5007 20 39: Pongee, habutai, honan, shantung, corah and similar: other, other

See the HS Explanatory Note to subheading 5007 20.

The fabrics of these subheadings have various individual characteristics in their nature, weave and appearance.

They are most frequently woven on locally made hand-looms in simple weaves (plain, twill, satin) from raw (not thrown) silk filaments assembled without twist. Their selvedges are usually faulty. They are folded in wallet form: the two ends of the length are placed together within the length which is then folded around them. With some types (particularly, from China), a different method of folding is sometimes used: one end below, one end above, the length being refolded back on itself with four folds to the yard (0,91 m).

However, they may also be put up differently, for example, rolled up.

These fabrics include:

1. Habutai; Japanese fabric of plain or twill weave, woven from single yarn without twist. The term ‘habutai’ usually denotes plain-woven fabric and ‘twilled habutai’ twill-woven.

In the unbleached state, these fabrics are rough to the touch and of a greyish-white or off-white shade. When they have been scoured (for example, by bleaching), i.e., when the silk gum has been removed, these fabrics are white or off-white and may be used for making up into articles without further processing.

Bleaching of these fabrics is usually completed by sizing or filling which gives them a fuller consistency, a brighter appearance and increased weight;

2. Pongee; Chinese fabrics called shantung, honan, assan, antung, ninghai, according to the province in which they originated. These fabrics are relatively thick and heavier than the Japanese fabrics mentioned above; in the unbleached state, they are of a yellowish or reddish shade and, in the scoured state, they are of a similar colour to flax or batiste that is unbleached or merely washed. They can be ribbed or not, the ribbed effect being produced by a grosgrain weave (plain weave) using yarns of different thicknesses;

3. Tussah (or tussore); a fabric originating in a region of north-east India, woven with silk from a wild silk-worm. The term has been extended to include Chinese fabrics and now includes fabrics of a comparable type manufactured in several Far Eastern countries from silk produced by a wild silkworm which feeds on oak leaves;

4. Corah; a fabric produced in the Calcutta area which greatly resembles Japanese habutai but differs from it in that it is less regular and is made from thicker yarn. One of its characteristics is the presence of a braid passed through the selvedge.