The country of origin of LED lights

N347800 May 8, 2025 OT:RR:NC:N4:410 CATEGORY: Origin Kayla Owens Stein Shostak Shostak Pollack & O'Hara 445 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 2388 Los Angeles, CA 90071 RE: The country of origin of LED lights Dear Ms. Owens: In your letter dated April 14, 2025, on behalf of Parmida LLC, you requested a country of origin ruling on two categories of LED lights for purposes of marking, as well as for applying current trade remedies under the 301 tariffs, IEEPA tariffs and reciprocal tariffs. The merchandise at issue is identified as disk lights and UFO high bay lights. The disk lights have three models: (1) 1CCT (one color) which has no switch, (2) 3CCT which has a smaller switch to fit three color temperatures, and (3) the 5CCT which has a larger switch to fit five color temperatures. These disk lights are modern fixtures with a flush mount design. They can be installed with recessed can housing or a junction box. The UFO high bay lights will be available in two power variants, each offered as a separate model. The two power variants will be 150W and 240W. These lights are circular, high-powered fixtures designed for spaces with high ceilings. They are typically hung using a hook from the ceiling and plugged into a standard outlet. The submitted materials indicate that the manufacturing process in Vietnam consists of using the components and materials imported from China to make the printed circuit boards (PCBs), in which the electronic components and the LEDs are populated on the PCB substrates to fabricate the LED light source for the subject LED lights via the SMT (surface mount technology) process. The manufacturing processing steps in the Vietnam factories include cutting, drilling, lamination, vertical copper plating (VCP), D/F Exposure (dry film exposure), etching, automated optical inspection (AOI), photo solder resist (PSR), Silk screen, router v-cut, punching, Organic Solderability Preservative (OSP) and testing. Specifically, the SMT process involves mounting the main integrated circuit, as well as various capacitors, varistors, resistors, fuse, diodes, inductors and switches etc., which goes through the steps of inkjet printing, SPI (solder paste inspection), chip mounting, reflow soldering, high-low current test, parallel transplanting, cooling, gluing, AOI (automated optical inspection), lens chip mounting, electrical testing, darkroom testing, visual inspection, loading, etc. After SMT operations are completed, the finished PCBs will be shipped to the factory in China for final assembly where the PCBs will be combined with the Chinese-origin components and materials to make the finished lights. The major Chinese-origin components and materials are the lamp housings, diffusion plates, LED lenses, electric wires, bride reflectors, silicon plates, screws and washers, hear-conducting pare, and thermal conductive adhesive. For the disk lights, the final assembly will include labelling on bottom plate, input wire sleeve heat, solder the input wire on PCB board, glue and fix the solder, apply thermal conductive silicone, position PCB/diffuser, lock PCB/diffuser with screw, fix diffuser, and testing. For the UFO high bay, the final assembly will include applying thermal silicone grease to the PCB board, PCB board screws are fixed to housing, power cord is threaded through casing, ground wire is fixed, power cord is soldered, reflective film is installed, reflective cover installed, and testing. When determining the country of origin for purposes of applying current trade remedies under Section 301, 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). Additionally, 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. Based on the information presented in the manufacturing scenario, this office is of the view that the Vietnamese-originating PCBs with the LEDs populated (light source), which are the major component of the LED lights, have a pre-determined end-use when imported into China. They do not undergo a change in use due to the assembly process in China. Therefore, the country of origin of the LED disk lights and UFO high bay lights will be Vietnam for purposes of marking, as well as for applying current trade remedies under the 301 tariffs, IEEPA tariffs and reciprocal tariffs. 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 Michael Chen at michael.w.chen@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division