Slippers with uppers of textile and outer soles of textilewhich are covered with plastic traction dots; Subheading 6405.20; Subheading 6404.19
Active· CBP ruling HQ 959463· Issued 1996-10-11
Ruling text
HQ 959463
October 11, 1996
CLA-2 RR:TC:TE 959463 RH
CATEGORY: Classification
TARIFF NO.: 6404.19.3514
Mr. Lewis Fischer
Compliance Officer
MSAS
2265 East El Segundo Blvd.
El Segundo, CA 90245
RE: Slippers with uppers of textile and outer soles of textile
which are covered with plastic
traction dots; Subheading 6405.20; Subheading 6404.19
Dear Mr. Fischer:
This is in reply to your letter dated June 10, 1996, requesting a
classification ruling on a pair of
slippers, style C1569, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA).
FACTS:
The subject merchandise is a pair of open back slippers. The
upper portions are constructed of
cotton terry cloth fabric. The midsole consists of a layer of
flexible plastic foam approximately
3/4 of an inch thick and is covered with cotton terry cloth
fabric. The outer sole is made of
woven textile fabric and is covered with plastic traction dots
that are spaced approximately 1/16
of an inch apart.
ISSUE:
Whether the constituent material of the outer soles of the
slippers is textile or plastic for tariff
classification purposes.
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 is determined in
accordance with the terms of the headings and any relative
section or chapter notes.
Classification of goods in Chapter 64, HTSUSA, which provides for
footwear, is determined by
the materials of the upper and the outer soles. Note 4(b) to
Chapter 64, states that the
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constituent material of the outer sole shall be the material
having the greatest surface area in
contact with the ground, no account being taken of accessories or
reinforcements such as spikes,
bars, nails, protectors or similar attachments. Customs does not
consider plastic traction lines or
dots to be excludable as accessories or reinforcements since they
do not resemble the given
exemplars in note 4(b). Therefore, we consider the traction dots
as part of the material of the
outer sole and they must be considered in determining its
composition pursuant to Note 4(b).
Customs considers various factors in determining what is the
constituent material of the outer
sole: the rigidity or flexibility of the sole; the ground
surface; the weight of the wearer; and the
size, shape and placement of the traction dots on the sole.
Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ)
086246, dated April 20, 1990. If textile material is deemed to
be the constituent material of the
outer sole, the slippers are classifiable in subheading 6405.20,
which provides for other footwear,
with uppers of textile materials. On the other hand, if plastic
is the constituent material of the
outer sole, the slippers are classifiable in subheading 6404.19,
which provides for footwear with
outer soles of rubber or plastic and uppers of textile material,
other.
In most cases, if footwear has a rigid sole covered with plastic
traction dots that are spaced
closely together, the plastic is considered the constituent
material of the outer sole for
classification purposes. HQ 084713, dated August 3, 1989. The
soles in that case were
constructed of canvas textile fabric with a cardboard midsole
filler and were covered with plastic
traction dots spaced approximately 1/4 of an inch apart.
Slippers with less rigid soles were
discussed in HQ 086246, dated April 20, 1990. Those slippers had
a thin layer of foamed plastic
between the outersole and cardboard midsole, thus allowing some
of the textile material to
contact the ground when worn. They were also covered with
plastic traction dots spaced
approximately 1/4 of an inch apart. In both of those cases, we
held that plastic constituted the
constituent material of the soles. See HQ 089801, dated December
13, 1991 and HQ 089660,
dated December 11, 1991.
On the other hand, we held that textile fabric comprises the
constituent material of the outer sole
where the slipper has a rigid sole but the plastic traction dots
are not raised or spaced closely
together. HQ 088391, dated December 13, 1991 (the outer sole
consisted of wool felt material
which was coated or impregnated with rubber and/or plastics,with
traction dots laid out in groups
of six in a rosette pattern), and HQ 087336, dated August 28,
1990 (the slippers had soft, flexible
soles constructed of cotton twill, with traction dots spaced one
inch apart).
In the instant case, the 3/4 inch foam midsole provides some
rigidity to the soles of the slippers,
although not as much as the cardboard midsoles in HQ 084713 and
HQ 086246. However, the
traction dots on the soles in question are spaced closer together
than in those two cases.
Moreover, the traction dots protrude from the textile material,
and they are spaced very closely
together over the entire sole of the slipper. For these reasons,
we find that the plastic material
has the greatest surface area in contact with the ground and,
therefore, constitutes the constituent
material of the outer soles of the slippers.
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HOLDING:
Slippers, style number C1569, are classified in subheading
6404.19.3515, HTSUSA, which
provides for "Footwear with outer soles of rubber, plastics,
leather or composition leather and
uppers of textile materials: Footwear with outer soles of rubber
or plastics: Other Footwear with
open toes or heels...: Other: House slippers." They are
dutiable at the column one general
rate of duty at 37.5 percent ad valorem.
Your sample is being returned under separate cover.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification Appeals
Division
Source: rulings.cbp.gov — ruling 959463, retrieved 2026-10-12T05:31:26Z, republished verbatim. This digest is informational; only CBP issues binding rulings.