United States International Trade Commision Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule
faqs.org  Rulings By Number  Rulings By Category  Tariff Numbers
faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 1990 HQ Rulings > HQ 0554949 - HQ 0555085 > HQ 0554959

Previous Ruling Next Ruling


HQ 554959


August 29, 1988

CLA-2 CO:R:C:V 554959 A

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9802.00.80, HTSUS (807.00, TSUS)

Mr. Rodolfo Vela
International Assemblers
324 Candlewood
Laredo, Texas 78041

RE: Applicability of reduced duty treatment for the value of U.S. components of imported drapes assembled in Mexico.

Dear Mr. Vela:

Your letter of March 1, 1988, requests a ruling concerning the applicability of item 807.00, Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS), to certain drapes to be assembled in Mexico and imported into the United States. A sample was submitted for examination.

FACTS:

You state that components manufactured in the United States, consisting of pre-cut fabric pieces, 4" wide rolls of crinoline, spools of thread, metal pins, color tags, metal hangers and paper sleeves, will be exported to Mexico, where they will be assembled into drapes to be used in the home, business or otherwise, for window coverings.

The process of assembly involves folding and sewing a 1 1/4" hem at each edge of a piece of fabric and a 4" hem at the bottom of the fabric; crinoline is cut to size (length) and sewn to the top of the piece of fabric, which is folded to form a hem. Next, the fabric and crinoline are folded and sewn forming pleats; a color tag is sewn in one of the pleats, and metal pins are inserted by piercing through the fabric and crinoline. After the drape is finished, it is inspected, folded, hung on a metal hanger, and a paper sleeve is wrapped around the drapes and a color tag stapled to the hanger to identify the product.

ISSUE:

Whether the drapes described above will be eligible for the reduced duty treatment provided for in item 807.00, TSUS (9802.00.80, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)), when imported into the United States.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Item 807.00, TSUS (19 U.S.C. 1202), applies to articles assembled abroad in whole or in part of fabricated components, the product of the United States, with no operations performed thereon except the attachment of the components to form the imported merchandise, and operations incidental thereto. An article classified under item 807.00, TSUS, is subject to the duty upon the full appraised value of the imported article, less the cost or value of such products of the United States.

Sections 10.11-10.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.11- 10.24), set forth definitive and interpretative regulations pertaining to the construction of item 807.00, TSUS, and related provisions of law. Section 10.16(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.16(a)), provides that the assembly operations performed abroad may consist of any method used to join or fit together solid components, (including sewing, or the use of fasteners), and may be preceded, accompanied, or followed by operations incidental to the assembly as illustrated in paragraph (b) of that section.

The 1 1/4" hem sewn at the edges of the fabric and the 4" hem sewn at the bottom do not constitute assembly operations because the fabric is joined to itself rather than another component. The necessity for such hemming demonstrates that the curtain fabric was not in condition ready for assembly with other components at the time of exportation, as the statute requires, nor is the hemming considered incidental to any subsequent assembly.

While the joining of the stiffening crinoline strip to the top of the fabric would, by itself, be an acceptable assembly operation (the top hem being created incidental to that operation), the subsequent pleat-making operation is a completely separate process and constitutes a non-incidental, non-assembly manufacture/fabrication which advances in value both the curtain fabric and crinoline (which are then an assembled unit). Consequently, the otherwise valid assembly of the crinoline to the curtain fabric is thereby invalidated for 807.00 purposes.

The pleating, addition of pins and color tags are neither assembly operations nor incidental to an assembly. U.S. v. Mast Industries, Inc., 668 F. 2d 501 (1981), 69 CCPA 47.

HOLDING:

On the basis of the samples and information submitted, no allowance in duty may be made under item 807.00, TSUS, for the cost or value of the described U.S. fabricated components that are exported to Mexico and assembled into the imported drapes.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

Previous Ruling Next Ruling

See also: