The country of origin of sockets, socket adapter, socket extender and combination wrenches.

N309266 February 20, 2020 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 sockets, socket adapter, socket extender and combination wrenches. Dear Mr. Cunningham: In your letter dated January 27, 2020, on behalf of your client, Great Star Industrial USA, LLC, you requested a ruling on the country of origin of sockets, a socket adapter, socket extender and combination wrenches. You have stated that the raw steel used in the production of these tools is sourced from various countries. The production-processing scenarios for each tool is as follows: Sockets In Taiwan, raw steel coil is cut and cold forged to the proper socket length and to its final working end and drive size. The product is then sent to China where it is ground, stamped to indicate its size (using imperial or metric standards), heat-treated, polished, and plated. Socket adapter In Taiwan, raw steel coil is cold forged to the final shape and size of both ends of the socket adapter. In China, the socket adapter blank is machined to add the ball lock hole and the locking ball bearing is added. It is then ground, stamped with its size, heat-treated, polished, and plated before retail packaging. Socket extender: In Taiwan, raw steel coil is cold forged to make the socket extension bar blank. The blank’s ends and entire length are formed to its final shape, size, and dimension. It is sent to China for machining the ball lock hole and the locking ball bearing is added. It is then ground, stamped with its size, heat-treated, polished and plated before retail packaging. Combination wrenches Production scenario 1 In Taiwan, raw steel coil is cut, drop forged, deburred and punched to the wrench’s final shape and size. Punching removes the scrap slug from the wrench ends, creating the open ends of the wrench. The open end is fully formed to size, the steel is bent near the closed end, and the closed end is drilled round to the correct size. It is then sent to China where it is stamped with its size and brand, heat-treated, machined to add points within the closed end, and plated before retail packaging. Production scenario 2 In Taiwan, raw steel coil is cut, drop forged and deburred. While it has the final shape and size of the wrench before leaving Taiwan, the slug in the open and closed ends have not been punched out. The article is then sent to China where it is punched, machined stamped with its size and brand, heat-treated, machined to add points within the closed end, and plated before retail packaging. With regard to your request for the appropriate country of origin of the subject articles, 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. It is our view, that it is forging operations that impart the essence of the tools under consideration. In Taiwan, sockets, socket adapter, socket extender and combination wrenches are forged and take on the shape and size of the finished tools. Based on the provided description of the finishing operations performed in China, the forged tools are not substantially changed so as to transform them into a new article with a different name, character or use. Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that, for tariff purposes, the country of origin of the sockets, socket adapter, socket extender, and combination wrenches will be Taiwan. 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