HQ 085543: Classification of a girls' jacket and boys' overalls

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 085543

                        December 11, 1989




CLA-2  CO:R:C:G   085543  CC

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  6210.50.1020; 6203.43.1500, 6203.43.2005

Mr. Bernard Jacobs
Weather Tamer, Inc.
112 West 34th Street
Suite 1407
New York, N.Y. 10120

RE:  Classification of a girls' jacket and boys' overalls

Dear Mr. Jacobs:

     This letter is in response to your inquiry of August 15,
1989, requesting tariff classification of a girls' jacket and
boys' overalls from Korea.  Samples were submitted for
examination.

FACTS:

     The boys' garment, designated as style 2314, is bib and
brace overalls, which have a woven nylon shell coated with a
600mm layer of acrylic plastics.  This garment has slant pockets
at the waist, a nylon lining, a front zipper opening, and hidden
storm cuffs.  Also, it contains an insulating filling of nonwoven
man-made fiber.

     The girls' garment, designated as style 3315, is
a waist-length jacket with a woven outershell composed of 65
percent polyester and 35 percent cotton, which has been coated
on its inner surface with a 600mm layer of acrylic plastics.  It
has a full-front opening with a zipper, a storm flap, pockets
with snapped flaps at the waist, rib knit cuffs, a mostly rib
knit waistband, and a woven nylon lining.   The jacket is
insulated with a nonwoven man-made fiber batting.

ISSUE:

     Whether the sample garments are classifiable in Heading
6210 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Annotated (HTSUSA)?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's),
taken in order.  GRI 1 provides that classification shall be
determined according to the terms of the headings and any
relative section or chapter notes.

     Heading 6210, HTSUSA, provides for garments made up of
fabrics of Heading 5602, 5603, 5903, 5906, or 5907.  Chapter 59,
HTSUSA, provides for impregnated, coated, covered, or laminated
textile fabrics.  Note 2 to Chapter 59 states that Heading 5903,
HTSUSA, applies to the following fabrics:

     (a)  Textile fabrics, impregnated, coated, covered or
laminated with plastics, whatever the weight per square meter and
whatever the nature of the plastic material (compact or
cellular), other than:

          (1) Fabrics in which the impregnation, coating or
          covering cannot be seen with the naked eye (usually
          chapters 50 to 55, 58 or 60); for the purpose of this
          provision, no account should be taken of any resulting
          change of color.

     It is our view that the wording of Note 2(a)(1), "visible to
the naked eye," is a clear expression by the drafters of the
Harmonized System that a significant, if not substantial, amount
of material must be added to a fabric for it to be considered
"impregnated, coated, or covered."  The plastics material added
to the fabric must be visibly distinguishable from that fabric
without the use of magnification.

     Applying the statutory test to the sample girls' jacket,
using normally corrected vision in a well-lighted room, the
girls' jacket at issue has a plastics application which is
visibly distinguishable from that fabric.  Therefore, the fabric
is considered coated within the meaning of Heading 5903, making
the girls' jacket at issue classifiable in Heading 6210, HTSUSA.
Note 5 to Chapter 62 states that garments which are, prima facie,
classifiable both in Heading 6210 and in other headings of this
chapter, excluding Heading 6209, are to be classified in Heading
6210.  Thus, the girls' jacket would be classified in Heading
6210.

     By applying the test of Note 2(a) to Chapter 59, under the
same conditions as was done for the girls' jacket, we do not
believe that the boys' overalls are impregnated, coated, or
covered with plastics.  The only change visible in the coated
fabric is a change in color, which we are directed to disregard;
the coating does not visibly change the surface character of the
fabric.  In addition, although this garment, as well as the
girls' jacket, contains a nonwoven lining, neither is made up of
fabrics of Headings 5602 or 5603.  The Explanatory Notes, the
official interpretation of the HTSUSA at the international level,
state that for Chapter 62:

          The classification of goods in this Chapter is not
     affected by the presence of parts or accessories of, for
     example, knitted or crocheted fabrics, furskin, feather,
     leather, plastics or metal.  Where, however, the presence of
     such materials constitutes more than mere trimming the
     articles are classified in accordance with the relative
     Chapter Notes (particularly Note 4 to Chapter 43 and Note
     2(b) to Chapter 67, relating to the presence of furskin and
     feathers, respectively), or failing that, according to the
     General Interpretive Rules.

     Since normal linings fall within the category of "mere
trimming," and the nonwoven insulating linings in the sample
garments are no heavier than those normally found in such
articles, they do not affect the classification of these
garments.

HOLDING:

     The girls' jacket is classified under subheading
6210.50.1020, HTSUSA, which provides for garments made up of
fabrics of heading 5602, 5603, 5903, 5906, or 5907, other women's
or girls' garments, of man-made fibers, other, anoraks (including
ski-jackets), windbreakers and similar articles.  The rate of
duty would be 7.6 percent ad valorem and the textile category
would be 635.

     If the boys' overalls meet the test for water resistance in
Additional U.S. Note 2 of Chapter 62, HTSUSA, they are classified
under subheading 6203.43.1500, HTSUSA, which provides for men's
or boys' trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches, and shorts,
of synthetic fibers, other, bib and brace overalls, water
resistant.  The rate of duty would be 7.6 percent ad valorem and
the textile category would be 659.

     If the boys' overalls do not meet the test for water
resistance in Additional U.S. Note 2 of Chapter 62, HTSUSA, they
are classified under subheading 6203.43.2005, HTSUSA, which
provides for men's or boys' trousers, bib and brace overalls,
breeches, and shorts, of synthetic fibers, other, bib and brace
overalls, other, insulated for cold weather protection.   The
rate of duty would be 17 percent ad valorem and the textile
category would be 659.

     Due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation
(the ninth and tenth digits of the classification) and the
restraint (quota/visa) categories applicable to textile
merchandise, you should contact your local Customs office prior
to importation of this merchandise to determine the current
status of any import restraints or requirements.

     The designated textile and apparel category may be
subdivided into parts.  If so, visa and quota requirements
applicable to the subject merchandise may be affected.  Since
part categories are the result of international bilateral
agreements which are subject to frequent renegotiations and
changes, to obtain the most current information available, we
suggest that you check, close to the time of shipment, the Status
Report On Current Import Quotas (Restraint Levels), an internal
issuance of the U.S. Customs Service, which is available for
inspection at your local Customs office.


                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division