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NY N003659





December 21, 2006

CLA-2-61:RR:NC:N3:353

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6104.43.2010, 6114.30.3070

Ms. Emily Huang
Handerson Handicraft Mfg. Co.
11F/6, No.2, Jian-BA Road, Chung-Ho
Taipei, Taiwan

RE: The tariff classification of costumes from China.

Dear Ms. Huang:

In your letter dated November 21, 2006, on behalf of Sears Holdings Global Sourcing Ltd., you requested a classification ruling.

Four costumes were submitted with your request.

Style G-2279-02, Purple Princess Costume Set is a girl’s costume consisting of a dress and headpiece. The dress is made of knit velour knit polyester fabric. The long dress has long sleeves, trim down the front, and embellishments and an attached hoop.

Style G-2612-00, Fairy Princess Costume Set is a girl’s costume consisting of a dress and wings. The long dress is made of knit velour polyester fabric with trim down the front and on the waist.

Style G-2613-01, Green Fairy Costume Set is a girl’s costume consisting of a dress and wings. The dress is made of knit polyester velour fabric on the top and a net skirt. The dress has a hook and loop closure at the back, short petal sleeves and petals on the skirt.

Style W-1907-00, Midnight Witch Costume is an adult costume consisting of a dress, witch hat and cape. You state that the cape is made of woven fabric, however examination reveals that the cape is made of knit fabric. The dress and hat are made of knit velour polyester fabric and the cape is made of knit nylon fabric. The long sleeveless dress has a tattered hem and the cape has a full front opening with a self-tie and a large collar.

Style W-1743-00, Red Devil Costume Set is an adult costume consisting of a dress and horns. The dress is made of knit velour polyester fabric. The halter style dress has a trimmed large collar and a trimmed tattered hem.

The above costumes are well made with finished necklines, styling and embellishments.

General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 3(b) is applicable when goods are, prima facie, classifiable under two or more headings, and have been put up in sets for retail sale. GRI 3(b) states that the goods “shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character.” In this case, the dress for the Purple Princess, Fairy Princess, Green Fairy and Red Devil Costumes impart the essential character of the set.

The Midnight Witch Costume consists of two or more garments. Note 13 of Section XI, of the HTSUS, requires that textile garments of different headings be separately classified, thus preventing classification of costumes consisting of two or more garments as sets. If a set cannot exist by application of Note 13, the articles that may be packaged with the garments must also be classified separately.

The applicable subheading for the Purple Princess, style G-2279-02, Fairy Princess, style G-2612-00, Green Fairy, style G-2613-01 and Red Devil style W-1743-00 Costume Sets and the style W-1907-00 Midnight Witch Costume dress will be 6104.43.2010, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Women’s or girls’blazers, dresses, skirtsknitted or crocheted: Dresses: Of synthetic fibers: Other, Women’s. The duty rate will be 16% ad valorem. The textile category designation is 636.

        The applicable subheading for the W-1907-00 Midnight Witch cape will be 6114.30.3070, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for "Other garments, knitted or crocheted: Of man-made fibers: Other, Other: Women’s or girls’. The rate of duty will be 14.9% ad valorem. The textile category designation is 659.

Regarding the classification of the witch hat. The issue of classification under heading 9505, HTSUS, of functional articles that incorporate holiday or seasonal motifs is currently at the Court of International Trade in LTD Commodities LLC v. United States (Court No. 03-00861), Michael Simon Design, Inc. v. United States (Court No. 04-00537), and other cases.

Section 177.7, Customs and Border Protection Regulations, (19 C.F.R. §177.7) provides that rulings will not be issued in certain circumstances. Section 177.7(a) states, in relevant part, that no rulings will be issued in any instance in which it appears contrary to the sound administration of the Customs and related laws to do so. Section 177.7(b) states, in relevant part, that no ruling will be issued with respect to any issue which is pending before the United States Court of International Trade, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, or in any court of appeal there from.

As the litigation mentioned above may have a direct impact on the classification of the witch hat, we cannot issue a ruling at this time pursuant to Section 177.7(a) and 177.7(b). Accordingly, we are administratively closing our file without further action. When all litigation has been concluded on this issue, you may resubmit your request for a ruling.

Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.

With the exception of certain products of China, quota/visa requirements are no longer applicable for merchandise, which is the product of World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries. The textile category number above applies to merchandise produced in non-WTO member-countries. Quota and visa requirements are the result of international agreements that are subject to frequent renegotiations and changes. To obtain the most current information on quota and visa requirements applicable to this merchandise, we suggest you check, close to the time of shipment, the “Textile Status Report for Absolute Quotas” which is available on our web site at www.cbp.gov. For current information regarding possible textile safeguard actions on goods from China and related issues, we refer you to the web site of the Office of Textiles and Apparel of the Department of Commerce at otexa.ita.doc.gov.

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

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 Kenneth Reidlinger at 646-733-3053.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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