OT:RR:CTF:VS H311854 AP
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New York, NY [ ]
RE: Country of origin; rubberwood desktop and steel tube legs
Dear Mr. [ ]:
This is in response to your January 2, 2020 ruling request, filed on behalf of Company A, [ ], and referred to our office on June 23, 2020, regarding the country of origin of a rubberwood desktop and steel tube legs, which the company intends to import together as an unassembled desk. The desktop and the legs can also be imported separately as spare parts.
You have asked that certain information submitted in connection with this ruling request be treated as confidential. Inasmuch as this request conforms to the requirements of 19 C.F.R.
§ 177.2(b)(7), the request for confidentiality is approved. The information contained within brackets and all attachments to this ruling request, forwarded to our office, will not be released to the public and will be withheld from published versions of this decision.
FACTS:
Company A is a provider of furnished, professional office spaces. The merchandise at issue consists of a rubberwood desktop and powder-coated steel tube legs, which will be imported together as an unassembled desk.
The desktop is made from thick, solid Vietnamese rubberwood in Vietnam. Specifically, Vietnamese sourced timber in Vietnam is cut, joined, cut to size, polished, treated for condensation, sanded, inspected, cut, edge sanded, holes for bushings are drilled, cut-outs are made, and the desktop is then cleaned, coated, and packed with assembly hardware. The cost of the Vietnamese desktop is [ ].
The legs are t-legs manufactured in China. Specifically, Chinese sourced steel tubes and plates are cut, welded, sanded, drilled, painted, and packaged. The finished powder coated steel tube legs are exported to Vietnam. No additional manufacturing occurs in Vietnam. The cost of the Chinese steel tube legs with assembly bolts is [ ].
In Vietnam, the Chinese metal legs will be unpacked and repackaged with the Vietnamese origin desktop in separate cartons to ensure the rubberwood desktop is not damaged. The separately packaged desktop and the legs will then be exported together as an unassembled desk from Vietnam to the United States.
Below are images of the steel tube legs and the rubberwood desktop:
The individual desktops and legs are not for resale after importation into the U.S. After importation, the desktop and the legs will be assembled into a finished desk for placement on the floor and for sole use in the company’s office spaces. In its built form, the desk will be 48 inches x 24 inches x 287/8 inches. The desktop and legs can also be imported separately as replacement parts.
The assembly in the U.S. involves turning the desktop upside down and fixing the legs with screws, and then turning the desk over to its correct orientation.
ISSUE:
What is the country of origin of the subject rubberwood desktop and steel tube legs?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. § 1304), provides, in relevant part:
(a) Marking of articles Except as hereinafter provided, every article of foreign origin … imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit in such manner as to indicate to an ultimate purchaser in the United States the English name of the country of origin of the article.
Part 134, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Regulations (19 C.F.R. Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. § 1304. Title 19,
Section 134.1(b) defines “country of origin” as “the country of manufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the United States. Further work or material added to an article in another country must effect a substantial transformation in order to render such other country the ‘country of origin’ within the meaning of this part; ….”
A substantial transformation occurs when an article emerges from a manufacturing process with a name, character, or use, which differs from the original material subjected to the process. In Nat’l Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 CIT 308, aff’d, 989 F.2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993), the Court of International Trade determined that hand tool components, which were cold-formed and hot-forged in Taiwan into their final shape, with post-importation processing such as heat treatment and electroplating, and assembly occurring in the U.S., did not undergo substantial transformation in the U.S. There was no change in name because each article as imported had the same name in the completed tool. There was no change in character because the articles remained the same after heat treatment, electroplating, and assembly in the U.S. The use of the imported articles was predetermined at the time of entry – each component was intended to be incorporated in a particular finished mechanics’ hand tool, except for one exhibit with a dual use. The court rejected the importer’s claim that the value added in the U.S. was relatively significant to the operation in Taiwan so that substantial transformation should be found because such a finding could lead to inconsistent marking requirements for importers who perform exactly the same processes on imported merchandise but sell at different prices.
In Carlson Furniture Indus. v. United States, 65 Cust. Ct. 474, Cust. Dec. 4126 (1970), which involved wooden chair parts, the U.S. Customs Court held that the assembly operations after importation were substantial in nature and more than a simple assembly of parts. The importer assembled, fitted, and glued the wooden parts together, inserted steel pins into the key joints, cut the legs to length and leveled them, and in some instances, upholstered the chairs and fitted the legs with glides and casters. The assembly operations resulted in the creation of a new article of commerce.
In Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) H083693, dated March 23, 2010, a wood chest was assembled from over 20 U.S. and foreign components, and 40 percent of the total cost of production was attributable to materials of U.S. origin, U.S. warehouse overhead, and U.S. labor costs (including overhead). CBP concluded that the components that were used to manufacture the wood chest, when combined with a U.S. origin laminate top, were substantially transformed as a result of the substantial assembly operations performed in the U.S.
In HQ 734737, dated Dec. 17, 1992, foreign-made drawer slides were imported into the U.S. in bulk. After importation, the drawer slides were sold to distributors or manufacturers of unassembled furniture kits who packaged the slides in retail boxes containing other furniture components of U.S. origin. The drawer slides sold as part of a furniture kit had to be individually marked to indicate their country of origin at the time of importation.
Unlike in Carlson Furniture Indus. and in HQ H083693, here the assembly operations are not substantial in nature. The assembly involves turning the desktop upside down, fixing the legs with screws, and turning the desk over to its correct orientation. The desktop is manufactured in Vietnam and no further processing occurs in the U.S. The legs are manufactured in China and no further processing occurs in Vietnam and the U.S. The assembly of the desktop and the legs into an office table in the U.S. is a simple combining operation that does not change the name, character, or use of the desktop manufactured in Vietnam and the legs manufactured in China. The substantial transformation of the desktop and the legs occurred before their importation in the U.S. After importation in the U.S., the identity of the desktop and the legs remain the same. If the desktop is made in Vietnam and the legs are made in China, and the simple assembly occurs in the U.S., the countries of origin of the unassembled furniture will be China and Vietnam. See HQ 734737, supra (foreign-made drawer slides sold as part of a furniture kit were marked individually).
Accordingly, the unassembled office desk must reflect that the origin of the desktop originating from Vietnam and the legs originating from China. The same applies if the desktop and the legs are imported separately as spare parts.
HOLDING:
The countries of origin of the rubberwood desktop and steel tube legs imported together as an unassembled office desk or separately as spare parts, produced as described herein, are China and Vietnam. Specifically, the desktop originates from Vietnam and the legs originate from China.
Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and incorporated in the ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. The application of a ruling letter by [CBP] field office to the transaction to which it is purported to relate is subject to the verification of the facts incorporated in the ruling letter, a comparison of the transaction described therein to the actual transaction, and the satisfaction of any conditions on which the ruling was based.”
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction.
Sincerely,
Monika R. Brenner, Chief
Valuation and Special Programs Branch