MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 731568 jd
Thomas B. McVey, Esq.
Lane & Mittendorf
919 18th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
Re: Country of origin marking requirements applicable
to certain automobiles to be imported from Malaysia
Dear Mr. McVey:
This is in response to your letter of July 6, 1988,
concerning the application of country of origin marking
requirements to an automobile to be imported from Malaysia. We
regret the delay in responding.
FACTS:
According to your submission, your client will be importing
into the U.S. an automobile assembled in Malaysia. The
components for the automobile will be sourced from various
countries: the transaxel, i.e., the engine and transmission, is
from Japan; plastic parts are from Australia; electrical parts
are from the United Kingdom; textile and related products are from
the U.S.; lamps and seatbelts are from Korea; and most or
all of the remaining parts are from Malaysia.
Although you did not provide details as to the assembly
process, Customs takes notice of the sophistication of modern
automobiles, and we have some familiarity with the procedures
used in manufacturing such articles.
ISSUE
What is the country of origin of an automobile assembled in
Malaysia from components of Japanese, Australian, British, U.S.
and Malaysian origin?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C.
1304), provides that every article of foreign origin (or its
container) 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 a
manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser the English name
of the country of origin of the article.
--2--
In defining "country of origin", 134.1(b), Customs
Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(b)), states in regard to articles
produced with components from two or more countries that,
"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'...." The test of
substantial transformation is whether as the result of some
manufacturing or processing operation an article emerges as a new
and different article of commerce with a new name, character or
use.
Customs has previously ruled that the assembly in Taiwan of
a typewriter from parts from Taiwan, Japan and third countries
constitutes a substantial transformation such that the finished
typewriters could be marked as products of Taiwan for country of
origin marking purposes. The assembly combined hundreds of parts
in a process taking approximately 36 to 46 minutes (730837 lw;
June 10, 1988). In ruling 731076 (November 1, 1988), Customs
determined that the assembly in Taiwan of an automobile with
components from Taiwan, Japan and the U.S. was a substantial
transformation of the components and rendered Taiwan the country
of origin for purposes of 19 U.S.C. 1304.
HOLDING:
It is the opinion of this office that the subject
automobiles are, for country of origin marking purposes, products
of Malaysia. We believe that the manufacturing process taking
place in Malaysia causes the component automobile parts to lose
their separate identities and emerge from the assembly process as
a new article of commerce with a new name, character and use.
Marking indicating Malaysia as the country of origin
displayed in a conspicuous place on the automobile will satisfy
the requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304. This ruling is rendered in
regard to that statute only.
Sincerely,
Marvin M. Amernick
Chief, Value, Special Programs
and Admissibility Branch