The country of origin of pliers.

N307150 November 4, 2019 CLA-2-82:OT:RR:NC:N1:118 CATEGORY: Country of Origin Mr. M. Jason Cunningham Sonnenberg & Cunningham PA 780 Fifth Ave. South Suite 200 Naples FL 34102 RE: The country of origin of pliers. Dear Mr. Cunningham: In your letter dated October 29, 2019, on behalf of your client, Great Star Industrial USA, LLC, you requested a ruling on the country of origin of three different types of pliers. The pliers are identified as mini needle-nose pliers, mini flat pliers, and bent-nose pliers. The features and characteristics of these pliers are as follows: Mini needle-nose pliers are gripping, pinching, and holding pliers used for a variety of jobs, such as reaching and grapping into small areas. They are made of two pieces of steel – each piece provides half of the handle and half of the working end. When joined together by adding a pin to holes drilled into each piece, the joint provides a fulcrum that transfers and increases the force applied to the handles by the user to the working end. Mini flat pliers are smaller versions of flat pliers. They are designed for bending, holding, and twisting. Their smaller size makes them more suitable for finer work, such as jewelry, electronics, and the like. Bent-nose pliers are sometimes considered a variation of needle-nose pliers. They have a thin set of jaws that are bent at an angle near the midpoint. This allows them to grip, pull, or turn surfaces without getting in the way. They are useful in jewelry making, electrical work, and other occupations that deal with shaping wire. In your request, you provide production-processing scenarios for each of the pliers, discussed hereafter. In a follow up communication, you stated that the pliers’ raw steel inputs are sourced from Taiwan or China, depending on market prices, and undergo production in Vietnam.  You contend that a substantial transformation of the raw steel occurs in Vietnam through manufacturing operations, resulting in the pliers being of Vietnam origin. Finally, you contend that the subsequent assembly operations in China and the addition of Chinese components there do not substantially transform the Vietnamese components of the pliers. The production-processing scenario for the mini needle-nose pliers begins in Vietnam, where raw steel rods are drop forged to make the rough shape of each handle and jaw. Then, each handle is die cut to form the top and bottom handle and jaw blanks. Burs are removed before they are sent to China. In China, the two holes are drilled, teeth are milled, and the items are heat treated, polished, laser-etched, then assembled together with a pin through the holes. Soft grips are slipped over the handles and retail packaging is completed. The production-processing scenario for the mini flat pliers also begins in Vietnam, where raw steel rods are drop-forged and molded into the two handles and jaws. They are then die cut into final form, size, and shape, and deburred. The pieces are then sent to China where the fulcrum’s hole is drilled, they are heat treated and polished, and assembled by joining the two handles together with a pin. Soft handle grips are applied before retail packaging. Finally, you propose a production-processing scenario for the bent-nose pliers. In Vietnam, raw steel is drop forged, die cut, and deburred to make the final product blanks. The blanks are then sent to China, where holes are drilled at the fulcrum point, the tips are bent, and the blanks are heat treated and polished. They are then assembled at the fulcrum with a pin before a soft grip is applied and retail packaging is completed. With regard to your request for the appropriate country of origin of the pliers, 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; The test for determining whether a substantial transformation will occur is whether an article emerges from a process with a new name, character and 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 order to determine whether a substantial transformation occurs when components of various origins are assembled into completed products, all factors such as the components used to create the product and manufacturing processes that these components undergo are considered in order to determine whether a product with a new name, character, and use has been produced. No one factor is decisive, and assembly operations that are minimal will generally not result in a substantial transformation. In our view, the Taiwanese or Chinese raw steel is substantially transformed in Vietnam into the pliers’ handles and jaws, which impart the essential character to the finished pliers. In each of the proposed production-processing scenarios for the three pliers, raw steel is drop forged in Vietnam into plier handles and jaws that have the shape and form of the final product. The handles and jaws are also die cut and deburred in Vietnam. As a result of these operations, the handles and jaws are dedicated for use as pliers upon export from Vietnam. The Chinese processing consists of heat-treating, drilling fulcrum holes, polishing, and simple assembly with a pin and handle grips. Based on the provided description of the assembly and processing operations performed in China, the handles and jaws are not substantially transformed by the addition of the remaining components nor are the assembly operations complex enough so as to transform the handles and jaws into a new article. Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that the pliers described in your proposed production-processing scenario are country of origin Vietnam. 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 Anthony E. Grossi at anthony.e.grossi@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division