The country of origin of a wireless charger

N307674 December 4, 2019 CLA-2-85:OT:RR:NC:N2:220 CATEGORY: Origin Larry Whitney Leedsworld, Inc. 400 Hunt Valley Road New Kensington, PA 15068 RE: The country of origin of a wireless charger Dear Mr. Whitney: In your letter dated November 14, 2019 you requested a country of origin ruling. The merchandise under consideration is referred to as a Wireless Charger, which is described as an inductive type charger for personal electronics. The Wireless Charger is comprised of a plastic molded housing, a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), and a charging coil. You state that the PCBA and the molded housings are manufactured in China, while the charging coil is assembled in Vietnam. Based on the information provided, the assembly operations in Vietnam consist of soldering the charging coil onto the PCBA that is then assembled into the housing. Once assembled, the subject chargers are tested and then packaged. The PCBA functions to convert the input voltage and control the electrical charging of the device that is aligned with the charging coil while the charging coil emits an inductive field that charges certain types of personal electronics, such as a smart phone. 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) 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; however, for a good of a NAFTA country, the NAFTA Marking Rules will determine the country of origin.” 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). Regarding the country of origin of the subject wireless charger, in our view the assembly operations performed in Vietnam, which consists of soldering two charging coil wires onto the PCBA and then assembling them into a plastic housing, are neither complex nor do they substantially transform the articles being assembled. Further, it is the opinion of this office that the PCBA provides the essence of the wireless charger because it is the article within the assembly that supplies the electricity to the coil, as well as the article that identifies whether or not a suitable personal electronic device is in proximity to the coils. Therefore, based upon the facts presented and the pertinent authorities, the subject wireless charger is considered a product of China 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