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HQ 966510




August 27, 2003

CLA-2 RR:CR:TE 966510 BAS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

Antonio Castillo
General Manager
Adex Asociacion de Exportadores (Adex)
Av. Javier Prado Este No. 2875
Lima 41
Peru

RE: Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act: Interlinings for Knit Garments

Dear Mr. Castillo:

This is in reply to the letter you submitted, dated May 12, 2003, on behalf of Adex in which you requested a binding ruling concerning whether or not a knit shirt with “interlinings” of foreign fabric is eligible for preferential tariff treatment under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA).

FACTS:

In your letter you requested definitions under the ATPDEA for the following types of interlinings: “chest type plate,” “hymo piece” and “sleeve header.” In addition to requesting definitions for the aforementioned terms, you provided a drawing of a shirt and requested that we determine whether or not the garment is eligible for preferential treatment when the interlinings in the garment are of foreign origin and cost less that 5 percent of the cost of the components. Notably, the interlinings in the drawing you submitted are interlinings for a collar, chest pocket and a placket of a shirt. You did not provide us with a sample of the garment.

ISSUE:

What is meant by “chest type plate,” “hymo piece” and “sleeve header” under the ATPDEA?

Is the subject merchandise eligible for preferential treatment under the ATPDEA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

TERMS:

A “chest type plate,” “hymo piece” and “sleeve header” are all used as middle linings or “interlinings” to suit jackets and suit-type jackets. They are not used as the outer shell, or as the lining of the jacket. The items are used in the middle layer of the garment to stiffen, shape or add fullness to the chest and shoulder area of a suit or suit-type jacket.

A “sleeve header” is sewn between the shell fabric and the lining fabric along the outside shoulder seam where the sleeve joins the body of the garment. The sleeve header is designed to provide fullness along the seam and enhance the appearance of the jacket at the point where the sleeve meets the shoulder. See Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 559552, dated February 14, 1996.

A “hymo piece” is defined as “Fabric of mohair and linen used in tailoring to reinforce the body of a coat.” See Pickens, Mary Brooks, A Dictionary of Costume and Fashion, 1985, p. 181.

Based on the term itself, it is our understanding that a “chest plate” is an interlining used in the chest area of a suit jacket or suit-type jacket. Like the sleeve header, it is sewn between the shell fabric and the lining and supports the chest area of a suit jacket or suit-type jacket.

Eligibility under ATPDEA:

The Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) provides certain specified trade benefits for Andean countries. These benefits include duty-free treatment to specified non-textile articles previously ineligible for preferential treatment under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), duty- and quota-free treatment of certain imports of tuna, and duty- and quota-free treatment for certain textile and apparel articles which meet the requirements set forth in Section 3103 of the ATPDEA (codified at 19 U.S.C. 3203(b)(3)). Beneficiary countries are designated by the President of the United States after having met the eligibility requirements of the ATPDEA. Presidential Proclamation 7616 of October 21, 2002, published in the Federal Register (67 Fed. Reg. 67284), proclaimed necessary changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) to implement the ATPDEA and designated Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as ATPDEA beneficiary countries which had met the requirements of the ATPDEA relating to the implementation of certain customs procedures, drawn from Chapter 5 of the NAFTA, that allow the United States to verify the origin of products.

The provisions implementing the textile provisions of the ATPDEA in the HTSUS are contained, for the most part, in subchapter XXI, Chapter 98, HTSUS (one provision may be found in subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS). The regulations pertinent to the textile provisions of the ATPDEA may be found at §§ 10.241 through 10.248 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.241 through 10.248).

You have not indicated the provision under which the knit shirt would be eligible for preferential treatment under the ATPDEA. However, even if the fabric for the garment were formed in the region or in the United States of U.S. or regionally formed yarns, if foreign fabric were used as an interlining material in the collar, placket or pocket, the garment would not qualify for preferential duty treatment under the ATPDEA.

U.S. Note 4 to Subchapter XXI, Chapter 98, states the following in pertinent part:

(a) A textile or apparel article otherwise eligible for preferential treatment under the provisions of this subchapter shall not be ineligible for such treatment because the article contains—

(ii) certain interlinings of foreign origin, if the value of such interlinings (and any findings and trimmings of foreign origin) does not exceed 25 percent of the cost of the components of the assembled article, unless the appropriate U.S. government authority terminates such treatment in a determination published in the Federal Register;

(c) For purposes of subdivision (a)(ii) above, the interlinings eligible under such subdivision include only a chest type plate, “hymo” piece or sleeve header”, of woven or weft inserted warp knit construction and of coarse animal hair or man-made filaments.

As the interlinings in the drawing submitted include an interlining for a collar stand which forms the neck of a garment, top collar, under placket, top placket and pocket and are neither a “chest type plate,” “hymo” piece or “sleeve header,” the use of foreign fabric for those interlinings would disqualify the garment for preferential treatment under the ATPDEA. That is, even if we assumed that the garment was
eligible for preferential treatment, if the interlinings were of foreign fabric, it would preclude the whole garment from preferential treatment under the ATPDEA.

HOLDING:

The knit shirt with interlinings of foreign fabric for a collar stand, top collar, under placket, top placket and chest pocket would not be eligible for duty free treatment under ATPDEA.

Sincerely,


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