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NY 855908





CLA-2-64:S:N:N3-D:347-T 855908

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6402.99.15

Mr. Michael R. Spano
Michael R. Spano & Co., Inc.
190 McKee St.
Floral Park, New York 11001

RE: The tariff classification of footwear from Italy.

Dear Mr. Spano:

In your letter dated August 28, 1990, on behalf of Esprit De Corp., you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The two samples that have been submitted are both women's shoes, one being an open toe, open heel, slip-on with plastic elasticized ankle/heel straps, and the other a closed toe, closed back, espadrille style slip-on. The upper's of both these shoes are mostly made of a material you refer to as "briofil". This "briofil" material, you state, is made by a manufacturing process in which a cotton braid fiber is immersed (dipped) in a liquid plastic material, (PU), completely coating it with plastic and totally obscuring all of the underlying cotton braid. The resulting "briofil" strands are thereafter woven and/or tied in a designed pattern, stitched together to form sheets of material and sprayed with an aniline paint to obtain a variety of desired colors (other than neutral white). In addition, both shoes have cemented-on, molded rubber/plastic bottoms.

Chapter 64, Note 3 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated states that, for the purposes of this chapter, the expression "rubber or plastics" includes any textile material visibly coated (or covered) externally with one or both of those materials. Based on our visual examination and the foregoing descrip-tion of the process for making the "briofil", we do consider-the uppers of these two shoe samples to have plastic external surfaces.

The applicable subheading for the submitted samples described above will be 6402.99.15, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for footwear, in which the upper's external surface is predominately rubber and/or plastics; in which the outer sole's external surface is predominately rubber and/or plastics; which is other than "sports footwear"; in which the top of the upper is below the top of the ankle bone; in which the upper's external surface is over 90% rubber and/or plastics after every accessory and reinforcement present is included as part of the upper's external surface; which is not designed to be a protection against water, oil or cold or inclement weather; which does not have a foxing-like band; and which is not a "zori". The rate of duty will be 6 percent ad valorem.

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

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