us-cbp-cross-rulings-hq-081592•HQ 081592: Tariff classification of style 3723, ladies' oversized shirt
HQ 081592: Tariff classification of style 3723, ladies' oversized shirt
us-cbp-cross-rulings-hq-081592HQ 081592: Tariff classification of style 3723, ladies' oversized shirtGuidance
Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.
HQ 081592
July 21, 1988
CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 081592 LS 825376
CATEGORY: Classification
TARIFF NO.: 6206.30.3010, 6206.30.3040
Michelle Benjamin, Esq.
Coudert Brothers
200 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10166
RE: Tariff classification of style 3723, ladies' oversized
shirt
Dear Ms. Benjamin:
This is in response to P.A.C. Imports, Inc.'s (P.A.C.
Imports) letter of October 27, 1987, which was supplemented by
your letters of November 24, 1987, and March 8, 1988, in which
it requests reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter 825376.
That ruling found that the subject merchandise, to be imported
from Pakistan, is classifiable in item 384.4788, Tariff
Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA), which pro-
vides for other women's, girls', or infants' wearing apparel,
not ornamented: of cotton: not knit: other: shirts:
women's and girls': with two or more colors in the warp
and/or the filling, dutiable at the rate of 16.5 percent ad
valorem, or in item 384.4789, which provides for the same
article, with the exception that it does not have two or more
colors in the warp and/or the filling, dutiable at the same
rate as item 384.4788. Under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), which is scheduled to
replace the TSUSA, the applicable provisions were found to be
subheading 6206.30.3010, which provides for "women's or girls'
blouses, shirts, and shirtblouses: of cotton: other: other:
with two or more colors in the warp and/or the filling:
women's," dutiable at the rate of 16.4 percent ad valorem, or
subheading 6206.30.3040, which provides for the same article,
with the exception that it does not have two or more colors in
the warp and/or the filling, dutiable at the same rate as
subheading 6206.30.3010. The applicable textile category for
all of these provisions is 341.
FACTS:
The submitted sample, style 3723, is styled as a ladies'
oversized shirt made of a 100 percent cotton woven fabric. It
is sold as "one size fits all." The garment features a full
front opening secured by nine buttons, three quarter length
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hemmed sleeves, a pointed collar, two breast pockets with
unsecured flaps, and a rounded tail bottom which makes the
sides of the garment slightly shorter than the front and back.
The length of the garment is 43 inches.
In its letter, dated October 27, 1987, which requests
reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter 825376, P.A.C.
Imports states that, according to its buyers, the subject
garment is considered to be a dress and can be worn outside as
a dress. It further states that the garment, which is 43
inches long, is as long as other dresses which it imports.
The importer notes that the garment, which it considers to be
a dress, is sold in the loungewear department of chain and
department stores.
Counsel for the importer describes the subject merchan-
dise, in its letter dated November 24, 1987, as a one-piece
garment manufactured of 100 percent cotton woven fabric which
covers the body and may extend from below the knee to mid-calf
length. It is stated that the garment provides the coverage
of a dress and is both designed and suitable for wear as a
dress in or outside the home, without other outer garments.
Counsel asserts that the garment is marketed and sold in
loungewear departments, which is consistent with Customs
guidelines (Textile and Apparel Category Guidelines CIE 6/87,
June 29, 1987, pp. 17-18) applicable to category 336
merchandise. In support of its argument that the subject
garment is properly classifiable under item 384.4925, TSUSA,
as women's cotton dresses, the importer argues that style 3723
comports with the Textile and Apparel Category Guidelines in
every respect. P.A.C. Imports also claims that the subject
garment, which is slightly shorter on the sides than in the
front and back, provides more than adequate coverage
ordinarily expected of a dress, and that it is marketed and
sold as a dress. The importer states that it is unable to
secure quota in category 341, which covers cotton shirts.
In a supplemental letter dated March 8, 1988, the
importer, through counsel, contends that several different
catalog advertisements from other manufacturers or retailers,
which are enclosed with the letter, establish that garments
identical in all material respects to P.A.C. Imports' style
3723 are designed, intended to be worn, and suitable for wear
as dresses. The importer, relying on Hampco Apparel Inc. v.
United States, Slip Op. 88-12 (Ct. Int'l. Trade, decided
January 28, 1988), contends that the suggestion in two of the
advertisements that the garments, depicted as dresses, may
also be worn as oversized shirts, depending on the preference
of the wearer, does not render the garments "shirts" for
tariff classification purposes.
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A conference was held at Customs Headquarters on
March 24, 1988. The following points were raised by P.A.C.
Imports' attorney: (1) a non-binding ruling for style 3723
was made by the New York Seaport Commodity Specialist Team on
August 18, 1987, which determined that the garment was
classifiable in item 384.4925, TSUSA; (2) style 3723 fits
Customs most recent Textile and Apparel Category Guidelines
for a "dress" more than it does those for a "shirt," and (3)
P.A.C. Imports' catalog and price list for Spring/Summer,
1987, depict similar garments, worn with high heeled shoes and
without other outer garments, which are marketed and sold as
"big shirt dresses."
ISSUE:
Should New York Ruling Letter 825376, dated October 23,
1987, which found that the subject garment is classifiable in
item 384.4788 or 384.4789, TSUSA, as a women's shirt, be
modified so as to find that the subject garment is properly
classifiable in item 384.4925, TSUSA, as a women's dress?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
To assist in the determination of the appropriate textile
categories established for administration of the Arrangement
Regarding International Trade in Textiles and to assure
uniformity, the Textile and Apparel Category Guidelines have
been developed. These guidelines reflect commercial reality.
The most recent guidelines, CIE 6/87, dated June 29, 1987,
state at page 32 that non-knit women's blouses and shirts
include "overblouses and similar garments which may extend to
the mid-thigh area or below and which are frequently slit up
the leg." Included within the TSUSA designation of blouses
and shirts are garments extending below the mid-thigh. The
same guidelines state at page 17 that "a dress is a one-piece
garment for the female...covering the top of the body and
extending to somewhere from below the mid-thighs to the feet.
It is appropriate for wear without other outer garments, and
its lower end encloses both legs in a single 'tube'." The
guidelines state that non-knit garments styled like shirts or
blouses which extend below mid-thigh may be included in the
"dresses" category if they are designed and/or are suitable
for wear as dresses and provide the coverage dresses require.
The subject garment, style 3723, sold as "one size fits
all" generally does not provide the coverage dresses require.
Although it may provide adequate coverage for some women as a
dress, in most cases it will be unsuitable for wear as a dress
because its length varies depending on the height and weight
of the wearer.
- 4 -
On March 8, 1988, the importer, through counsel, sub-
mitted several catalog advertisements of garments which it
contends are identical in all material respects to style 3723.
These garments do not belong to P.A.C. Imports' product line.
Two of the garments are described in the advertisements as
shirt dresses, one is described as a shirttail dress, two are
described as "shirtdress or big shirt - you decide" and the
last is described as a coatdress. All of these garments
extend either well below the knee or skim the knee. Most are
significantly longer than style 3723. Unlike style 3723,
which is sold as "one size fits all," the garments in the
advertisements are all sold in specific sizes, either as sizes
6-20 or as small, medium and large. Thus, the garments in the
advertisements submitted with the March 8, 1988, letter are
not identical or even similar in all material respects to
style 3723.
At the conference held on March 24, 1988, P.A.C. Imports
presented one of its own catalogs of garments and a price list
for Spring/Summer 1987. Several garments in the catalog are
described on the price list as "big shirts" or "big shirt
dresses." However, style 3723 does not appear in the catalog
or price list. None of the "big shirt dresses" are suffi-
ciently similar to style 3723, and the fact that they are
shown to be worn with high heeled shoes and are described in
P.A.C. Imports' catalog as "big shirt dresses" does not
establish that they are worn by the consumer in such a
manner. No evidence has been presented showing that the
retail stores which purchase style 3723 from P.A.C. Imports
advertise and sell that garment as a big shirt dress or as a
dress.
Most of the oversized shirt styles which we have seen
advertised in other apparel catalogs describe such garments as
shirts rather than dresses. Some are shown as being worn with
pants.
With respect to P.A.C. Imports' argument that style 3723
garments are sold and marketed in loungewear departments,
which is consistent with Customs guidelines applicable to
category 336 merchandise, we conclude that sale in the
loungewear department does not establish classification as a
dress. Among the classes of merchandise which are marketed in
the loungewear department are dresses, oversized shirts,
rompers, jumpsuits, robes, and various styles of leisurewear
tops and bottoms.
Finally, with respect to P.A.C. Imports' reliance on
Hampco Apparel, Inc. v. United States, supra, we note that the
depiction of the "shirtdress or big shirt - you decide"
garments as dresses in the advertisements submitted with the
- 5 -
March 8, 1988, letter is not determinative of the primary use
of style 3723. For most women the primary use of the instant
garment would be as a shirt. The fact that it may be used as
a dress by some women for whom it would provide sufficient
coverage does not change its character as an oversized shirt.
See Hampco Apparel, supra, at 8.
For the same reasons discussed above, we agree with New
York Ruling Letter 825376 in its classification of style 3723
under subheading 6206.30.3010 or 6206.30.3040, HTSUSA, depend-
ing on whether or not the article has two or more colors in
the warp and/or the filling. There are no provisions in the
headnotes to Chapter 62, HTSUSA or in the Explanatory Notes to
Chapter 62 which would require a different classification.
HOLDING:
For the reasons discussed above, the additional evidence
and arguments made by P.A.C. Imports in support of its request
for reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter 825376 do not
demonstrate that style 3723 was improperly classified in item
384.4788 or 384.4789, TSUSA, and subheading 6206.30.3010 or
6206.30.3040, HTSUSA, as a women's shirt. Therefore, New York
Ruling Letter 825376, which determined those classifications,
remains in full force and effect.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division
cc: NIS Eileen Crowley
CO:R:C:G:LSCHREIBER:lw 6/23/88 7/6/88 7/14/88
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