The country of origin of a glue stick

N333916 July 28, 2023 OT:RR:NC:N3:135 CATEGORY: Origin Ana Gomez Veyer, LLC 6600 North Military TrailBoca Raton, FL 33496 RE:  The country of origin of a glue stick Dear Ms. Gomez: In your letter dated July 10, 2023, you requested a country of origin ruling of a glue stick. Item 5126091 is a 0.32 oz. glue stick (30 pack). The cap/tube is made from polypropylene and the core/base is made from high-density polyethylene in Vietnam. The glue is composed of water (solvent), polyvinylpyrrolidone (viscous substance) (PVP), glycerol (humectant), propylene glycol (humectant), sodium stearate (excipient), 2-phenoxyethanol (preservative), and chlorphenesin (preservative). All ingredients of the glue originate from China. You described the following processes, which occur in Vietnam: Water and PVP go to the reactor Heat and dissolve PVP into a transparent solution Add stearic acid, glycerol, ethylene glycol Stir for 30 minutes Cool to 50 degrees, forming glue No chemical reaction occurs during the processing of the glue. Although not stated in your letter, we assume that the plastic parts and the glue are assembled together and packed in Vietnam. The packaging label is made in China. The shipping carton is produced in Vietnam. 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." 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). 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. See Uniroyal, Inc. v. United States, 3 CIT 220, 542 F. Supp. 1026, 1029 (1982), aff’d, 702 F.2d 1022 (Fed. Cir. 1983). Substantial transformation determinations are 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 determining whether a substantial transformation occurs in the manufacture of products from chemicals, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has consistently examined whether a chemical reaction occurs when two chemicals are mixed in the production of the final article. See HRL 559936, dated January 31, 1997, HRL 555248, dated April 9, 1990; and HRL 556064, dated March 29, 1990. In this case, the glue in the glue stick is made by mixing water and PVP, heating and dissolving PVP, mixing with other additives, and cooling the mixture to form the glue. The heat treatment, which merely dissolves PVP from liquid form into a transparent solution, does not result in a substantial transformation. The manufacturing process does not involve a chemical reaction. Each component in the glue remains essentially unchanged. Simply assembling the plastic parts with the glue does not cause a substantial transformation. Since there is no substantial transformation of the Chinese materials, the country of origin of the glue stick (Item 5126091) is China. In your letter, you also request a country of origin determination on a washable glue (Item 6755690). However, your inquiry and follow-up emails do not provide enough information for us to determine the country of origin of the product. Your request should include the following: Provide all the starting materials, such as, vinyl acetate and persulphate initiator, by weight in percentages and the country of origin for each. Provide the chemical name and CAS number of each ingredient. What is the use and function of each ingredient? Is polyvinyl alcohol derived by hydrolysis of polyvinyl acetate? Provide a step-by-step description of the manufacturing process. Explain in detail if any chemical reactions occur in each step and how each chemical reaction takes place. When this information is available, you may wish to consider resubmission of your request. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs and Border Protection 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 Fei Chen at fei.chen@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division