MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 732621 EAB
Roberto Rodriguez Vera, General Manager
Shield Asphalt Co.
1900 E. Elizabeth Street, Apartment 15F
Brownsville, TX 78520
Re: Country of origin marking of liquid asphalt processed into
solid roofing compound.
Dear Mr. Rodriguez:
This is in reply to your letters dated July 31 and September
26, 1989, requesting a ruling on the country of origin marking
requirements of liquid asphalt imported into the U.S. from
Mexico. Further information was obtained by Mr. Edward A.
Bohannon of our staff during a telephone call with you on October
5, 1989. This ruling applies only to prospective transactions.
FACTS:
Shield Asphalt Co. (the importer) plans to import from
Mexico liquid asphalt contained in tank trucks. The imported
liquid asphalt will be processed by mixing it with latex fiber-
glass, other chemicals and an emulsifier. The resulting product
will be packaged in solid form in paperboard drums and sold as a
roofing compound.
You indicate that you and another importer have received
conflicting advice from Customs officials in Brownsville and
Laredo, Texas, as to whether the paperboard drums are required to
be marked with the country of origin of the liquid asphalt.
ISSUE:
What are the country of origin marking requirements of
liquid asphalt imported from Mexico and used in the manufacture
of solid roofing compound.
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 U.S. 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 in the U.S. the
English name of the country of origin of the article. The
primary purpose of the country of origin marking statute is to
"mark the goods so that at the time of purchase the ultimate
purchaser may, by knowing where the goods were produced, be able
to buy or refuse to buy the product, if such marking should
influence his will." United States v. Friedlaender & Co., 27
C.C.P.A. 297, 302, C.A.D. 104 (1940); National Juice Products
Association v. United States, 10 CIT 48, 628 F. Supp. 978 (1986).
Section 134.35, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.35),
provides that an article used in the U.S. in manufacture which
results in an article having a name, character, or use differing
from that of the imported article, will be within the principle
of the deci-sion in the case of United States v. Gibson-Thomsen,
27 CCPA 267 (CAD 98). Under this principle, the manufacturer or
processor in the U.S. who converts or combines the imported
article into the different article will be considered the
ultimate purchaser of the imported article within the
contemplation of 19 U.S.C. 1304(a), and the imported article is
excepted from individual marking.
Customs finds that your manufacturing process, consisting of
mixing the imported liquid asphalt with latex fiberglass, other
chemicals and an emulsifier, converts the imported article into a
new and different article, having a new name, character and use,
namely, solid roofing material. Therefore, you are the ultimate
purchaser of the imported article, and it is excepted from
individual country of origin marking.
Section 134.22, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.22),
provides that when an article is excepted from the marking
requirements, the outermost container or holder in which the
article ordinarily reaches the ultimate purchaser shall be marked
to indicate the country of origin of the article. However,
Customs has determined that tank trucks are instruments of
international traffic, see Headquarters Memorandum 102278 (July
27, 1976), and that they are not containers within the context of
19 CFR Part 134, and, therefore, are not required to be marked
with the country of origin of their contents.
In addition, since you are the ultimate purchaser of the
imported liquid asphalt, you are not required to mark the country
of origin of the liquid asphalt on the paperboard drums in which
the roofing compound is packaged after processing.
HOLDING:
The manufacturer who imports liquid asphalt and converts it
into solid roofing material is the ultimate purchaser of the
liquid asphalt. The liquid asphalt is excepted from marking.
Further, because the tank trucks in which the liquid asphalt is
imported are instruments of international traffic, they are not
containers within the context of 19 CFR Part 134, and, therefore,
are not required to be marked with the country of origin of the
liquid asphalt.
Sincerely,
Marvin M. Amernick, Chief
Value, Special Programs and
Admissibility Branch
cc: The Hon. Solomon Ortiz
Member of Congress
3505 Boca Chica Boulevard
Brownsville, TX 78521