In your letter dated December 16, 1996, written on behalf of Trade Winds Importing Co., you requested a tariff classification ruling.
In package type No.1, all three sets of uppers will be braided strips of plastic-coated textile material.
In package type No.2, all three sets of uppers will be textile material.
In package type No.3, the uppers will be mixed. Plastic uppers will be affixed to the sandals when the product is imported, and the two additional sets of uppers around the cardboard insert will be textile material.
For package type No.1, Ch. 64, Note 3(a) applies which states that the terms "rubber" and "plastics" include textile products with an external layer of rubber or plastics being visible to the naked eye. Therefore, the applicable subheading will be 6402.99.18, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other footwear having uppers of over 90% rubber/plastic with rubber and/or plastic outer soles. The rate of duty will be 6% ad valorem.
For package type No.2, where all three sets of uppers will be textile material, the applicable subheading will be 6404.19.35, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for footwear in which the upper's external surface is predominately textile materials, in which the outer sole's external surface is predominately rubber and/or plastics, which is of the slip-on type, which is other than athletic, and which is 10% or more by weight of rubber and/or plastics.
For package type No.3, General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) 3(c) applies, which states that when goods cannot be classified by reference to GRI 3(a) or 3(b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration. Since the uppers of these sandals can be interchanged, consisting entirely of either plastic or textile depending on which of these uppers the wearer chooses to utilize, the applicable subheading will be 6404.19.35, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for footwear in which the upper's external surface is predominately textile materials, in which the outer sole's external surface is predominately rubber and/or plastics, which is of the slip-on type, which is other than athletic, and which is 10% or more by weight of rubber and/or plastics.