The country of origin of strut assemblies

N339174 April 12, 2024 OT:RR:NC:N2:206 CATEGORY: Origin Jingyuan Yao Zhejiang T&C Law Firm A-8, Huanglong Century Plaza, No.1, Hangda Road, Xihu DistrictHangzhou 310007China RE:  The country of origin of strut assemblies Dear Mr. Yao: In your letter, dated March 29, 2024, you requested a country of origin ruling on the complete strut assemblies, which you filed on behalf of your client, ADD Suspension (Thailand) Co, LTD. The samples provided to this office are being returned to you per your request. The article under consideration is a Complete Strut Assembly (CSA), Model Number MGD 45470. You state that the CSA serves as a pivotal component of the vehicle’s suspension system, providing connectivity, structural integrity, support, damping, and steering stability. The CSA is designed for use only with specific models of passenger vehicles and pick-up trucks. The CSA consists of a working cylinder, compression valve assembly, rebound valve assembly, rod guider, oil seal, piston rod, stopper cushion, coil spring, spring mattress, top mount, nut, dust cover, jounce bumper, and reservoir assembly, consisting of a tube, spring seat, bracket, and a bottom cap. 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). 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). You state that cold rolled steel plates, steel pipes, and steel rods are imported from China to Thailand for further processing. In Thailand, the steel tubes are made into the reservoir tubes by feeding, chamfering, engravings, turning, shaping, and cleaning processes. The spring seat is produced using cold rolled steel plate imported from China and subsequently transformed in Thailand through various procedures including stamping, punching, forming, and deburring. The brackets are similarly made from cold rolled steel plate sourced from China, which undergo various procedures such as stamping, punching, forming projection welding, and deburring in Thailand. The piston rod is produced using steel rod imported from China and subsequently transformed in Thailand through various procedures including material preparation, high frequency quenching, tempering, straightening, rough grinding, both ends turning, punching, milling, thread rolling, precision grinding, chrome plating, dehydrogenation, polishing and rust prevention. The working cylinder is produced using steel pipe imported from China and subsequently processed through various procedures including feeding, chamfering, and transfer inspection. The rest of the components are imported directly from China and incorporated into the CSA by means of welding, pressing into, or otherwise attaching. Based on the totality of the evidence, the major Chinese components of the CSA are substantially transformed in Thailand, and lost their individual identities as a result of the processes in Thailand. Furthermore, the final assembly of all components occurs in Thailand and the value of the Thai labor amounts to over 50 percent of the cost of the CSA. Therefore, the country of origin for the CSA will be Thailand. 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 Liana Alvarez at liana.alvarez@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division