CLA-2-48:OT:RR:NC:N4:434
Mireya Ruano Veyer LLC. 6600 Military Trail Boca Raton, FL 33496 RE: The tariff classification and country of origin of teacher planners Dear Ms. Ruano: This is in response to your letter dated March 4, 2025, requesting a tariff classification and country of origin determination, for purpose of duty calculation, on two styles of teacher planner notebooks. Samples, photos, and a detailed description of the manufacturing operations were provided for our review. SKU 9934469 is a teacher planner containing approximately 200 pages ring-bound between rigid covers. The covers are composed of a greyboard inner core covered with polyurethane (PU) sheeting. Inside, bound on the rings (the rings do not open), are the following features: a pocket page made of polypropylene (PP) plastic; a plastic 10-inch ruler; a page of useful stickers for the teacher to annotate pages in the planner; a page listing holidays and other special dates; grid pages for recording seating charts; an absentee/tardiness log; pages for monthly overview notes; a grid calendar page for each month; daily dated pages for lesson plans; grade recordation pages; parent/student contracts; field trip planner pages; a one-page map of the United States; and several lined pages for general notes. Each section is tabbed. The planner also includes an elastic pen loop and an elastic band closure. The outer dimensions of the notebook are approximately 9.5” x 11.5” with 8.5” x 11” pages. SKU 7984274 is a teacher planner containing approximately 200 pages bound with discs that essentially function as rings (they do not open). The cover is made from flexible PP plastic. The planner is the same dimensions and contains the same pages as the style described above. However, it does not include the pen loop or elastic band closure. The applicable subheading for the two teacher planners will be 4820.10.4000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Registers, account books, notebooks, order books, receipt books, letter pads, memorandum pads, diaries and similar articles: Other.” The column one, general rate of duty is Free.
We next address the country of origin of the planners.? For SKU 9934469, per your submission, the paper, the greyboard used as the core of the cover, and the sheet of stickers are made in Vietnam.? The PU sheeting used on the exterior of the cover, plastic pocket page, plastic ruler, rings, elastic pen loop and elastic band are made in China.? All additional manufacturing and assembly are carried out in Vietnam where the greyboard and PU are formed into the outer cover, and the pen loop and band are added.? Still in Vietnam, the parent rolls of paper are cut to size, printed, and tabbed (on select pages).? The paper pages are then collated, punched with holes, and assembled with the covers, inserts, and rings to form the finished planners.? The finished product is packaged for retail and then packed in shipping cartons for export to the United States. For SKU 7984274, per your submission, the paper and the sticker sheet are made in Vietnam.? The rolls of PP sheeting used to make the cover, plastic pocket page, plastic ruler, and discs are made in China.? All additional manufacturing and assembly take place in Vietnam where the PP cover is made, including foil printing on its front, the paper pages are cut to size, printed, collated, tabbed (on select pages), punched with holes, and assembled with the covers, inserts, and discs to form the finished planner.? The finished product is packaged for retail and then packed in shipping cartons for export to the United States. When determining the country of origin for purposes of applying current tariffs, including 301 trade remedies, the substantial transformation analysis is applicable. See, e.g., Headquarters Ruling Letter (?HQ?) H301619, dated November 6, 2018.? The test for determining whether a substantial transformation will occur is whether an article emerges from a process with a new name, character, or use different from that possessed by the article prior to processing. ?See Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States, 681 F.2d 778 (C.C.P.A. 1982). ?This determination is based on the totality of the evidence. See National Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 C.I.T. 308 (1992), aff?d, 989 F.2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993). The China-made PP and PU sheeting do undergo a substantial transformation in Vietnam when they are manufactured into outer covers.? The China-made rings/discs when assembled with the Vietnam-made covers and pages do not lose their identity and are not substantially transformed.? However, they are but one component of the larger planner.? And, although the rulers, pocket pages and elastics are made in China and do not undergo a substantial transformation in Vietnam by virtue of simple inclusion in the planner, these are minor components.? For the planners, many of the key raw materials, including the paper and greyboard, are made in Vietnam.? The key step of printing the pages occurs in Vietnam.? Indeed, the ?essence? of the finished planners are the printed pages.? The bulk of the manufacturing and assembly of the final planners occurs in Vietnam. The covers may protect and organize the pages, but it is the printed pages that render the planner useful for its intended purpose.? Considering the totality of the materials and manufacturing, the country of origin of the planners is Vietnam. The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise description as identified in the ruling request.? This position is clearly set forth in Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 177.9(b)(1).? This section states that a ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in the ruling letter, whether directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. ?In the event that the facts are modified in any way, or if the goods do not conform to these facts at time of importation, you should bring this to the attention of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and submit a request for a new ruling in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2.? Additionally, we note that the material facts described in the foregoing ruling may be subject to periodic verification by CBP. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs and Border Protection Regulations (19 CFR 177). A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, please contact National Import Specialist Charlene S. Miller at [email protected].
Sincerely,
(for) Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division