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NY 805759



February 08, 1995

CLA-2-64:S:N:N8:346 805759

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6404.11.20

Mr. Donald Kuhl
BWI Corp
890 Airport Park Road, Suite 118
Glen Burnie, MD 21061

RE: The country of origin marking and tariff classification of athletic shoes from Indonesia, Accessories-Reinforcements

Dear Mr. Kuhl:

In your letter dated 12-6-94 for Head Sports Wear, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The samples, labelled "Anatom, Run-A-Way, 00625", have a very unusual upper. Almost all that is visible covering the wearer's foot when worn, laces and tongue excluded, are the top part of the rubber sidewalls of the simultaneous molded bottom, and several substantial areas of nylon mesh and plastic coated leather. The exposed nylon mesh is not part of a complete upper of nylon mesh, which is the norm in similar shoes, but several patches of an unusually thin mesh cemented to a sturdy fabric with a relatively fuzzy, napped surface. The nylon fabric here thus seems to serve a simply decorative purpose. The leather pieces are all stitched to this same fuzzy fabric. The fuzzy fabric has its own lining inside it, covers the entire foot, is stitched to the underfoot in these slip-lasted constructed shoes, and is clearly the only possible base material of the "upper". Although it is an unusual upper since fuzziness is not the norm in the aesthetics of athletic footwear uppers and since none of its surface is visible in the finished shoe, we believe it must be the "upper" by the process of elimination so we consider the rubber sidewalls, the cemented-on nylon mesh, and the leather pieces all to be "accessories or reinforcements".

We note that the "Made in Indonesia" is on the part of the sewn in label which leaves it right at the sock line,in fact the last two letters of "Indonesia" are covered up by the removable insole in one of the samples, and it is about two inches further forward inside the shoe compared to the top edge of the tongue. Even though this label also has the USA, JPN, EUR, UK shoe sizes, which is a general indication that the label is in a reasonably "conspicuous" location, it is clear that the "Made in Indonesia" here is not in a location which is as conspicuous as the nature of the article will allow. Therefore, if imported as is, Customs should refuse delivery of these shoes into USA commerce until remarked in a more conspicuous location, e.g., on the inside of the top of the tongue.

The applicable subheading for this style will be 6404.11.20, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for footwear, in which the upper's external surface is predominately textile materials (Note that an accessory or reinforcement on top of another material is not part of the upper's external surface, but the material hidden underneath is); in which the outer sole's external surface is predominately rubber and/or plastics; which is either "sports footwear" or tennis, basketball, gym, or training shoes or the like; and in which the upper's external surface area is over 50% leather after every leather accessory and reinforcement present is included as part of the upper's external surface. The rate of duty will be 10.5 percent.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.

Sincerely,

Jean F. Maguire
Area Director
New York Seaport

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