The country of origin of a single flanged wheel hub assembly

N340438 June 25, 2024 OT:RR:NC:N2:206 CATEGORY: Origin Matthew Fields Autolin Inc 16650 NE 79th St, Ste 103Redmond, WA 98052 RE:  The country of origin of a single flanged wheel hub assembly Dear Mr. Fields: In your letter dated May 30, 2024, you requested a country of origin ruling on the Single Flanged Wheel Hub Assembly, which you filed on behalf of New Torch Technology Thailand Company Limited. The article under consideration is a Single Flanged Wheel Hub Assembly with Ball Bearings, without Splining and Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) Components (Part Number G2-306). The wheel hub bearing unit mainly includes the outer flange, the inner ring and the sealing assembly. The outer flange end face is provided by a hole with a bolt, which can be directly connected with the suspension, brake device and hub. The structure replaces the original car steering knuckles, hub and bearing combination. You state that the outer flange is sourced in Thailand. The rest of the components, such as the inner ring, steel balls, seal ring, cage, gear ring, dust cover, bolt, grease, and packaging are made in China and imported into Thailand for final assembly. Prior to the final assembly, the inner ring and the outer flange undergo various processes. In Thailand, the raceway and inner diameter of the inner ring, which are of Chinese origin, are finely grinded. Afterwards, the raceway undergoes super fine grinding. The outer flange, which is of Thai origin, is subject to fine turning, followed by the drilling, chamfering and tapping of drill holes.  The outer flange then undergoes heat treatment processes (quenching and tempering) and the raceway and inner diameter are fine turned. The outer diameter and inner diameter undergo fine grinding and the raceway undergoes super fine grinding. The final assembly begins by demagnetizing and cleaning the components using an ultrasonic cleaner.  The outer flange bolts are press fit into the flange.  Grease is applied.  Steel balls are manually placed into the cages and the seal ring is pressed onto the inner diameter of the outer flange using a gas-liquid booster. Afterwards, the dust cover and the gear ring are pressed into the appropriate position using the booster. Finally, the wheel hub assembly is laser marked and anti-rust oil is manually applied. 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. Uniroyal, Inc. v. United States, 3 CIT 220, 542 F. Supp. 1026, 1029 (1982), aff’d, 702 F.2d 1022 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (Uniroyal). Substantial transformation determinations are based on the totality of the evidence. See Headquarters Ruling (HQ) W968434, dated January 17, 2007, citing Ferrostaal Metals Corp. v. United States, 11 CIT 470, 478, 664 F. Supp. 535, 541 (1987). In the Uniroyal case, the court held that an upper was not substantially transformed when attached to an outsole to form a shoe and that the upper was "the very essence of the completed shoe." 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 the subject case, the assembly of the components in the flange is a simple assembly and would not be considered as a substantial transformation.   Accordingly, in this case instead of looking at the assembly process to determine the country of origin of the wheel hub unit incorporating ball bearings, we must consider the component or components of the inner ring and the outer flange containing the races with precision raceways, that provides its essence.This rationale is noted in Headquarters (HQ) ruling 562528, dated December 10, 2002, which discusses the country of origin of a ball bearing.  These rulings state that the fundamental character and use of the bearings is determined after the steel rings are ground and finished into races with precision raceways and they are no longer considered steel rings.  This rational is also discussed in HQ rulings 731968, March 19, 1990, and 731969, dated March 19, 1990, where rings are heat treated and polished in one country and the races are created, and superfinishing occurs in the second country.  In these rulings, the country of origin of the bearings was determined to be the country in which the rings become races with precision raceways.Here, the inner ring, which is the inner race of the bearing, and the outer flange, which is the outer race of the bearing, are formed in Thailand.  Accordingly, the country of origin of the Single Flanged Wheel Hub Assembly with Ball Bearings, without Splining and ABS Components (Part Number G2-306), for marking purposes is Thailand.  As the country of origin of the subject merchandise is Thailand, the Section 301 Trade Remedy duties are not applicable to the wheel hub assembly under consideration. 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