CLA-2-05:OT:RR:NC:N5:231
Mr. Daniel Phillips
Genesee Valley Farm
3520 South Main Street Road
Batavia, NY 14020
RE: The tariff classification, marking, and status under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
(USMCA) of horse semen from Canada
Dear Mr. Phillips,
In your letter dated March 21, 2025, you requested a binding ruling on the tariff classification, marking, and
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) eligibility of horse semen imported from Canada.
The subject merchandise is Standardbred horse semen. Stallions will produce the semen that is collected
through veterinary procedures and then inserted into syringes of 50 cubic centimeters. The semen will be
used to inseminate and impregnate Standardbred mares through artificial means. The merchandise will be
imported to the United States in ten syringes of 50 cubic centimeters each, which are then packed in
Styrofoam boxes weighing 4 lbs.
Classification:
The applicable tariff provision for the horse semen will be subheading 0511.99.4040, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for: “Animal products not elsewhere specified or
included; dead animals of chapter 1 or 3, unfit for human consumption: Other: Other: Other: Other animal
semen.” The general rate of duty will be 1.1 percent ad valorem.
Your inquiry also requests a ruling on the marking and status under the United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA) of the merchandise. Neither marked samples nor pictorial representations of the labels
were submitted for review with your letter.
Marking:
The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless
excepted, 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 its 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 “country of origin” is defined in 19 CFR 134.1(b) 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; however, for a good of a NAFTA or USMCA country, the marking
rules set forth in Part 102 of this chapter (hereinafter referred to as the part 102 Rules) will determine the
country of origin.”
Pursuant to section 102.0, interim regulations, related to the marking rules, tariff-rate quotas, and other
USMCA provisions, published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2021 (86 FR 35566), the rules set forth in
§§102.1 through 102.18 and 102.20 determine the country of origin for marking purposes with respect to
goods imported from Canada and Mexico. Section 102.11 provides a required hierarchy for determining the
country of origin of a good for marking purposes, with the exception of textile goods which are subject to the
provisions of 19 C.F.R. §102.21. See 19 C.F.R. §102.11.
Applied in sequential order, 19 CFR Part 102.11(a) provides that the country of origin of a good is the
country in which:
(1) The good is wholly obtained or produced;
(2) The good is produced exclusively from domestic materials; or
(3) Each foreign material incorporated in that good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification set
out in Part 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all other applicable
requirements of these rules are satisfied.
The horse semen is “wholly obtained or produced” from horses located and originating in Canada.
Therefore, paragraph (a)(1) can be used to determine the country of origin of the semen, which in this case is
Canada.
As previously ruled, conveyances such as syringes,
“…are exempt from individual marking by virtue of 19 U.S.C. §1304(a)(3)(J) and 19 C.F.R. §134.33, since
‘[c]hemicals, drugs, medicinal, and similar substances, when imported in capsules, pills, tablets, lozenges, or
troches’ are J-List articles. Articles on the J-List are exempt from individual marking, however the outermost
container that ordinarily reaches the ultimate purchaser of a J-List article must be marked with the country of
origin of the article.”
The imported syringes containing the horse semen are an analogous conveyance. Articles on the J-List are
exempt from individual marking, but the outermost container that ordinarily reaches the ultimate purchaser of
a J-List article must be marked with the country of origin of the article, in this case Canada. Therefore, the
boxes in which the horse semen syringes are packed must be marked accordingly.
USMCA:
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)). General Note ("GN")
11 of the HTSUS implements the USMCA. GN 11(b) sets forth the criteria for determining whether a good is
an originating good for purposes of the USMCA. GN 11(b) states:
For the purposes of this note, a good imported into the customs territory of the United States from the
territory of a USMCA country, as defined in subdivision (l) of this note, is eligible for the preferential tariff
treatment provided for in the applicable subheading and quantitative limitations set forth in the tariff schedule
as a "good originating in the territory of a USMCA country" only if ?
(i) the good is a good wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries;
(ii) the good is a good produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries, exclusively from
originating materials;
(iii) the good is a good produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries using
non-originating materials, if the good satisfies all applicable requirements set forth in this note (including the
provisions of subdivision (o));
Since the horse semen is a good wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA
countries under GN 11(b)(i), it is a good originating in the territory of a USMCA country.? Therefore, the
merchandise would be eligible for preferential tariff treatment under the USMCA.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS
and the accompanying duty rates are provided at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
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 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 C.F.R. 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, contact
National Import Specialist Ekeng Manczuk at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division