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NY G80359




August 10, 2000

CLA2-RR:NC:WA:355 G80359

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

Ms. Barbara Yang
Inner Mongolia (USA) Shiqi Group
1350 Broadway, #602
New York, NY 10018

RE: Classification and country of origin determination for a men’s suit; 19 CFR 102.21(c)

Dear Ms. Yang:

This is in reply to your letter dated August 1, 2000, requesting a classification and country of origin determination for a men’s wool suit which will be imported into the United States.

FACTS:

The subject merchandise consists of a men’s woolen suit. The jacket is made of four panels; two front tailored panels and two back panels, which are joined by two side panels. The jacket has a notched collar, a breast pocket, two front pockets, and four interior pockets. The jacket is fully lined. The pants feature a zippered, placketed fly, two side pockets, two back pockets, and a waistband with belt loops. The front panels of the pants are lined to just below the knee. The shell of the suit is made of 100 percent wool. The lining fabric is 100 percent nylon.

The manufacturing operations for the suit are as follows:

The fabric is fully formed in a country other than the United States, Israel or a NAFTA eligible county. The suit jacket is completely cut and assembled in Mongolia. There are no processes performed on the jacket outside of Mongolia, aside from packing, which takes place, along with the pants, in China. The pants are completely cut and assembled in China. In China, the jacket and pants will be packaged together and shipped to the United States.

ISSUE:

What are the classification and country of origin of the subject merchandise?

CLASSIFICATION:

The applicable subheading for the suit will be 6203.11.2000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), which provides for men’s or boys’ suits, suits, of wool or fine animal hair, other. The rate of duty will be 21.2 cents per kg. plus 18.9 percent ad valorem.

The suit falls within textile category designation 443. The designated textile and apparel categories and their quota and visa status are the result of international agreements that are subject to frequent renegotiations and changes. To obtain the most current information, we suggest that you check, close to the time of shipment, the U.S. Customs Service Textile Status Report, an internal issuance of the U.S. Customs Service, which is available at the Customs Web Site at WWW.CUSTOMS.GOV. In addition, the designated textile and apparel categories may be subdivided into parts. If so, visa and quota requirements applicable to the subject merchandise may be affected and should also be verified at the time of shipment.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN - LAW AND ANALYSIS:

On December 8, 1994, the President signed into law the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. Section 334 of that Act (codified at 19 U.S.C. 3592) provides new rules of origin for textiles and apparel entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on and after July 1, 1996. On September 5, 1995, Customs published Section 102.21, Customs Regulations, in the Federal Register, implementing Section 334 (60 FR 46188). Thus, effective July 1, 1996, the country of origin of a textile or apparel product shall be determined by sequential application of the general rules set forth in paragraphs (c)(1) through (5) of Section 102.21.

Paragraph (c)(1) states that "The country of origin of a textile or apparel product is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which the good was wholly obtained or produced." As the subject merchandise is not wholly obtained or produced in a single country, territory or insular possession, paragraph (c)(1) of Section 102.21 is inapplicable.

Paragraph (c)(2) states that "Where the country of origin of a textile or apparel product cannot be determined under paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the country of origin of the good is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which each of the foreign materials incorporated in that good underwent an applicable change in tariff classification, and/or met any other requirement, specified for the good in paragraph (e) of this section:"

Paragraph (e) in pertinent part states that "The following rules shall apply for purposes of determining the country of origin of a textile or apparel product under paragraph (c)(2) of this section":

HTSUS Tariff shift and/or other requirements

6201 – 6208 If the good consists of two or more component parts, a change to an assembled good of heading 6201 through 6208 from unassembled components, provided that the change is the result of the good being wholly assembled in a single country, territory, or insular possession

Section 102.21(e) states that the good must be wholly assembled in a single country, territory or insular possession. Accordingly, as the suit does not meet this criteria, the jacket is assembled in Mongolia and the pants are assembled in China, Section 102.21(c)(2) is inapplicable.

Section 102.21(c)(3) states that, "Where the country of origin of a textile or apparel product cannot be determined under paragraph (c)(1) or (2) of this section":

(i) If the good was knit to shape, the country of origin of the good is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which the good was knit; or

(ii) Except for goods of heading 5609, 5807, 5811, 6213, 6214, 6301 through 6306, and 6308, and subheadings 6209.20.5040, 6307.10, 6307.90, and 9404.90, if the good was not knit to shape and the good was wholly assembled in a single country, territory, or insular possession, the country of origin of the good is the country, territory, or insular possession in which the good was wholly assembled.

As the subject merchandise is neither knit, nor wholly assembled in a single country, Section 102.21 (c)(3) is inapplicable.

Section 102.21 (c)(4) states, "Where the country of origin of a textile or apparel product cannot be determined under paragraph (c)(1), (2) or (3) of this section, the country of origin of the good is the single country, territory or insular possession in which the most important assembly or manufacturing process occurred".

In the case of the subject suit, the jacket and suit are wholly assembled in different countries. The jacket is wholly assembled in Mongolia and the pants are wholly assembled in China.

As was stated in Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 960083, dated July 8, 1997, regarding the country of origin of suit components manufactured in different countries:

“Section 102.17, customs Regulations (19C.F.R. 102.17), which is incorporated by reference in section 102.21, and which specifically refers to section 102.21, provides, in pertinent part, as follows: Non-qualifying operations.

A foreign material shall not be considered to have undergone the applicable change in tariff classification set out in 102.20 or 102.21, or satisfy the other applicable requirements of that Section by reason of: (c) simple packing, repacking or retail packaging without more than minor processing;”

In accordance with the clear wording of the above quoted Customs regulations, the components of the suit (i.e., the jacket and pants) sent to China after processing in Mongolia (the jacket), are subjected in China to “simple packing, repacking or retail packaging without more than minor processing.” As a result, under section 102.21, the jacket and pants remain products of Mongolia and China respectively.

The foregoing result is not a novel consequence of the circumstance of this case. It appears that Treasury Decision (TD) 91-7, which is an interpretive rule concerning, among other things, the applicability of special tariff treatment programs (e.g. the General System of Preferences (GSP) and the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) to collections of articles classified under a single tariff provision such as sets, mixtures, and composite goods, would have dictated the same origin result for the imported suit. In addition to recognizing that there may be multiple countries of origin for those types of articles, TD 91-7 specifically states that where an entire imported entity (set or composite good) is not the “product of” the beneficiary country, neither the entity nor any part thereof is entitle to preferential rates of duty.

Similarly, in the case of the subject merchandise, although the simple packing of the Mongolian-made jacket in China does result in the classification of both components as a “suit” for tariff purposes, it does not change the origin of that component. As such, the most important manufacturing process for the subject merchandise is the country in which each of the components for the suit was wholly assembled. This is consistent with the requirements set out in section 102.21(c)(2) which establishes that the origin of merchandise classified in heading 6203, HTSUS, is the single country in which the good is assembled.

HOLDING:

The country of origin of the jacket is Mongolia. The country of origin of the pants is China. For purposes of marking each component should be clearly marked with the appropriate country of origin.

For purposes of quota/visa, as the suit is classified in subheading 6203.11.2000, HTSUS, it requires a textile visa for category 443. As the suit has two countries of origin, (that is, Mongolia for the jacket and China for the pants), usually a textile visa for category 643 from both countries would be required. As Mongolia does not require a visa at this time, only a visa from China in category 643 is required.

The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise identified in the ruling request. This position is clearly set forth in section 19 CFR 177.9(b)(1). This section states that a ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177). Should it be subsequently determined that the information furnished is not complete and does not comply with 19 CFR 177.9(b)(1), the ruling will be subject to modification or revocation. In the event there is a change in the facts previously furnished, this may affect the determination of country of origin. Accordingly, if there is any change in the facts submitted to Customs, it is recommended that a new ruling request be submitted in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2.

A copy of the ruling 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 the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Camille Ferraro at 212-637-7082.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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