The country of origin of a license plate frame/holder

N340470 June 25, 2024 OT:RR:NC:N2:206 CATEGORY: Origin M. Jason Cunningham Sonnenberg & Cunningham PA 780 Fifth Ave South, Suite 200Naples, FL 34102 RE:  The country of origin of a license plate frame/holder Dear Mr. Cunningham: In your letter dated May 31, 2024, you requested a country of origin ruling on a License Plate Frame/Holder, which you filed on behalf of your client, Great Star Industrial USA, LLC. The article under consideration is a License Plate Frame (or License Plate Holder), which is a decorative frame that a consumer may place around a standard, automotive license plate that is issued by each of the US states to the owners of cars, trucks and automobiles. The subject frame is made of metal. It has a frame opening that allows an auto’s license plate to be visible, but the subject article covers the edges of the auto’s license plate providing a decorative frame. It has two pre-drilled screw holes that align with the holes of a standard license plate’s screw holes so that the subject article can be attached to the automobile using the same screws that attach the license plate to the automobile. 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). The license plate holder is made in Vietnam from raw metal stock, where raw sheets of metal are punched into a license plate frame blank. The blank is then further formed and bent into the final shape and size of the license plate frame. The frame is subsequently sent to China where the front and back are either powder coated with paint or chrome plated. It is the opinion of this office that powder coating with paint or chrome plating the license plate holder in China does not substantially transform the frame into a new article with a new name, character or use. As a result, the country of origin for the license plate frame/holder will be Vietnam. 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