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NY C86002




April 16, 1998

CLA-2-64:RR:NC:347 C86002

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6402.99.90

Mr. Arthur Danforth
Hyde Athletic Industries, Inc.
Centennial Park
P.O. Box 6046
Peabody, MA 01961

RE: The tariff classification of footwear from China.

Dear Mr. Danforth:

In your letter dated March 25, 1998 you requested a classification ruling for two footwear styles. You state that your "Eclipse" style athletic footwear, style 1069 for women and style 2069 for men are offered in your regular catalog and style 1039 for women and 2039 for men are offered to large retailers. You state that there are no differences in design between style numbers.

The shoes have outer soles of rubber or plastics material and uppers made of a combination of plastics and textile materials. You have provided measurements of the external surface area of the uppers (ESAU),for both styles which you state have a margin of error of +/-3%. For style 1069/1039 you provide a measurement of 52.6 percent plastic and 47.4 percent textile. For style 2069/2039 you provide a measurement of 52.3 percent plastic and 47.7 percent textile.

You state that in measuring the upper, no account has been taken of accessories or reinforcements (A-R's) using the Hi-Tec standard. The saddle pieces, a piece of white plastic with your "River" logo embroidered through it, have been disregarded as A-R's. The throatstay pieces, small pieces of plastic on each side of the shoe, have also been disregarded as A-R's. In addition, all embroidery has been disregarded as A-R's. You further state that your measurements were begun at the lasting line. The tongue and the part of the unit molded sole that overlaps the upper were not included in your measurements, as they are not considered part of the upper. You continue that the white "Thunder" material on the tip, eyestay, outside mudguard, and foxing piece is plastic and considered part of the ESAU. The dark blue "Luck Skin" material on the tip underlay and inside mudguard is textile and part of the ESAU. We agree with your assessment of the ESAU materials, however we feel that the small plastic pieces which you refer to as "throatstay pieces" are considered ESAU rather than A-R's as they are attached to the plastic which is lasted under and cemented to the sole. In this regard we feel that they offer structural strength to the underlying textile material. The small amount of plastics material added to the ESAU with the inclusion of these pieces does not affect the classification for these styles.

You have indicated in a telephone inquiry that the value for these shoes is $12.10/pr.

The applicable subheading for styles 1069/1039 and 2069/2039 will be 6402.99.90, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, (HTS) which provides for footwear with outer soles and uppers of rubber or plastic, not covering the ankle, having uppers of which not over 90 percent of the external surface area (including accessories and reinforcements) is rubber or plastic, other, valued over $12/pr. The rate of duty will be 20 percent ad valorem.

The submitted sample is not marked with the country of origin. Therefore, if imported as is, it will not meet the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Accordingly, the footwear would be considered not legally marked under the provisions of 19 C.F.R. 134.11 which states, "every article of foreign origin (or its container) 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 manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article."

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,

Robert Swierupski
Director,

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