HQ 082772: Tank Tops--Your Case No. 42/88

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 082772

                       DECEMBER 28, 1989


CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  082772  PR

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  None

Mrs. Doreen Wai
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office
British Embassy
1233 20th Street, N.W., Suite 504
Washington, D.C. 20036

RE:  Tank Tops--Your Case No. 42/88

Dear Mrs. Wai:

     This ruling is in reply to your letter of September 6,
1988, concerning garments imported at the port of John F.
Kennedy International Airport by North American Underwear Co.
(Entry No. 230-0080031-0).

FACTS:

     Pictures, but no sample, were submitted. The garment in
question has the appearance of a tank top--large armholes,
scoop neckline, and shoulder straps 1-1/2 inches wide.  It is
stated to have a body length of 14-3/4 inches for a medium
size.  The pictures show a short waisted woman or girl wearing
a cotton knit garment that extends just to her waist.

ISSUE:

     The issue presented is whether the garment in question
belongs in textile and apparel category 338/339 as a top, or
whether it is long enough to be a tank top, thus falling in
subcategory 338/339(1).

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Tops are generally considered to be garments which do not
reach the waist.  HRL 084065, dated July 26, 1989.  See also
The Textile Category Guidelines for Fabrics and Garments, CIE
6/87, dated June 9, 1987, at page 26.  Tank tops, on the other
hand, have traditionally been required to "reach the vicinity
of the waist."



     In this instance, although pictured as reaching the waist
of the wearer, our National Import Specialist for this
commodity reports it is Customs experience that an upper body
garment with a length of 14-3/4 inches is not long enough to
reach the vicinity of the waist of the normal American woman
for whom medium sized garments are designed.

     In the absence of statutory authority to the contrary, we
are obligated to classify merchandise in accordance with its
use in the United States.  Accordingly, a size medium tank top
style garment with a body length of 14-3/4 inches would not
reach the vicinity of the waist of the woman for whom it is
designed and, therefore, it is categorized for tariff purposes
as a top and not as a tank top.

HOLDING:

     The 1988 textile and apparel category applicable to the
instant garment is 339.  A copy of this letter is being
furnished to the Committee for the Implementation of Textile
Agreements.


                                   Sincerely,




                                   John Durant, Director
                                   Commercial Rulings Division