings of Chapter 61, HTSUSA, provide for articles of apparel, knitted or crocheted. Heading 6104 in- cludes women's skirts and dresses, knitted or crocheted. Heading 6106 includes women's blouses and shirts, knitted or crocheted. Heading 6109 includes tank tops, knitted or cro- cheted. Heading 6110 includes pullovers and similar articles, knitted or crocheted. Heading 6114 provides for other gar- ments, knitted or crocheted.

The Explanatory Notes, the official interpretation of the HTSUSA at the international level, indicate that classifi- cation of goods in Chapter 61 is not affected by the presence of parts or accessories of, for example, plastics, unless these materials constitute more than mere trimming. In such a case the articles are to be classified in accordance with the relative chapter notes or the GRI's.

The plastic on these garments, in the form of sequins, also referred to as spangles, and bugles, cannot be said to constitute more than trimming. The articles themselves are knitted cotton or wool garments complete without the sequins.

Even assuming that the sequins were to be treated as other than trimming, the only other possible provision into which the samples might fall to be classified is heading 3926, HTSUSA, which provides for other articles of plastics. How- ever, this classification is precluded by a relative chapter note, Note 2 of Chapter 39, which excludes from Chapter 39 textiles and textile articles of Section XI, in which Chapter 61 occurs.

The Explanatory Notes for heading 3926, HTSUSA, specify that certain wearing apparel is intended to be covered by this heading, i.e., "articles of apparel and clothing accessories (other than toys) made by sewing or sealing sheets of plas- tics, e.g., aprons, belts, babies' bibs, raincoats, etc." This description does not cover the garments in question, and we conclude that they are properly classifiable in Chapter 61.

HOLDING:

Style 78302 is classified under subheading 6109.10.0060, HTSUSA, textile category 339, a provision for women's tank tops of cotton, knitted or crocheted.

Style 78301 is classified under subheading 6114.20.0010, HTSUSA, textile category 339, a provision for women's cotton tops, knitted or crocheted.

Style 88209 is classified under subheading 6104.42.0010, HTSUSA, textile category 336, a provision for women's cotton dresses, knitted or crocheted.

Style 78305 is classified under subheading 6104.52.0010, HTSUSA, textile category 342, a provision for women's cotton skirts, knitted or crocheted.

By Chapter Note 4 of Chapter 61, Style 78303 is not classifiable under heading 6106, HTSUSA, as a blouse because it has a ribbed band at the bottom and because it has fewer than ten stitches per linear centimeter. By Statistical Note 3 of Chapter 61, it cannot be classified under a statistical provision for sweaters, because it is not constructed with nine or fewer stitches per two centimeters. It is therefore classified under subheading 6110.20.2075, HTSUSA, textile
category 339, a provision for women's sweaters, pullovers, sweatshirts, waistcoats, and similar articles, knitted or cro- cheted, of cotton, other. For the same reason, Style 78601/ 88902 is classified under the corresponding provision for other women's garments of wool, subheading 6110.10.2080, tex- tile category 438.

These classifications represent the present position of the Customs Service under the HTSUSA. If there are changes before the effective date of January 1, 1989, this advice may not continue to be applicable.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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