The country of origin of Swedish Pattern Pliers

N337637 January 29, 2024 OT:RR:NC:N1:118 CATEGORY: Origin M. Jason Cunningham Sonnenberg & Cunningham, PA 780 Fifth Ave South, Suite 200Naples, FL 34102 RE:  The country of origin of Swedish Pattern Pliers Dear Mr. Cunningham: In your letter dated January 18, 2024, on behalf of your client, Great Star Industrial USA, LLC, you requested a ruling on the country of origin of Swedish Pattern Pliers that are manufactured in Korea and China.  Swedish Pattern Pliers are a tool primarily used on plumbing fittings, pipes and tubes but can also be used in other applications such as automotive front-end alignment.  The subject tool features jaws with opposite facing and offset teeth along with jaw curvatures specially designed for a strong grip on round tubes, pipes, and fittings.  The handle is designed for increased leverage and locking the grip to the pipe/tube. The manufacturing process for the Swedish Pattern Pliers begins in Korea, where raw steel is die-cut and cold forged to form the top and bottom handle and jaw blanks.  Burs are removed prior to shipment to China.  In China, the handle blanks are further machined to add channel-slots to the top handle and mill teeth into both jaws.  They are then heat-treated, laser marked, and assembled with Chinese origin pins, rivets, a spring, and a gear tooth.  Plastic covers are added to the handles for comfort and a secure grip. Regarding your request for the appropriate country of origin for the finished 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, 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 assembly operations that are minimal will generally not result in a substantial transformation.  In regard to the finished pliers, we find that the processes and assembly operations performed in China do not constitute a substantial transformation of the two main components of the tool (i.e., the top and bottom handle and jaw blanks) that are manufactured in Korea.  These articles provide the principal characteristics of the finished pliers, are dedicated for use as such, and cannot be used for any other purpose.  The character of the top and bottom handle and jaw remains unchanged after the machining, heat treatment, and laser marking that occurs in China.  Therefore, it is the opinion of our office that the country of origin of the finished Swedish Pattern Pliers is Korea.   The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise description as identified in the ruling request.  This position is clearly set forth in Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 177.9(b)(1).  This section states that a ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in the ruling letter, whether directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect.  In the event that the facts are modified in any way, or if the goods do not conform to these facts at time of importation, you should bring this to the attention of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and submit a request for a new ruling in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2.  Additionally, we note that the material facts described in the foregoing ruling may be subject to periodic verification by CBP. 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 Anthony Grossi at anthony.e.grossi@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division