The country of origin of a steel chisel

N332750 May 18, 2023 OT:RR:NC:N1: 118 CATEGORY: Origin Eric Lee Zhangjiagang Tianhua Hardware Co., Ltd. XinLe Rd., DaXin Town, Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu ProvinceZhangjiagang 215636China RE: The country of origin of a steel chisel Dear Mr. Lee: In your letter dated May 5, 2023, you requested a ruling on the country of origin of a steel chisel.  Pictures and a description of the manufacturing process were provided with your submission.  A chisel is a hand tool with a cutting edge that is used for carving or cutting a hard material, such as wood.  This can be performed through hand pressure or by striking the end opposite to the blade with a tool, such as a hammer or mallet.  You state that in Vietnam, raw steel rods of Vietnamese origin are cut to length, drop-forged and stamped into a single piece of steel.  The steel is then deburred and formed into the basic shape of the finished chisel.  The article is then sent to China, where it is heat-treated, polished, and the blade is 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 chisel, 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 minimal assembly operations will generally not result in a substantial transformation. In our view, it is the forging and stamping of the steel in Vietnam into a chisel blank that provides the essential characteristic 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 the country of origin of the finished chisel described in your manufacturing process scenario is Vietnam.  Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and incorporated in the ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect.  The application of a ruling letter by a CBP field office to the transaction to which it is purported to relate is subject to the verification of the facts incorporated in the ruling letter, a comparison of the transaction described therein to the actual transaction, and the satisfaction of any conditions on which the ruling was based.” 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 Anthony Grossi at anthony.e.grossi@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division