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NY N018711





October 30, 2007

CLA-2-62:OT:RR:NC:TA:357

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6202.11.0010; 6202.12.2050

Mr. Nicholas D’Andrea
Delmar International, Inc.
147-55 175th St.
Jamaica, NY 11434

RE: The tariff classification of women’s outerwear coats from Moldova, Ukraine and Poland

Dear Mr. D’Andrea:

In your letter dated October 11, 2007, on behalf of Polaris Handelsges, Vienna, Austria, you requested a classification ruling.

The first item, style MKI80685, is a women’s coat with a shell made from a woven 75% wool/20% polyamide/5% cashmere blend fabric. It has a center back length of approximately 36”, a full front opening with a zipper closure, on-seam pockets, a pointed collar, a full lining and a fur-trimmed bottom hem. The country of origin of this coat is Moldova.

The second item, style MKI80716, is a women’s lined coat with a shell made from a woven 75% wool/20% polyamide/5% cashmere blend fabric. The coat has a single breasted button front closure, a deep back vent, a rear belt segment at the waist, pockets with buttoned flaps at the waist and a removable fur collar. It has a center back length of approximately 40”. The country of origin of this coat is Ukraine.

The third item, style M173511 is a coat made from a 100% cotton woven shell fabric. It has a full front opening with a double breasted right over left closure, a center back pleat, a buttoned sleeve tab at the wrist, epaulets, a tie belt, pockets at the waist, a full lining and a button-off fur collar. It has a center back length of approximately 36-1/2”. The country of origin of this coat is Poland.

The fourth item, style M172518, is a coat with a shell made from a 100% cotton woven shell fabric. It has a full front opening with a zipper closure and a storm flap with toggle closures and snaps, pockets at the waist with buttoned flaps, rib knit storm cuffs, an imitation sheepskin pile lining, fur cuff trim and a button-off fur collar. It has a center back length of approximately 36”. The country of origin of this coat is Poland.

The applicable subheading for styles MKI80685 and MKI80716 will be 6202.11.0010, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for women’s overcoats, carcoats, capes, cloaks and similar coats, of wool or fine animal hair. The duty rate will be 41 cents per kilo plus 16.3 percent ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for styles M173511 and M172518 will be 6202.12.2050, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for other women’s overcoats, carcoats, capes, cloaks and similar coats, of cotton. The duty rate will be 8.9 percent ad valorem.

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/.

The fur skins used to manufacture the cuffs, collars and bottom hem trim are of foreign or United States origin and are processed in the United States and then exported for assembly to the coats. You asked whether these fur skins would be eligible for a duty allowance under Heading 9802, HTS.

The processing of the fur skins in the United States includes wetting, stretching, cutting, sewing, taping, closing and ironing. The skins may also be dyed or tanned. They will also be cut to size and finished into a complete collar, cuff or bottom trim, and then exported to the foreign garment manufacturer where they will be sewn or buttoned onto the garments with no further processing performed in Moldova, Ukraine or Poland.

Subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, provides a partial duty exemption for:

[a]rticles assembled abroad in whole or in part of fabricated components, the product of the United States, which (a) were exported in condition ready for assembly without further fabrication, (b) have not lost their physical identity in such articles by change in form, shape, or otherwise, and (c) have not been advanced in value or improved in condition abroad except by being assembled and except by operations incidental to the assembly process, such as cleaning, lubricating and painting.

All three requirements of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS, must be satisfied before a component may receive a duty allowance. An article entered under this tariff provision is subject to duty upon the full value of the imported assembled article, less the cost or value of qualifying U.S. components assembled therein, provided there has been compliance with the documentation requirements of 19 CFR 10.24.

Section 10.12(e), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.12(e)), provides generally that an article wholly or partially of foreign components or materials, may be a "product of the United States" if such components or materials are "substantially transformed" by a process of manufacture into a new and different article, or are merged into a new and different article. Section 10.14(b) provides that a "substantial transformation" occurs when, as a result of manufacturing processes, a new and different article emerges, having a distinctive name, character or use, which is different than that originally possessed by the article or material before being subject to the manufacturing process. If the manufacturing or combining process is merely a minor one which leaves the identity of the article intact, a substantial transformation has not occurred. See, Belcrest Linens v. United States, 573 F. Supp. 1149 (CIT 1983), 741 F. 2d 1368 (1984).

In this case the processing described as taking place in the United States results in a substantial transformation of the foreign fur skins, and the assembly of the collars, cuffs and bottom trim to the coats is an acceptable assembly under HTS 9802. As such, they are eligible for a duty allowance under HTS 9802.00.8068, upon compliance with the documentary requirements of section 10.24, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.24).

Styles M173511 and M172518 fall within textile category 435; styles M173511 and M172518 fall within textile category 335. 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. 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.

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 William Raftery at 646-733-3047.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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