The country of origin of oil filter and PVC pliers

N313948 August 21, 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 oil filter and PVC pliers Dear Mr. Cunningham: In your letter dated August 13, 2020, on behalf of your client, Great Star Industrial USA, LLC, you requested a ruling on the country of origin of a type of pliers identified as “oil filter and PVC pliers”. The tool is a type of slip-joint pliers that are specially designed to grab, hold, and twist oil filters or PVC pipe. It has several size-adjustment positions for versatility and use with different sized filters and pipes. The pliers essentially consist of two steel pieces that form the tool’s handles and working jaws. They are held together by a steel pin that acts as a fulcrum. Soft grips are applied to the handles for the comfort of the end-user. In your request you provide a production-processing scenario for the pliers, discussed hereafter. You contend that the pliers produced are of Vietnam origin. You state that a substantial transformation occurs in Vietnam and that the Chinese components and processing do not substantially transform the Vietnamese components of the pliers. The production-processing scenario for the pliers begins in Vietnam, where raw steel is drop-forged, molded, and die-cut to form the top and bottom handle and jaw blanks. Burrs are also removed. At this point, the two steel pieces are in their final shape, size, and form. They are then sent to China for finishing. In China, the pieces are further machined, heat-treated, and coated. They are assembled together using a Chinese-origin steel pin. Soft grips are also slipped over the handles before retail packaging. With regard to your request for the appropriate country of origin of the oil filter and PVC pliers, 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 are considered in order to conclude whether a product with a new name, character, and use has been produced. These factors include the components used to create the product and manufacturing processes that these components undergo. No one factor is decisive, and minimal assembly operations will generally not result in a substantial transformation. In our view, the pliers’ handles and jaws constitute the essence of the finished pliers. In the proposed production-processing scenario, raw steel is drop forged in Vietnam into pliers’ handles and jaws that have the shape and form of the final product. The handles and jaws are also die-cut and deburred in Vietnam. As a result of these operations, the handles and jaws are dedicated for use as pliers upon export from Vietnam. The Chinese processing consists of heat-treating, possibly drilling a fulcrum hole, coating, and assembly with a pin and soft handle grips. Based on the provided description of the assembly and processing operations performed in China, the handles and jaws are not substantially changed by the addition of the remaining components, nor are the assembly operations complex enough to transform the handles and jaws into a new article. Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that the oil filter and PVC pliers described in your proposed production-processing scenario are country of origin 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