The country of origin of a charge adapter from Vietnam

N310821 April 8, 2020 MAR-2-85:OT:RR:NC:N2:220 CATEGORY: Origin Fiona Pan Hank Electronics Vietnam Company Limited No. 7, Street 11 VSIP Tu Son Bach Ninh Vietnam RE: The country of origin of a charge adapter from Vietnam Dear Ms. Pan: In your letter dated March 23, 2020 you requested a country of origin ruling on behalf of your client, Walgreens Co. The merchandise under consideration is identified as the USB-A and USB-C Car Charger, Model HKDP3342-18, which consists of a retail package containing a 12 V vehicle power adapter plug having dual USB output sockets. The function of the power adapter is to convert vehicle 12 V to the 5 V and supply the voltage to the USB-A and USB-C output sockets. Based on the information supplied, all of the component materials that make up the Car Charger are sourced from China and the assembly of the device occurs in Vietnam. In your request, you state that the subject power adapter is assembled in Vietnam by soldering 31 electrical components, such as resistors, capacitors, integrated circuits, fuses, diodes, and LEDs, onto a bare printed circuit board. The female USB Type-A and USB Type-C connectors are then soldered onto the assembly and encapsulated in a plastic case. You indicate that testing and quality control procedures are conducted on the parts as well as the finished product throughout the various stages of the assembly process. With regard to the origin of the Car Charger, 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 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). Based upon the facts presented and the pertinent authorities, it is the opinion of this office that the assembly process described as soldering the individual components onto the bare board and assembling the Car Charger results in a substantial transformation of the Chinese components. Furthermore, it is the opinion of this office that the assembled printed circuit board provides the essence of the electrical charging device because it is the article within the assembly that converts the electricity and supplies it to the USB sockets. As such, we find that the components that make up the Car Charger are transformed in Vietnam into a new and different article of commerce with a name, character, and use distinct from the article exported. Thus, the Car Charger is considered a product of Vietnam 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