HQ 958094: Classification of woven slip-like liners for dresses; HK Case #HK 21/94 and #HK 22/94

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 958094

                         August 21, 1995

CLA-2 R:C:T 958094 CMR

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 6208.92.0030

Mr. B.S. Yeung
Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office
1150 18th Street, N.W.
Suite 475
Washington, D.C. 20036

RE: Classification of woven slip-like liners for dresses; HK Case
    #HK 21/94 and #HK 22/94 

Dear Mr. Yeung:

     This is in response to your request of July 1, 1994, that
Customs review the classification of certain woven slip-like
liners to be sold with and worn under complementary dresses made
of sheer fabric.  Samples were received by this office for review
and will be returned as requested.  These samples are the same
type of garments as those under dispute in cases #HK 21/94 and
#HK 22/94.  The samples from those cases were sent to, but never
received by, this office.

FACTS: 

          The samples at issue were described in your letter of July
1, 1994, as ladies' 100 percent polyester woven dress liners,
imported by Donna Karan Company.  These one-piece garments are
sold with and worn under complementary dresses which are made of
sheer fabric.  You indicated the dresses are about 53 inches in
length, while the dress liners are about 56 inches in length,
creating a layered look.  For this reason, you believe the dress
liners cannot be classified as slips (underwear) as they are
exposed to view.

     Since the original samples were never received by Customs,
you submitted styles F157015LB and F157044LB for Customs review. 
These samples were the subject of District Decision 807439 of
March 22, 1995, wherein the dress liners were classified as
garments similar to slips, in the provision for other articles of
man-made fibers in subheading 6208.92.0030, Harmonized Tariff                                -2-


Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), textile
category 652.  The dress liners for these styles do not extend
beyond the length of the dress with which they are sold.  Thus,
they have been submitted to illustrate the garments at issue
because they are the same type of garments, but they differ in
their length.  Your concern is basically the classification of
these dress liners which extend three inches beyond the length of
the dress with which they are sold.

     The submitted samples each consist of a dress and an
accompanying woven liner.  The liners are made of 100 percent
polyester woven fabric.  Each woven liner, while a separate
garment, attaches to its companion dress by means of loops and
snaps at the inside shoulders.   

ISSUE:

     Are woven dress liners which extend three inches beyond the
length of the dress with which they are sold, so as to create a
layered look, classifiable as slips or similar to slips, in
heading 6208, HTSUSA, or are they classified as other garments of
heading 6211, HTSUSA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of goods under the HTSUSA is governed by the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs).  GRI 1 provides that
"classification shall be determined according to the terms of the
headings and any relative section or chapter notes and, provided
such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to
[the remaining GRIs taken in order]."

     Heading 6208, provides for, among other things, slips and
similar garments.  The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System, the official
interpretation of the tariff at the international level, state in
regard to heading 6208, in part:

       This heading covers underclothing for women or girls
     (singlets and other vests, slips, petticoats, briefs,
     panties and similar articles), not knitted or crocheted.

     You believe the woven liners are not classifiable in heading
6208 as slips or similar articles because the garments extend
three inches longer than the dresses with which they are worn. 
Because the liners are partially visible and intended to be so,
you believe they cannot be classified as underwear since
underwear is generally understood to refer to garments which are
not meant to be seen.

                               -3-


     In your letter, you make reference to U.S. classification
guidelines.  We assume you are referring to the Guidelines for
the Reporting of Imported Products in Various Textile and Apparel
Categories, CIE 13/88, (hereinafter, Guidelines).  The Guidelines
address "underwear", at page 25, in part as follows:

       The term "underwear" refers to garments which are
     ordinarily worn under other garments and are not exposed to
     view when the wearer is conventionally dressed for
     appearance in public, indoors or out-of-doors.

     The Guidelines were developed and revised in accordance with
the HTSUSA to insure uniformity, to facilitate statistical
classification, and to assist in the determination of the
appropriate textile categories established for the administration
of the Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles. 
They offer guidance to the trade community and Customs personnel
as to various characteristics of garments and may be used as an
aid in determining the commercial designation of articles.  It is
important, however, to remember that the Guidelines are not hard
and fast rules, but guidance in drawing distinctions between
classes of garments.

     "Slip" is defined, in relevant part, in Webster's II New
Riverside University Dictionary, (1984), at 1095, as:

     * * *  6. A woman's undergarment, serving as a lining for a
     dress.  * * *

The woven linings at issue appear to largely meet this
definition.  The garments serve as linings for the dresses with
which they are imported and sold.  However, these liners also are
designed to be longer than the dresses with which they are sold
so that the liners are partially and intentionally visible.  In
this feature, they differ from the common understanding of
"slips" as undergarments which are generally not visible to view. 

     Customs believes the garments are classifiable as similar to
slips because of their function as dress liners.  While you
believe the Guidelines definition of "underwear" should preclude
classification of the liners in heading 6208, HTSUSA, as similar
to slips, Customs emphasizes the Guidelines are merely guidance
and the language of the tariff determines classification. 
Heading 6208, HTSUSA, provides for slips and similar articles,
and based upon the above analysis, we believe these liners are
similar to slips.  Thus, they are classifiable in heading 6208,
HTSUSA.
                               -4-



HOLDING:

     The woven dress liners at issue are classifiable as women's
woven garments which are similar to slips, of man-made fiber, in
subheading 6208.92.0030, HTSUSA, textile category 652, dutiable
at 16.9 percent ad valorem.

                                   Sincerely,



                                   John Durant, Director
                                   Commercial Rulings Division