The country of origin of a Tire Sealant

N340242 June 18, 2024 OT:RR:NC:N3:136 CATEGORY: Origin Changgyu Kim SEIN Customs & Auditing Corp 138, Seoun-ro, Seocho-gu, 2nd Floor, Donga TowerSeoul 06619South Korea RE:  The country of origin of a Tire Sealant Dear Mr. Kim: In your letter dated May 21, 2024, on behalf of your client, Hyundai Motor Company, you requested a country of origin ruling on a Tire Sealant. In your submission, you describe a scenario where the subject product, a 400ml liquid Tire Sealant (Part No. 52392P2000), is processed in China using components from various sources. The components used to produce the Tire Sealant are as follows: Sealant liquid made in Malaysia- consisting of water, natural rubber, ethane-1,2-diol, resin acids, rosin acids, hydrogenated esters with pentaerythritol, and propane-1,2-diol. Empty sealant bottles made in Bulgaria. Aluminum seals made in Germany. Labels and Caps made in China. The manufacturing process is described as follows: A manufacturer in Malaysia produces a sealant liquid, which is the finished product’s core component, and ships it to China. Continental Tires China Co., LTD, in China performs a filtration process to prevent the sealant liquid from solidifying. Continental Tires China Co., LTD, in China fills empty bottles with the sealant liquid, attaches an aluminum seal and label, assembles the cap, inspects the finished product, and exports it to the United States. You explain that the finished product is generally stored in the trunk of a motor vehicle in the event of a tire puncture. When a tire puncture occurs, the driver connects the sealant container to a compressor and injects the sealant liquid into the valve of the tire. The sealant liquid will temporarily seal tire punctures when it comes in contact with external oxygen, as it will solidify and harden. 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). With respect to the subject product, we have determined that the filtering, bottling, sealing, labeling, capping, and inspection processes in China using the sealant liquid from Malaysia, does not result in a substantial transformation of the product’s core component (liquid sealant) of Malaysian origin. Therefore, in our opinion, the country of origin for the subject product is Malaysia. 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 Nuccio Fera at nuccio.fera@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division