Letter to The Honorable Alan Bersin Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Letter

The Honorable Alan Bersin
Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20229

Dear Commissioner Bersin,

I write today to express my concern regarding a tariff classification issue that threatens to drive two New York companies out of business. The companies -- Breutex, based in Medina, and Rick's Rags, based in Canastota -- import worn clothing from Canada which they then process into rags for sale in the United States. After years of importing rag materials under HTS subheading 6309.00.0010, with a zero rate of duty, CBP recently reclassified these materials under a catch-all apparel category (6110.30.3059) with a whopping 32 percent rate of duty. The additional, unanticipated duty costs for raw materials threaten the economic viability of these small businesses, and I respectfully request that CBP work with Breutex and Rick's to ensure that this tariff classification issue does not force them to lay off workers or go out of business.

Moreover, while Breutex's and Rick's rag materials imports are now subject to a 32 percent duty -- the highest ad valorem rate of all the rates applicable to the hundreds of categories of textiles and clothing -- their Canadian competitors have free access to the U.S. market. Specifically, it is my understanding that there is no U.S. duty on rags imported from Canada. So Canadian companies can sell their rags into the United States duty-free, but U.S. companies are being forced to pay a 32 percent duty just to import the worn clothing they turn into rags. Breutex and Rick's Rags already face significant competition from duty-free imports from Canada; continued imposition of an unwarranted 32 percent duty will drive these small American businesses to lay off workers or go out of business.

Breutex and Rick's employ over two dozen workers in Western and Central New York, regions still struggling with high unemployment levels. CBP's reclassification of Breutex's and Rick's worn clothing imports, after agents looked at perhaps a few worn garments pulled from thousand-pound bales each containing thousands of individual worn garments, is putting these two small U.S. businesses and their workers at risk. I respectfully request that CBP work with Breutex and Rick's to expeditiously resolve the tariff classification issue. Perhaps viewing Breutex's and Rick's facilities and production processes -- from unpacking the thousand pound bales, to cutting the materials into rags and wiping cloths -- would help CBP with proper classification of the worn clothing imports.

Thank you for your attention to this request. I look forward to working with you on this issue.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

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