OT:RR:CTF:VS H312426 RMC
Jose Fierro
Jose Alfredo Fierro Customs Broker
13526 Bradford St.
El Paso, TX 79928
RE: USMCA Eligibility of Chinese Components; General Note 11(p)
Dear Mr. Fierro:
This is in response to your correspondence, dated July 9, 2020, in which you request a ruling on whether certain Chinese-origin components will be eligible for United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) preferential tariff treatment pursuant to General Note (“GN”) 11(p) of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). Your request, submitted as an electronic ruling request, was forwarded to this office from the National Commodity Specialist Division for response.
FACTS:
You state that your client is a U.S. company that has contracted with a Mexican maquiladora facility to provide certain logistical services. The merchandise at issue, described as “high tech goods” including automatic data processing machines, digital processing units, input/output units, and storage units, is of Chinese origin and will be imported to Mexico directly from China.
Once the merchandise arrives in Mexico, it will be transferred to the maquiladora facility. There, workers will provide sorting, picking, packing, and shipping services in preparation for importation into the United States. You state that the goods will be exported to the United States in the same condition as they were imported into Mexico.
Based on the information in your submission, the merchandise will be classified in the following provisions of the HTSUS:
8471.50.0150;
8471.70.4065;
8471.70.5065;
8471.70.6000;
8471.70.9000;
8471.80.1000;
8473.30.1140;
8473.30.1180;
8473.30.5100;
8504.40.6012;
8504.40.6018;
8517.62.0020; and
8517.62.0090.
ISSUE:
Whether the Chinese-origin components will be eligible for USMCA preferential tariff treatment pursuant to GN 11(p), HTSUS, when they are imported from Mexico into the United States.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The USMCA was signed by the Governments of the United States, Mexico, and Canada on November 30, 2018. The USMCA was approved by the U.S. Congress with the enactment on January 29, 2020, of the USMCA Implementation Act, Pub. L. 116-113, 134 Stat. 11, 14 (19 U.S.C. § 4511(a)). GN 11 of the HTSUS implements the USMCA.
GN 11(a) provides that:
Goods that originate in the territory of Mexico, Canada or the United States (hereinafter referred to as “USMCA country” or “USMCA countries” as further defined in subdivision (l)(xxiv) of this note) under the terms of subdivision (b) of this note and regulations issued by the Secretary of the Treasury (including Uniform Regulations provided for in the USMCA), and goods enumerated in subdivision (p) of this note, when such goods are imported into the customs territory of the United States and are entered under a subheading for which a rate of duty appears in the “Special” subcolumn, followed by the symbol “S” in parentheses, are eligible for such duty rate, in accordance with section 202 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act
Accordingly, if all other requirements are satisfied, merchandise imported into the United States will qualify for preferential tariff treatment under the USMCA if it meets one of the origin criteria enumerated in GN 11(b) or if it is classified in a provision listed in GN 11(p). Here, you state that the goods are Chinese origin and that they do not undergo any processing in a USMCA country. The goods therefore cannot qualify as originating pursuant to any of the criteria enumerated in GN 11(b).
GN 11(p) provides that:
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this note, the following goods named in the first column below and classified in the provisions enumerated in the second column shall be deemed to be originating goods when imported into the customs territory of the United States from another USMCA country:
Automated data processing machines…………….....8471.30, 8471.41, 8471.49
Digital processing units....................................................................................8471.50
Combined input/output units...................................................................8471.60.10
Display units………………………………8528.42.00, 8528.52.00, 8528.62.00
Other input or output units........8471.60.20, 8471.60.70, 8471.60.80, 8471.60.90
Storage units.......................................................................................................8471.70
Other units of automated data processing machines..................................8471.80
Parts of machines of subheading 8443.31 or 8443.32, excluding facsimile machines and teleprinters................................................................................8443.99
Parts of automated data processing machines and units thereof ……....8473.30
Parts of local area network (LAN) equipment of subheading 8517.62................................................................................................................8517.70
Parts of monitors and projectors of subheading 8528.42, 8528.52 or 8528.62................................................................8529.90.22, 8529.90.75, 8529.90.99
Computer power supplies....................................................8504.40.60, 8504.40.70, 8504.90.20, 8504.90.41
Here, you state that the high tech goods will be classified in various provisions of headings 8471, 8473, 8504, and 8517, all of which are enumerated in GN 11(p). The merchandise will also be imported into the customs territory of the United States from Mexico, which is a USMCA country. Therefore, the merchandise will be deemed to be USMCA originating pursuant to GN 11(p) and, provided that all other requirements are met, the merchandise will be eligible for preferential tariff treatment under the USMCA when imported into the United States.
HOLDING:
The Chinese-origin components will be deemed USMCA originating pursuant to GN 11(p) and, provided that all other requirements are met, will be eligible for USMCA preferential tariff treatment when imported into the United States from Mexico.
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 a Customs Service 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