HQ 952956: Decision on Application for Further Review of Protest No. 1101-92-100478; knit hats

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 952956

                        February 23, 1993




CLA-2  CO:R:C:T   952956 CC

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  6505.90.6090 

District Director of Customs
2nd & Chestnut Streets
Room 102
Philadelphia, PA 19106

RE:  Decision on Application for Further Review of Protest No.  
     1101-92-100478; knit hats

Dear Sir:

     This protest was filed against your decision in the
liquidation of an entry involving the importation of knit hats
produced in Taiwan.  

FACTS:

     The merchandise at issue is 100 percent acrylic knit hats,
identified as style numbers 423, 424, 425, and 426.  This
merchandise is a hood-type hat with a portion that covers the
face, leaving a hole for the facial features.  It is reversible
and is brown, beige, green and black on one side, and bright
orange on the other.  

     The entry covering the hats was liquidated under subheading
6505.90.6090 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated (HTSUSA), which provides for hats and other
headgear, of man-made fibers, knitted or crocheted or made up
from knitted or crocheted fabric, not in part of braid, other,
other, other.  The protestant claims that the hat is manufactured
with an elastic braid intertwined within it, making the hats
classifiable under subheading 6505.90.5090, HTSUSA, which
provides for hats and other headgear, of man-made fibers, knitted
or crocheted or made up from knitted or crocheted fabric, wholly
or in part of braid, other, other. 


ISSUE:

     Whether the hats at issue are classifiable as "wholly or in
part of braid" in Heading 6505, 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.  

     General Note 7, HTSUSA, provides in pertinent part the
following concerning the term "in part of":

     Definitions.  For the purposes of the tariff schedule,
     unless the context otherwise requires--  

     ...

     (e)  The terms "wholly of", "in part of", and "containing",
          when used between the description of an article and a
          material (e.g., "woven fabrics, wholly of cotton"),
          have the following meanings:

          ...


          (ii) "in part of" or "containing" mean that the goods
               contain a significant quantity of the named
               material. 

          With regard to the application of the quantitative
          concepts specified above, it is intended that the de
          minimis rule apply.

     The de minimis rule states that an ingredient or component
of an article may be ignored for classification purposes
depending upon "whether or not the amount used has really changed
or affected the nature of the article and, of course, its
salability."  Varsity Watch Company v. United States, 34 CCPA
155, C.A.D. 359 (1947).  The Customs Service has determined in
application of the de minimis rule to "in part of braid" that if
the quantity of braid in the sample submitted served a useful
purpose or affected the nature of the article or increased the
salability of the article, it would be considered in part of
braid.  

     The elastic braid inserted into the hat does not impart any
additional elasticity; the elasticity of the knitted hat is
imparted by the acrylic knitted material.  The elastic braid does
not affect the nature of the hat or increase its salability. 
Therefore, the merchandise at issue is not considered wholly or
in part of braid for tariff classification purposes.  

HOLDING:

     The merchandise at issue is classified under subheading 
6505.90.6090, HTSUSA, which provides for hats and other headgear,
knitted or crocheted, or made up from lace, felt or other textile
fabric, in the piece (but not in strips), whether or not lined or
trimmed, other, of man-made fibers, knitted or crocheted or made
up from knitted or crocheted fabric, not in part of braid, other,
other, other.  The rate of duty is 39.7 cents per kilogram plus
14.1 percent ad valorem.  

     The protest should be denied.  A copy of this decision
should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and provided to the
protestant as part of the notice of action on the protest. 


                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division