The country of origin of a chisel.

N309901 February 28, 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 a chisel. Dear Mr. Cunningham: In your letter dated February 18, 2020, on behalf of your client, Great Start Tools, you requested a ruling on the country of origin of a chisel. A chisel is a hand tool with a cutting edge that is used for carving or cutting a hard material, such as wood. The cutting can occur through hand pressure or by striking the end opposite to the blade with an object, such as a hammer or mallet. You state that in Vietnam, raw steel rods (from Vietnam or sourced globally) are cut to length, drop forged and stamped into a single piece of steel. The steel is then stamped and deburred so that it has the final shape, size, and form of the chisel as a chisel blank. The chisel blank is sent to China, where it is heat treated, polished, and sharpened. A Chinese origin comfort grip is applied over the steel handle. Sometimes, but not always, a Chinese origin die-cast hammer strike is placed on the end of the handle. The finished chisel is then retail packaged for shipment to the United States. With regard to your request for the appropriate country of origin for the finished hammers, 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 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 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, it is the forging and stamping of the steel into a chisel blank that imparts the essence of the finished chisel. Based on the provided description of the finishing operations performed in China, the chisel blank is not substantially changed so as to transform it into a new article with a different name, character or use. Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that, for tariff purposes, the finished chisel should have a country of origin of 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