COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF CLUTCH REPAIR KITS

N037060 September 29, 2008 MAR-2 OT:RR:E:NC:N1:101 CATEGORY: Country of Origin Janice McEachern, Customs Audit & Compliance Specialist Rogers & Brown 2 Cumberland Street Charleston, SC 29401-2602 RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF CLUTCH REPAIR KITS Dear Ms. McEachern: This is in response to your letter dated September 2, 2008, requesting a country of origin ruling on behalf of Perfection Clutch of Timmonsville, South Carolina. The item concerned is a Clutch Repair Kit consisting of a pressure plate/cover, a disc, two (2) bearings and an alignment tool; you state in your ruling request that the alignment tool is made expressly for the Kit and has no other use. The purpose of the Clutch Repair Kit is to facilitate the repair and overhaul of an automotive clutch. You state in your request that the parts of the Kit will be imported into the U.S. from China, South Korea, Canada and Taiwan; that the parts are, at present, imported separately and packaged together in the U.S.; that there is the possibility that partial or complete Kits will be imported into the U.S. in the future and that the packaged Kits will be sold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. This ruling will only address the current importation scenario as the specifics concerning exactly what parts would be imported and from what country would be needed to address any possible future importation scenarios. Subpart A [General Provisions], Section 134.1(b) [Definitions-Country of origin] states “’Country of origin’ means the country of manufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the United States.”; this definition applies to all foreign countries except NAFTA countries and Bahrain. Since, at present, each part of the Clutch Repair Kit is imported separately, the country of origin of each part of the Clutch Repair Kit imported from a non-NAFTA is the country in which the part was manufactured or produced (China, South Korea or Taiwan); this applies whether the parts are sold individually or packaged together in the U.S. Subpart B [Rules of Origin], Section 102.11 [General rules.] states “(a) 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 § 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all other applicable requirements of these rules are satisfied.” If any of the parts of the Clutch Repair Kit, imported separately from Canada, meet these requirements, then their country of origin would be Canada; if not, the definition of country of origin in Subpart A, Section 134.1(b) of the CFR would apply to the part or parts whether they are sold individually or packaged together in the U.S. You state in your request that “The matter of the essential character of the kit being the pressure plate and thereby driving the country of origin was never addressed [in our previous Ruling, N031258].” There is no “essential character” determination used in the identification of the country of origin of the separately imported parts of the Clutch Repair Kit. Per Subpart I [Advance Ruling Procedures], Section 181.92(5)(i) [Definitions and general NAFTA advance ruling practice.], this Office has no authority to issue rulings on goods exported from the U.S. to other NAFTA countries (Canada or Mexico). A list of addresses from which advance rulings for exports into Canada or Mexico can be requested is located at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website at: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_programs/international_agreements/free_trade/nafta/adv_rulings/adv_rulings_review.xml. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Parts 177 and 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177, 181). 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 Richard Laman at 646-733-3017. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director National Commodity Specialist Division