The country of origin of a Printed Circuit Board Assembly

N345088 January 24, 2025 OT:RR:NC:N2:212 CATEGORY: Origin Robert Leo Meeks, Sheppard, Leo & Pillsbury LLP 570 Lexington Avenue, Ste 2405New York, NY  10022 RE:  The country of origin of a Printed Circuit Board Assembly Dear Mr. Leo: In your letter dated January 13, 2025, you requested a country of origin ruling on behalf of your client, Synos Corporation. The merchandise under consideration is identified as the M66S Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA), which is further described as a populated PCBA designed for use with certain Bitcoin Mining machines. The subject PCBA is populated with various components, including up to 500 Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) chips that are specifically designed to run high speed calculations in order to effectively mine cryptocurrency. In your request, you state that the manufacturing process for the board occurs in the U.S. after the importation of the various components from a variety of locations. This includes the importation of up to 500 ASIC chips from Korea and other electrical and electronic components from locations including China, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines. At the U.S. facility, the bare printed circuit board (PCB) is placed within a Surface Mount Technology (SMT) feeder machine where solder is applied in precise locations. The machine then places the ASIC chips as well as the rest of the electrical components (ICs, resistors, capacitors, etc.) in the appropriate locations. The board is then passed through an oven where the solder is solidified, securely bonding the electrical components. The finished PCBA is then tested and packaged for shipment to another location. When determining the country of origin, the substantial transformation analysis is applicable. See, e.g., Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) H301619, dated November 6, 2018. 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, 681 F.2d 778 (C.C.P.A. 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). Regarding the origin of the subject PCBA, it is the opinion of this office that the SMT process performed in the United States is significantly complex in order to transform the individual components into a new and different article of commerce. Based upon the facts presented, the country of origin of the M66S PCBA, will be the United States. Whether an article may be marked with the phrase "Made in the USA" or similar words denoting U.S. origin, is an issue under the authority of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). We suggest that you contact the FTC Division of Enforcement, 6th and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20508 on the propriety of proposed markings indicating that an article is made in the USA. 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 Luke LePage at luke.lepage@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division