HTSUS classification walkthrough: a cotton knit T-shirt (Section XI, GRI 1 and Note 2)

Classification walkthroughs earn more exam points per hour of study than almost any other content, because the exam reuses the same method on new fact patterns. This is the first of five worked walkthroughs; the others cover machinery, food and agricultural products, plastics, and chemicals. This one classifies a men’s cotton knit T-shirt from Section down to subheading, then a harder cotton-polyester blend that needs a tie-break rule. For the six rules these walkthroughs apply, start with the General Rules of Interpretation guide; the glossary defines HTSUS and tariff classification.

Step 1: identify the good and find the Section

The good is a men’s short-sleeve T-shirt, 100 percent cotton, knitted, no pocket or trim, imported for retail sale. Textile goods live in Section XI of the HTSUS, “Textile and Textile Articles,” Chapters 50 to 63. That single fact rules out most of the schedule immediately: you are not searching all 22 Sections, you are searching 14 chapters.

Step 2: narrow to the Chapter using GRI 1

Section XI splits knitted goods from woven goods at the chapter level. Chapter 60 covers knitted or crocheted fabric (the material, by the yard); Chapter 61 covers “Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted” (the finished garment); Chapter 62 covers the same articles when not knitted or crocheted. Our good is a finished, knitted garment, so under GRI 1 it belongs in Chapter 61, not 60 or 62. This distinction, knit versus woven, is one of the most commonly tested facts in the apparel category, because the two chapters run on different heading numbers for what looks like the same garment.

Step 3: find the heading

Within Chapter 61, heading 6109 reads: “T-shirts, singlets, tank tops and similar garments, knitted or crocheted.” That heading text describes our good exactly, so under GRI 1 the classification is settled at the heading level without needing GRI 2 through 6 for essential character or composite-goods questions. This is the common case: most straightforward, single-material, finished garments are decided entirely by GRI 1, heading text plus notes, and the exam rewards recognizing when you can stop there rather than manufacturing a more complicated analysis.

Step 4: find the subheading

Heading 6109 splits by material at the six-digit subheading level:

Subheading	Description
6109.10	Of cotton
6109.90	Of other textile materials

A 100 percent cotton T-shirt falls under 6109.10, and at the eight-digit tariff rate line, 6109.10.00 is the operative classification for cotton T-shirts, singlets, and similar garments. The current general column duty rate for 6109.10.00 is 16.5 percent ad valorem, with preferential rates available under listed free trade agreements and a much higher “column 2” rate for a small list of countries without normal trade relations. The ten-digit statistical suffix beneath that, for example 6109.10.00.04 for specific all-white crew or V-neck T-shirt styles, exists for trade statistics and quota administration; it does not change the legal duty classification, which is fixed at the eight-digit rate line.

The harder version: a cotton-polyester blend

Now change one fact: the T-shirt is 60 percent polyester, 40 percent cotton by weight, still knitted, still styled as a T-shirt. Heading 6109 still applies under GRI 1, because the heading text covers T-shirts regardless of fiber. The question is which subheading, since neither fiber is “the” material in the way a 100 percent cotton shirt is.

This is exactly what Section XI’s legal notes exist to resolve. Section XI carries a chief-weight rule: when a textile article is a mixture of two or more textile materials and the heading or subheading text does not itself dictate the answer, the good is classified as if it consisted wholly of whichever textile material predominates by weight. In our blend, polyester at 60 percent predominates over cotton at 40 percent, so the shirt is classified under 6109.90 (of other textile materials) rather than 6109.10 (of cotton), even though cotton is a substantial share of the fabric. Swap the percentages and the answer flips to 6109.10. The exam likes to test this exact swap: change one input number and see if you re-run the rule instead of reusing the previous answer.

Why this is not a GRI 3 question

A tempting wrong turn is to treat a fiber blend as a GRI 3 “goods classifiable under two or more headings” problem and reach for essential character. It is not: heading 6109 (and its 6109.10 / 6109.90 subheadings) already covers the good, so GRI 1 and Section XI’s own chief-weight note resolve it without ever leaving the heading. GRI 3(b) essential character is for goods that are prima facie classifiable under two or more different headings, not for choosing between two subheadings of the same heading. Confusing “which subheading” with “which heading” is a common way to lose an otherwise easy point.

Practicing this pattern

The method is the same every time: find the Section, use GRI 1 to pick the Chapter and heading from the goods description and any governing notes, then apply the subheading-level notes (chief weight for blended textiles, essential character for composite goods, and so on) only when the heading text alone does not decide it. Drill the chapter-to-heading jump in the chapter locator, practice sequencing the rules themselves in the GRI order drill, and test the full method against original questions in the free practice test.

Sources: heading 6109 text and subheading structure (6109.10, 6109.90, and the 6109.10.00 rate line and statistical suffixes) verified against the U.S. International Trade Commission's Harmonized Tariff Schedule search and export tools at hts.usitc.gov, and the HTSUS Section, Chapter, and Table of Contents structure verified against the hts.usitc.gov chapter index, both checked 2026-07-29. The Section XI chief-weight rule for mixed textile materials is stated in the HTSUS Section XI legal notes published at hts.usitc.gov. This is a plain-English walkthrough; the official HTSUS text and current notes govern, and duty rates and note numbering should be reconfirmed against the live schedule before relying on them for an actual entry.