HQ 087524: Needlepoint article on mesh fabric ground is classifiable as a tapestry. Used for furnishing purposes.

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 087524

                        October 15, 1990



CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 087524 CRS

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  5805.00.2500

Mr. Gerald Rosengren
President
Pillow Talk
1477 Tulane Road
Claremont, CA 91711

RE:  Needlepoint article on mesh fabric ground is classifiable as
     a tapestry.  Used for furnishing purposes.

Dear Mr. Rosengren:

     This is in reply to your letter dated June 12, 1990, to the
District Director, Los Angeles, concerning the classification of
needlepoint articles under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States Annotated (HTSUSA).  A sample was attached to your
request.

FACTS:

     The sample in question is a handmade needlepoint article
from Hungary and is made from 88 percent wool (33 oz/yd) and 12
percent cotton canvas (4.5 oz/yd).  The sample tapestry measures
approximately 23 inches by 23 inches and has a needled-worked
floral design on a square meshed canvas.  In Headquarters Ruling
Letter (HRL) 087269 dated August 15, 1990, a similar article was
classified in subheading 6307.90.9590, HTSUSA.

ISSUE:

     Whether the article in question is classifiable as a
needle-worked tapestry or as an other made up article.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Heading 6307, HTSUSA, is a residual heading that provides
for other made up articles of textile, i.e., those which are not
included more specifically in other headings of Section XI or
elsewhere in the nomenclature.

     Heading 5805, HTSUSA, provides, inter alia, for needle-
worked tapestries (for example, petit point, cross stitch),
whether or not made up.  The Explanatory Notes (1990), which
although not legally binding nevertheless constitute the official
interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international
level, describe needle-worked tapestries as follows at EN 58.05,
803:

          Needle-worked tapestries (also known as point
     tapestries) are characterized by the fact that they are made
     with a fabric ground (usually square meshed canvas), on
     which the desired design is filled in with needle-work using
     a great many different coloured threads.

          Needle-worked tapestries are sometimes over-worked with
     further stitches but remain in this heading and are not
     regarded as embroidery.

          Contrary to the case of most embroideries of heading
     58.10, the ground fabric (usually canvas) is completely
     covered except perhaps at the edges.  The stitches used are
     differently named according to the way they are executed:
     petit point, gross point, cross stitch, double cross stitch,
     Gobelins stitch, etc.

          Tapestries are used mainly for furnishing purposes, as
     wall coverings or for upholstering chairs, etc., and are
     usually made of silk, wool, man-made fibres or even
     metallised yarn.

          They remain in this heading even if hemmed, bordered,
     lined, etc., but if made up into articles such as evening
     handbags, cushions, slippers, etc., they are, of course,
     excluded.

     Needlepoint tapestries are also described in Summary of
Trade and Tariff Information, "Bedding, Curtains and Draperies,
Tapestries and Miscellaneous Furnishings," ITC Publication 841,
Control No. 3-5-15, September 1982:

     Needlepoint and petit-point tapestries are decorative
     embroidery work done by handstitching yarns through a ground
     of open-weave canvas which resembles coarse window
     screening...Needlepoint is usually done on a mono- or
     single-thread canvas with 10, 12, 14, 16, or 18 meshes per
     inch, and petit point is done on a much finer penelope or
     double-threaded canvas.

The article in question is stitched on a square-meshed canvas
with 10 meshes per inch.  Needlework covers the entire ground
fabric except for a two inch border at the edges while a floral
design covers the central portion of the tapestry.  The sample
is hemmed on two sides and is used in the manufacture of pillows,
i.e, for furnishing purposes.

     In HRL 087269 a similar article was described as unfinished
in view of the fact that it was to be framed subsequent to
importation.  However, Customs' no longer adheres to this view
but instead, considers the sample tapestry, as well as that which
was the subject of HRL 087269, to be a finished article.  Heading
5805 contemplates that needlepoint tapestries may "technically"
be unfinished to the degree that in their condition as imported
they undergo further processing, e.g., framing, conversion into
pillows; indeed, this much is indicated by the use of the phrase
"whether or not made up" in the terms of the heading.  In this
regard we refer again to the language of the Explanatory Notes at
803, that "tapestries are used mainly for furnishing
purposes...for upholstering chairs, etc.," which suggests that
needle-worked articles of heading 5805 are perhaps analogous to
parts in that they are incorporated into other articles.  As a
result it is Customs' opinion that the tapestries fall within the
terms of heading 5805 rather than in heading 6307.

HOLDING:

     The needle-worked article in question is classifiable in
subheading 5805.00.2500, HTSUSA, under the provision for hand-
woven tapestries...and needle-worked tapestries..., other, of
wool or fine animal hair, other, and is dutiable at the rate of
3.5 percent ad valorem.  The textile category is 414.

     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.

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

                         Sincerely,




                         John Durant, Director
                         Commercial Rulings Division