The country of origin of a stylus pen

N305883 September 6, 2019 CLA-2-84:OT:RR:NC:N2:220 CATEGORY: Origin Lisa Murrin Expeditors Tradewin LLC 795 Jubilee Drive Peabody, MA 01960 RE: The country of origin of a stylus pen Dear Ms. Murrin: In your letter dated August 20, 2019 you requested a country of origin ruling on behalf of your client, Wacom Technology. The merchandise under consideration is identified as the Diamond Stylus Pen (Stylus), which is described as a Bluetooth enabled stylus pen consisting of three printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs), the pen body, numerous mechanical parts, a battery, connectors, and the tip subassembly. The intended use of the Stylus is to function as an input device for tablets and other smart devices where the Stylus is paired with the tablet via a Bluetooth connection and users manipulate the displayed content on the tablet, such as drawing, writing, etc. You state the Stylus is manufactured in Cambodia with components from various countries and upon completion of the manufacturing process in Cambodia, it is imported into the United States in a retail package with replacement tips and a USB charging cable. The manufacturing process in Cambodia involves the assembly of three PCBAs that are referred to as the Main PCBA, the sub-PCBA, and the Bluetooth PCBA. All three boards are assembled by surface mounting individual components, such as integrated circuits, resistors, capacitors, and diodes, onto bare PCBs. After the PCBAs are tested, they are joined together with the lithium battery and the mechanical parts of the Stylus, which consist of the pen body, switches, connectors, springs, clips, lenses, caps, and more. Following a firmware programming and final testing procedure, the Stylus is packaged along with three additional tips. 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), in pertinent part, 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 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, 69 C.C.P.A. 151 (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). In our view, the assembly of the three PCBAs in Cambodia by soldering the individual components onto the bare board results in a substantial transformation of the components to produce PCBAs of Cambodian origin. Furthermore, it is the opinion of this office the Main PCBA and the Bluetooth PCBA provide the essence of the Stylus. As such, we find that the components that make up the Stylus are transformed in Cambodia into a new and different article of commerce with a name, character, and use distinct from the article exported. Thus, the Diamond Stylus Pen is considered a product of Cambodia for origin and marking purposes at 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, contact National Import Specialist Karl Moosbrugger at karl.moosbrugger@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division