The country of origin of an inflatable pool

N319129 May 19, 2021 CLA-2-95:OT:RR:NC:N4:424 CATEGORY: Country of Origin Ms. Anna Dalton Bestway Inflatables and Material Corporation 208 Jin Yuan Wu Road Shanghai, N/A N/A China RE: The country of origin of an inflatable pool Dear Ms. Dalton: In your letter submitted April 28, 2021, you requested a country of origin ruling for item 54006, “Bestway Family Rectangular Inflatable Pool.” A description of the production process was submitted with your request. Each “Bestway Family Rectangular Inflatable Pool” is made of PVC sheeting, 2 valves/drain valves, a repair patch, and package glue, all produced in China. The PVC sheeting on a roller and the aforementioned spare parts are shipped from China to a Vietnam factory where the production of the pool takes place. In Vietnam, the manual as well as the automated PVC sheet cutting, stamping, marking and screen printing takes place. The high frequency welding of the spare parts to the PVC sheets and the welding of the side flanges and support beams is also required in order to give the pool its rectangular shape, as well as its dimensions which are 8’7” x 69” x 20”. This process occurs through a series of precise welds by trained worker teams. All this is followed by Quality Assurance (QA) testing, inflation testing and folding for packing and shipping to the U.S. Several welding machines, as well as 650 workers are required to complete the welding process, since machines are equipped with copper molds meant for specific welds. Welding machines use high frequency radio waves to operate and require proper safety guidelines and caution when in use. In 19 C.F.R. § 134.1(b), “country of origin” is defined 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 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. No one factor is decisive, and assembly operations that are minimal will generally not result in a substantial transformation. 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). With respect to the “Bestway Family Rectangular Inflatable Pool” at issue, it is our view that the nature of the intricate processing performed in Vietnam is one in which the foreign components lose their separate identities to become a new article, namely a newly formed swimming pool. 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. As provided in section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), the country of origin marking is considered conspicuous if the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. is able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. With regard to the permanency of a marking, section 134.41(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(a)), provides that as a general rule marking requirements are best met by marking worked into the article at the time of manufacture. For example, it is suggested that the country of origin on metal articles be die sunk, molded in, or etched. However, section 134.44, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.44), generally provides that any marking that is sufficiently permanent so that it will remain on the article until it reaches the ultimate purchaser unless deliberately removed is acceptable. Since the individual Chinese components lose their identity as a result of the complex production processes that take place in Vietnam, the external packaging of the item should be marked in a conspicuous manner to indicate that the finished pool is made in Vietnam.  In other words, the finished pool should be marked Made in Vietnam for marking 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, contact National Import Specialist Roseanne Murphy at roseanne.j.murphy@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division