The country of origin of an injection molding machine from Japan

N302772 April 3, 2019 CLA-2-84:OT:RR:NC:N1:104 CATEGORY: Origin Mr. Paul S. Anderson The Anderson Law Firm, LLC 125 S. Wacker Drive Suite 1825 Chicago, IL 60606 RE: The country of origin of an injection molding machine from Japan Dear Mr. Anderson: In your letter dated February 1, 2019, on behalf of Toshiba Machine Co., America, you requested a country of origin ruling. The injection molding machine consists of components manufactured in both China and Japan. In your submission, you provided a description of the manufacturing process for the injection molding machine. Certain assembly processes are performed in both countries. Various structural components are produced and sourced in China. In addition, four components produced in Japan are shipped from Japan to China to be assembled with the structural components. The assembled components are subsequently sent from China to Japan for further manufacturing processes. In Japan, additional components manufactured in Japan are assembled together with the Chinese components. In addition, technical mounting, wiring and software installation is performed. The processing operations performed in Japan substantially transform the various components into an injection molding machine. After final testing and quality control review, a fully functioning injection molding machine is then shipped from Japan to the United States. With regard to your request for the appropriate country of origin of the injection molding machine, 19 C.F.R. § 134.1(b) provides in pertinent part as follows: Country of origin means 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; As stated in HQ 735009 dated July 30, 1993, “The country of origin is the country where the article last underwent a “substantial transformation”, that is, processing which results in a change in the article's name, character, or use”. In addition, the court has held that “A substantial transformation occurs when an article emerges from a manufacturing process with a name, character, and use that differs from the original material subjected to the processing.”  However, if the manufacturing or combining process is merely a minor one that leaves the identity of the article intact, a substantial transformation has not occurred. Based upon your description of the manufacturing operations, the nature of the processing performed in Japan is not a simple one. The complex operations resulted in the individual parts losing their separate identities to become a new article, i.e., the injection molding machine. Thus, the country of origin of the injection molding machine will be Japan. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs 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 Patricia O’Donnell at patricia.k.odonnell@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division