HQ 0732121 - Country of origin marking requirements for men's cotton T- shirts - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 732121

October 4, 1989

MAR 2-05 CO:R:C:V 732121 pmh

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Arnold C. Park
New-Cari, Inc.
3670 Wilshire Blvd.
Suite 505
Los Angeles, Ca 90010

RE: Country of origin marking requirements for men's cotton T- shirts

Dear Mr. Park:

This is in response to your December 29, 1988 letter regarding the proper country of origin marking requirements for men's cotton T-shirts. Your letter has been forwarded to us from our New York office. We regret the delay in responding.

FACTS:

Men's 100 percent cotton all white T-shirts are manufactured in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas (CNMI) from imported fabric that is not marked with any cutting lines at the time of importation. In a letter dated October 17, 1988 (NY 832377), Customs in New York advised you that articles which are the product of the CNMI are exempt from the country of origin marking requirements and may be labeled "Made In USA." You were further advised that shirts manufactured in the CNMI from textiles which are not the product of the CNMI or the U.S. may be labeled "Made In USA," but must also indicate that they are made from imported fabric. You wish to know whether the following label is acceptable for the T-shirts:

"100% Cotton
Imported Fabric
Machine Wash Warm
Do Not Bleach
Tumble Dry Medium

New-Cari
Made In U.S.A."

ISSUE:

Whether the proposed label satisfies country of origin marking requirements.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article. Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. 1304 was "that the ultimate purchaser should be able to know by an inspection of the marking on the imported goods the country of which the goods are a product. The evident purpose is to mark the goods so that at the time of the purchase the ultimate purchaser may, by knowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy them, if such marking should influence his will." United States v. Friedlander & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297 at 302 (1940).

Because the articles in question are textile products subject to section 204 of the Agricultural Act of 1956, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1854), section 12.130, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 12.130) is applicable. Section 12.130 provides that the country of origin of a textile product is that foreign territory, country or insular possession where the article last underwent a substantial transformation. Section 12.130(e)(iv), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 12.130(e)(iv)) states that the cutting of fabric into parts and the assembly of those parts into athe completed article will usually result in the processing country being the country of origin. Furthermore, Customs has held that the cutting of fabric (which contains no indication where that fabric is to be cut) into garment parts, constitutes a substantial transformation of the fabric and the parts become a product of the country where the fabric is cut. (See ruling 731028, dated July 18, 1988.)

In this case, the cotton fabric is imported unmarked for cutting, cut into pieces and the pieces assembled into finished T-shirts in the CNMI. We find, therefore, that the CNMI is the country of origin of the finished T-shirts. Since Customs treats the CNMI as a territory or possession of the U.S., the T-shirts therefrom would be excluded from the country of origin marking requirements under section 134.32(l), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.31(l)). (See Ruling 729704, issued September 12, 1986 and Ruling 731028, issued July 18, 1988.)

With regard to use of the legend "Made In USA" on the proposed label in this case, we note that the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (the Textile Act), 15 U.S.C. 70, which is administered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and to which the T-shirts are subject, limits use of that legend to those textile products which are completely made in the U.S. of materials that were made in the U.S. (16 CFR 303.33(a)(2)). If textile products are composed in whole or in part of imported material, this must be disclosed on the label. (16 CFR 303.33(a)(3)). We find that the proposed label satisfies this requirement because it indicates that the cotton fabric from which the T-shirts are made, is imported.

HOLDING:

The textile products in this case are products of the CNMI and as such are exempt from the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 upon importation into the U.S. In addition, we find that they are subject to and indeed satisfy the FTC requirements noted above.

Sincerely,

Marvin M. Amernick

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