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NY L87618




November 18, 2005

CLA2-RR:NC:TA:350 L87618

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

Mr. John M. Peterson
Neville Peterson LLP
17 State Street – 19th Floor
New York, NY 10004

RE: Classification and country of origin determination for narrow woven ribbons produced in the United States from yarns that are sourced from Mexico, Japan or South Korea; 19 CFR 102.21(c)(2).

Dear Mr. Peterson:

This is in reply to your letter dated October 19, 2005, on behalf of Berwick Offray LLC, Berwick, PA, requesting a country of origin and Marking determination for narrow woven ribbons, which will be imported into the United States from Mexico.

FACTS:

The subject merchandise consists of narrow woven ribbons as follows:

Style
Composition
Source of Yarns
NW 2082 60
100% Polyester
Two yarns from South Korea; one yarn from Mexico 172517NN Garbo LILMSTB
100% Polyester
Two yarns from South Korea; one yarn from Mexico AE 2409 24
52% Nylon
48% Polyester
Nylon yarn from Japan
Polyester yarn from South Korea

The manufacturing operations for the ribbons are as follows:

All of the ribbons are formed in the United States. Specifically, they are woven in the greige state into narrow ribbon widths at Berwick’s weaving facility in South Carolina. You state that the yarns used to weave the ribbons are of United States, Mexican, Japanese and/or South Korean origin. After the fabrics have been woven in the greige state, they are sent to Berwick’s dyeing facility in Hagerstown, Maryland, where they are dyed in various colors. The finished and dyed ribbons, in continuous lengths, are exported from the United States to a facility in Juarez, Mexico.

In Mexico, the ribbons are simply cut to length, respooled onto cardboard cores for retail sale, and boxed for reshipment in to the United States. Berwick re-enters the ribbons under HTS subheading 9802.00.50, which provides for goods re-imported after having been “repaired and altered” abroad. We concur with this as none of the operations in Mexico alter the origin of the subject ribbons. The foregoing are all considered minor processing operations, which are insufficient in and of themselves to effect a change in origin of the subject merchandise.

Berwick proposes to mark the cut-to-length spooled ribbons and their packaging to indicate that the ribbons are “Made in USA with imported yarns”.

ISSUE:

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

CLASSIFICATION:

The applicable subheading for ribbons is 5806.32.10, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), which provides for other narrow woven fabrics, of man-made fibers, ribbons. The general rate of duty will be 6 percent ad valorem.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN - LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 334 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (codified at 19 U.S.C. 3592), enacted on December 8, 1994, provided rules of origin for textiles and apparel entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on and after July 1, 1996. Section 102.21, Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 102.21), published September 5, 1995, in the Federal Register, implements Section 334 (60 FR 46188). Section 334 of the URAA was amended by section 405 of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, enacted on May 18, 2000, and accordingly, section 102.21 was amended (68 Fed. Reg. 8711). Thus, the country of origin of a textile or apparel product shall be determined by the 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

(1) Except for fabric of wool or fine animal hair, a change from greige fabric of heading 5806 to a finished fabric of heading 5806 by both dyeing and printing when accompanied by two or more of the following finishing operations: bleaching, shrinking, fulling, napping, decating, permanent stiffening, weighting, permanent embossing or moireing; or

(2) If the country of origin cannot be determined under (1) above a change to heading 5806 form any other heading, except from heading 5007, 5111 through 5113, 5208 through 5212, 5309 through 5311, 5407 through 5408, 5512 through 5516, and 5801 through 5803, and provided that the change is the result of a fabric-making process.

We concur, that this rule, in effect, fixes the origin of narrow width fabrics according to the country where the fabric was formed in the “greige’ state.

HOLDING:

The country of origin of the ribbons is the United States.

Please note that separate Federal Trade Commission marking requirements exist regarding country of origin, fiber content, and other information that must appear on many textile items. You should contact the Federal Trade Commission, Division of Enforcement, 6th and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20580, for information on the applicability of these requirements to this item. Information can also be found at the FTC website www.ftc.gov (click on “For Business” and then on “Textile, Wool, Fur”).

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 Deborah Walsh at 646-733-3044.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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