The country of origin of an automotive control arm

N345444 February 21, 2025 OT:RR:NC:N2:206 CATEGORY: Origin Guoliang Sun CTS Automotive Co., Ltd. 180/15 Moo. 6 Bueng, SrirachaChonburi 20230Thailand RE:  The country of origin of an automotive control arm Dear Mr. Sun: In your letter dated January 28, 2025, you requested a country of origin ruling on a control arm for marking purposes. The subject merchandise has been identified as a Control Arm (Item #J4U; Part #9870528080 00), which is used in passenger vehicles, such as a Jeep Compass. The control arm is a part of the automobile suspension system and connects the wheels to the body through ball joints or bushings to effectively absorb shocks and vibrations caused by uneven road surfaces. Its primary function is to ensure that the tires maintain constant contact with the road, providing traction, stability, and control. The control arm plays a crucial role in determining suspension geometry for precise steering, handling, and minimizing tire wear, and assists with managing the forces exerted during braking and acceleration. You state that the control arm consists of a ball joint (composed of ball joint housing and ball stud), dust cover, clamping 1 and 2, bearing, protect cover, cover plate, bolt, thread protection sleeve, control arm body housing, nut, grease, and bushing E1 and E2. The ball joint housing, ball stud, and control arm body housing forged “blanks” are made in China from steel bars and imported to Thailand for further processing. The bushings from Brazil and the rest of the components from China are also imported to Thailand for final assembly into a complete control arm. In Thailand, the ball joint housing “blank” undergoes tempering (normalizing), fine machining of ball seat holes, groove turning, drilling three screw holes, heat treatment, zinc nickel alloy coating, hot dip degreasing, ultrasonic degreasing, anodic electrolytic degreasing, pickling, anodic electrolytic degreasing, activation, pre-soaking, alkaline zinc nickel, ultrasonic cleaning, Idemitsu lubrication, drying, dehydrogenation, Idemitsu, passivation, pure water washing, and additional drying. The ball stud “blank” undergoes tempering, ball head rough turning, shank rough turning, undercut rough turning, ball head finish turning, shank finish turning, undercut finish turning, heat treatment, zinc aluminum coating (Magni), ultrasonic degreasing line, shot blasting, MAGNI B06JA spraying (N=2), and MAGNI B18 spraying (N=1).  The control arm housing “blank” undergoes large bushing hole rough drilling, large bushing hole finish turning, 3 mounting holes pre-drilling, 3 mounting holes finish drilling to diameter, bushing pin rough turning, bushing pin finish turning, bushing pin end chamfering, E-coating, degreasing, water washing, hydrochloric acid, water washing, rust prevention, and electrophoresis. After these processes, the complete ball joint housing, ball stud, and control arm body housing are assembled together with the rest of the components in Thailand, laser etched with part number/date code, and placed in a shipping box ready for import to the United States. Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that unless excepted, every article of foreign origin imported into the United States 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 United States, the English name of the country of origin of the article. Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. 1304 was “that the ultimate purchaser should be able to know by an inspection of the marking on the imported goods the country of which the goods is the product. The evident purpose is to mark the goods so that at the time of purchase the ultimate purchaser may, by knowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy them, if such marking should influence his will.” See United States v. Friedlander & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297, 302 (1940). Part 134 of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Regulations (19 CFR 134) implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.1(b), CBP Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(b)), defines “country of origin” 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 the marking laws and regulations. A substantial transformation occurs when, as a result of manufacturing process, a new and different article emerges, having a distinct name, character or use, which is different from that originally possessed by the article or material before being subjected to the manufacturing process. See United States v. Gibson-Thomsen Co., Inc., 27 C.C.P.A. 267 (C.A.D. 98) (1940). Unlike the tools in Nat’l Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 C.I.T. 308 (1992), aff’d, 989 F.2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993) that were in the final form at the time they left Taiwan and were clearly recognizable by name, although not finished, the ball joint components and control arm body housing are not clearly recognizable as parts of control arms. They undergo significant machining and drilling in addition to heat treatment that completely changes their physical state. As a result, it is the opinion of this office that the ball joint and control arm body housing are substantially transformed in Thailand. Since the ball joint imparts the character of the complete control arm, as determined in New York Rulings N309252, dated 02/15/2020, N339304, dated 05/03/2024, and N341829, dated 08/29/2024, the country of origin for the entire control arm (Item #J4U; Part #9870528080 00) will be Thailand for marking purposes. 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