The country of origin of a rocker arm.

N304733 June 25, 2019 MAR-2:OT:RR:NC:N2:206 CATEGORY: Country of Origin Hyejin Lee Cheongbo Industrial Co., Ltd. 208, Namdong-daero, Namdong-gu, Incheon, Korea 21643 Korea, South RE: The country of origin of a rocker arm. Dear Mr. Lee: This is in response to your letter dated June 11, 2019, requesting a ruling on the country of origin for a rocker arm, on behalf of your client Schaeffler Group USA, Inc. of Cheraw, South Carolina. Descriptive literature and illustrations were provided with your request. The item under consideration is a Rocker Arm, which is an oscillating lever that conveys radial movement from the cam into linear movement at the poppet valve to open and close it. The rocker arm is dedicated solely to be used with a Ford Godzilla spark-ignition internal combustion piston engine. You state that the raw materials for the rocker arm are sourced in China, shipped to South Korea for further processing, and then imported into the United States. 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. The courts have held that a substantial transformation occurs when an article emerges from a process with a new name, character or use different from that possessed by the article prior to processing. United States v. Gibson-Thomsen Co., Inc., 27 CCPA 267, C.A.D. 98 (1940); National Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 CIT 308 (1992), aff’d, 989 F. 2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993); Anheuser Busch Brewing Association v. The United States, 207 U.S. 556 (1908) and Uniroyal Inc. v. United States, 542 F. Supp. 1026 (1982).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. Uniroyal, Inc. v. United States, 3 CIT 220, 542 F. Supp. 1026, 1029 (1982), aff’d, 702 F.2d 1022 (Fed. Cir. 1983). Substantial transformation determinations are based on the totality of the evidence. See Headquarters Ruling (HQ) W968434, date January 17, 2007, citing Ferrostaal Metals Corp. v. United States, 11 CIT 470, 478, 664 F. Supp. 535, 541 (1987). Based on the diagrams of the rocker arm process flow you provided, it appears that the rocker arm from China does not change in its name, character, or use in Korea. Although the product undergoes machining, gate removal, width/ball seat/pallet coining, boring of bore hole, chamfering, heat treatment for hardening, de-burring, laser marking, etc. in Korea, the essence of the rocker arm still remains the same. As shipped from China, the merchandise is recognizable as a rocker arm, and it is dedicated to be solely used as a rocker arm, even though it requires the processes outlined above in order to function. As a result, it is the opinion of this office that the rocker arm has not been substantially transformed in South Korea. Therefore, the rocker arm is considered a product of China for both origin and marking purposes at the time of importation into the United States. 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, please contact National Import Specialist Liana Alvarez at liana.alvarez@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division