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NY B83998




April 28, 1997

CLA-2-64:RR:NC:347 B83998

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6403.99.90

Mr. Wolcott T. Hinchey
Vice President - Finance
P.W. Minor & Son, Inc.
3 Treadeasy Avenue
P.O. Box 678
Batavia, NY 14021-0678

RE: The tariff classification of leather footwear.

Dear Mr. Hinchey:

In your letter dated April 1, 1997, you requested a classification ruling for leather footwear which you describe as orthopedic shoes.

You state that your company designs, develops and manufactures orthopedic and therapeutic footwear for sale to the retail trade in service to the medical community. In doing so, the footwear is intended to be acted upon by the retailer who is usually a certified pedorthist. You further state, By this we mean that the footwear is essentially a made to measure blank which will be altered, fabricated and or customized by the pedorthist to address the specific malady of his or her client or patient.

You also explain that the extra depth of the shoe allows for the insertion of a customized orthotic or insole as the case may be without disturbing the overall fit of the shoe. This combined with the fact that the footwear are made on combination lasts the principle use in the United States is for the special medical needs of patients and others with abnormal feet, foot operations, ailments of the feet and other discomforts in which a regular shoe will not fit or cause pain.

The Explanatory Notes to Chapter 90, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States describe orthopaedic footwear as having an enlarged leather stiffener which may be reinforced with a metal or cork frame, made only to measure. In this regard the submitted footwear sample is not considered orthopaedic footwear for tariff purposes.

The shoe submitted as a representative sample of the footwear to be imported is a shoe with an outer sole of rubber or plastic and an upper of leather. It is held to the foot by a lace. The applicable subheading will be 6403.99.90, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for footwear with outer soles of rubber, plastic, leather or composition leather and uppers of leather, not covering the ankle, for other persons, valued over $2.50/pair. The rate of duty will be 10 percent ad valorem.

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

A copy of this ruling letter or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding this ruling, contact National Import Specialist, Richard Foley at (212) 466-5890.

Sincerely,

Paul K. Schwartz
Chief, Textiles & Apparel Branch

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