The country of origin of a CV axle

N349382 June 13, 2025 OT:RR:NC:N2:206 CATEGORY: Origin Nora Zeng Vietnam Four Season Machinery Manufactory Company, Limited. Lot CN3D, Deep C 2B Industrial Park, Dinh Vu - Cat Hai Economic Zone, Dong Hai 2 Ward, Hai An District, Hai Phong 180000 Vietnam RE: The country of origin of a CV axle Dear Ms. Zeng: In your letter dated April 25, 2025, you requested a country of origin ruling on a CV axle for marking purposes. The article under consideration is a Constant Velocity (CV) Axle, Part Number TO-86006, which is used in passenger vehicles. The CV axle consists of a central shaft with inner and outer joints at each end, both of which are covered by flexible rubber boots to prevent the intrusion of external contaminants such as moisture, dirt, and debris. These joints make it possible for the transmission to drive the front wheels smoothly and reliably, by permitting a range of motion through the use of bearings. In short, the CV axle makes angles and angle movement possible. The CV axle, also known as a half shaft, takes power from the vehicle's transmission and differential and transfers it to the wheels, allowing the vehicle to drive forward. The CV axle consists of an outer ball joint (OBJ) housing, inner ball joint (IBJ) housing, center bar, inner race, cage, steel balls, anti-lock braking system (ABS) ring, circlips, dust rings, and clamps sourced from China and sent to Vietnam to be assembled together with the Vietnamese CV boots and tripod. The production process of the CV axle involves multiple stages of precision machining and assembly. The initial stage is hard turning and hard milling for both the ball cage and inner race, which involves machining hardened materials while maintaining strict tolerances, using CNC hard turning lathes and highspeed hard milling machines. It is followed by a grinding step and ball track grinding of spherical surfaces of the inner housing and inner ring to ensure proper ball movement and overall CV axle performance, using profile grinding machines. Finally, all components are assembled together ready for import into 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). It appears that this office already reviewed similar CV axles in ruling N336861, dated December 18, 2023. In that ruling we stated that assembling components together in Malaysia did not result in a substantial transformation. Although the boots and tripod were made in China, we ruled that the country of origin of the CV axle was Malaysia, since the main components, such as the intermediate shaft and CV joints were sourced from Malaysia. Furthermore, the cost of the Malaysian components and labor was higher than of the Chinese components. In the present case, the assembly of the components in Vietnam is not complex enough to render a substantial transformation. The machining operations in Vietnam are finishing operations that do not change the components into new articles. As a result, no substantial transformation occurs in Vietnam. Since the center bar and CV joints are sourced from China and the value of the Chinese components is approximately 68 percent of the total value, based on the information provided, the country of origin of the CV axle, Part Number TO-86006, will also be China 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, (for) Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division