The country of origin of a suspension system.

N317156 February 11, 2021 MAR-2:OT:RR:NC:N2:206 CATEGORY: Country of Origin Donald Gross Counsel to DeHeng Law Offices 1629 K Street NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20007 RE: The country of origin of a suspension system. Dear Mr. Gross: This is in response to your letter dated January 26, 2021, requesting a ruling on the country of origin for an automotive suspension system, which you filed on behalf of your client Gold Suspension System Malaysia SDN BHD (GSSM). The items under consideration are vehicle Suspension Systems (Item Numbers SQ10821, SQ11042, SQ11060, SQ11100, and SQ14302), which were reviewed by CBP in NY Ruling N309148, dated February 4, 2020 and issued to GSSM. Each system 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 flexible connection, including the bushing and bearing. These impact the system to adapt to the damping and vibration. You state that unlike the articles in N309148, all of the materials required to assemble the shock absorbers for the GSSM automotive suspension system are now purchased and produced locally in Malaysia, with the exception of the piston rod and outer cylinder, which are sourced from China. 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 the above-mentioned ruling N309148, which was later affirmed by Headquarters Ruling (HQ) H310543, dated May 18, 2020, we determined that the shock absorber was the very essence of the entire strut assembly. In the instant scenario, the shock absorber is assembled in Malaysia. However, the essential parts of the shock absorber, such as the piston rod and outer cylinder are sourced from China. Since the assembly process of the shock absorber does not result in a substantial transformation of the piston and cylinder, the country of origin of the shock absorber will be China. Therefore, the country of origin of the entire suspension system will be China for marking and tariff purposes. 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