The country of origin of a strut assembly.

N309148 February 4, 2020 MAR-2:OT:RR:NC:N2:206 CATEGORY: Country of Origin Mei Lung Niew Gold Suspension System Malaysia SDN BHD PT75112, No.1 Jalan Dato’ Husin/Ku 14, Klang, 42200 Malaysia RE: The country of origin of a strut assembly. Dear Mr. Niew: This is in response to your letter dated January 23, 2020, requesting a ruling on the country of origin for an automotive suspension system. The item under consideration is a vehicle Suspension System (Item Numbers SQ10821, SQ11042, SQ11060, SQ11100, and SQ14302), which consists of an elastic component (suspension spring and airbag), a damping component (shock absorber), steering gears (bearings), and joints and linkage (elastic rubber plate). The elastic components reduce the bumping, the shock absorber reduces the vibration and dampen the motion of the springs, while the steering gears convert the energy of vibration to heat. As most parts of any suspension must be movable and flexible, the linkages are connected by a flexible connection, including the bushing and bearing. These impact the system to adapt to the damping and vibration. You state that the shock absorber is sourced in China, and imported into Malaysia, where it gets assembled with the rest of the components of Malaysian origin. 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) (Uniroyal). 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). In Uniroyal case, the court held that an upper was not substantially transformed when attached to an outsole to form a shoe and that the upper was "the very essence of the completed shoe". The assembly process in Malaysia appears to be a minor one and did not result in a substantial transformation of the articles. Therefore, we need to determine the “essence” of the suspension system. In New York Ruling N307541, dated December 11, 2019, this office discussed a suspension strut of a similar construction as the suspension system in your request. We determined that the shock absorber was the very essence of the entire strut assembly. Similarly, the shock absorber, which you source from China is the very essence of the entire suspension system. As a result, the shock absorber has not been substantially transformed in Malaysia. Therefore, the Suspension System (Item Numbers SQ10821, SQ11042, SQ11060, SQ11100, and SQ14302) 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