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 > 1997 HQ Rulings > HQ 953675 - HQ 954541 > HQ 953931

Previous Ruling Next Ruling
HQ 953931



September 29, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 953931 jlj

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 5209.51.6090

Mr. Istvan Kiss
Aga Designs
11638 Van Allen Road
Felton, California 95018

RE: Classification of 100 percent cotton, plain weave, hand painted fabric intended as a needlepoint canvas

Dear Mr. Kiss:

In your letters of March 22, 1993, and February 22, 1993, you requested a tariff classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) for a piece of hand painted cotton fabric intended as a needlepoint canvas. You submitted a sample along with your second letter.

FACTS:

The sample is a 100 percent cotton, plain weave, hand painted fabric intended as a needlepoint canvas. The fabric is hand painted with a needlepoint design in Hungary. The sample submitted measures approximately 9-1/2 inches by approximately 9- 1/4 inches. It has a selvage at one end.

A Customs laboratory report of September 8, 1993, provides the following information:

Average yarn number 24
Warp ends/cm 7
Filling picks/cm (4-ply) 7
Single yarns/sq cm 56
Grams/sq meter 229.15
Fiber content 100% cotton, bleached
Construction plain weave

Additionally, a member of the Office of Laboratories & Scientific Services informed this office that the material at issue constitutes duck as defined by Statistical Note 1 (h) of Chapter 52, HTSUSA.

ISSUE:

What is the correct HTSUSA classification of this piece of fabric?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), taken in order. GRI 1 provides that classification shall be according to the terms of the headings and any relevant section or chapter notes.

The instant merchandise is a textile article, a piece of cotton fabric with a hand painted design on it. Since Section XI covers textile articles, we must first look at the legal notes of Section XI.

Subheading Note 1 (ij) of Section XI states as follows:

1. In this section...the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

(ij) Printed woven fabric:

Woven fabric which has been printed in the piece, whether or not made from yarns of different colors.

(The following are also regarded as printed woven fabrics: woven fabrics bearing designs made, for example, with a brush....) [Emphasis added.]

This is a woven fabric bearing a design made with a brush, therefore it falls within the definition for printed woven fabric in Section XI. Since it is cotton fabric, it falls within Chapter 52, HTSUSA. Specifically, it falls within the provision for woven fabrics of cotton, containing 85 percent or more by weight of cotton, weighing more than 200 grams per square meter: printed: plain weave: other: plain weave duck, in subheading 5209.51.6090, HTSUSA.

Because the possibility of classification under Chapter 49 provisions as printed matter was raised in your submission, we will discuss why Chapter 49 does not apply to the instant merchandise.

Chapter 49, HTSUSA, covers printed matter. The instant fabric does not meet the criteria for Chapter 49 because the fabric is hand painted. Chapter Note 2 of Chapter 49 states that, for purposes of Chapter 49, the term "printed" also means "reproduced by means of a duplicating machine, produced under the control of a computer, embossed, photographed, photocopied, thermocopied or typewritten." Nowhere in the Chapter 49 definition of "printed" is there any allowance for hand painted articles. By virtue of the legal notes discussed above, the fabric is provided for in Section XI, as printed woven fabric, and is classified as such.

HOLDING:

The instant fabric is classified in subheading 5209.51.6090, HTSUSA, dutiable at the rate of 8.9 percent ad valorem, textile category 219.

Due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation (the ninth and tenth digits of the classification) and the restraint (quota/visa) categories applicable to textile merchandise, you should contact your local Customs office prior to importation of this merchandise to determine the current status of any import restraints or requirements.

The designated textile and apparel category may be subdivided into parts. If so, visa and quota requirements applicable to the subject merchandise may be affected. Inasmuch as part categories are the result of international bilateral agreements which are subject to frequent renegotiations and changes, to obtain the most current information available, we suggest that you check, close to the time of shipment, the Status Report on Current Import Quotas (Restraint Levels), an internal issuance of the U. S. Customs Service, which is available for inspection at your local Customs office.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

Previous Ruling Next Ruling

See also: