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HQ 084244


July 14, 1989

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 084244 SM

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6304.92; 6304.93; 63304.99

Ms. Sylvia J. Naylor
405 Briarwood Drive
Kingston, Ontario K7M 7V2
Canada

RE: Tariff classification of embroidered pictures/hangings

Dear Ms. Naylor:

Your letter of March 30, addressed to our New York office, requesting a tariff classification ruling for your embroidered pictures/hangings, has been referred to this office for reply.

FACTS:

You state that you are a textile artist and that your work is exhibited and sold in galleries in several countries, and that you would like to exhibit in the United States. You enclose copies of a number of articles and announcements con- cerning exhibitions of your work.

No samples were submitted, but you have sent slides and pictures of your works. They consist of landscapes as well as pictures of gardens and wildflowers, each one unique, formed by embroidery on silk or cotton. After making a sketch on paper from one of your own photographs, you use a machine needle to embroider on fabric held with an embroidery hoop. The machine is not computerized and does not use preset embroidery stitches. The feed teeth are stopped to allow free movement of the fabric. The picture may be finished with hand embroidery and/or other techniques such as applique, and each is signed. It can then be framed and displayed.

ISSUE:

How are the embroidered pictures/hangings classified?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of imported merchandise under the Har- monized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpre- tation (GRI's). GRI 1 provides that classification is deter- mined first in accordance with the terms of the headings of the tariff and any relative section and chapter notes and then, if nothing in the headings or notes otherwise requires, in accordance with the remaining GRI's.

Several headings of the tariff provide for certain works of art and carry a rate of duty of free. For example, heading 9701, HTSUSA, covers paintings, drawings, and pastels executed entirely by hand. Heading 9702 covers original engravings, prints, and lithographs. Heading 9703 covers original sculp- tures and statuary. None, however, includes embroidered pictures.

The finished pictures are intended to be displayed on a wall. Thus they fall under heading 6304, HTSUSA, a provision for other furnishing articles including wall hangings.

HOLDING:

The embroidered pictures/hangings are classified under subheading 6304.92, 6304.93, or 6304.99, HTSUSA, according to their fiber content.

If the materials used to make the pictures/hangings are wholly obtained or produced in the territory of Canada and/or the United States, the finished products may qualify as goods originating in the territory of Canada and be subject to a reduced rate of duty under the United States-Canada Free-Trade Agreement.

If you bring the works in temporarily for exhibition, and not for sale or sale on approval, they may qualify for duty-free entry under bond, under subheading 9813.00.70, HTSUSA, which provides for:

Works of the free fine arts . . . brought into the United States by professional artists . . . arriv- ing from abroad for use by them for exhibition and in illustration, promotion, and encouragement of art, science or industry in the United States

If the goods qualify as "originating in Canada" under the United-States Canada Free-trade Agreement, posting of bond would not be required.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division


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