The country of origin of nitrile rubber gloves

N353943 October 15, 2025 OT:RR:NC:N3:354 CATEGORY: Origin Jimmy Ting Great World Customs Service 518 Eccles Ave. South San Francisco, CA 94080 RE: The country of origin of nitrile rubber gloves Dear Mr. Ting: In your letter dated September 18, 2025, you requested a country of origin ruling on behalf of SW Technologies Inc., for nitrile rubber gloves for the purpose of duty calculation. Product information and images were provided for our review. The articles under consideration are 100% nitrile rubber gloves, which are seamless, powder free and disposable. The gloves are designed to be “cleanroom” gloves used in the semiconductor manufacturing process. You state that in order to meet cleanroom standards, the gloves must be absent of foreign particles. The style numbers are as follows with the last digit representing the size: N427101 (size XS), N427102 (size S), N427103 (size M), N427104 (size L), N427105 (size XL), N427106 (size XXL), N417101 (size XS), N417102 (size S), N417103 (size M), N417104 (size L), N417105 (size XL), and N417106 (size XXL). You outline a scenario wherein the rubber gloves are manufactured in Malaysia. Nitrile latex in liquid form from Korea is combined with chemicals from Malaysia and a glove former is used to produce fully formed gloves. The gloves are then cured, stripped from their molds in Malaysia and shipped to China. In China, the gloves are sorted by size, washed, dried, packed and readied for export to the U.S. You state that the purpose of the special cleaning and sterilization process in China is to achieve the highest standard of industrial dust and fine particle removal. During the cleaning process, debris, dust particles, chemical residue, and other contaminants are removed as it is critical that these foreign particles do not enter into cleanroom environments. You state that the cleaning process does not change the chemical composition, physical structure, or function of the glove. It only removes foreign particles and residue. When determining the country of origin for purposes of applying duty rates, 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). The manufacturing operations that occur in Malaysia transform material components (nitrile rubber and chemicals) into a functional glove. Neither of these materials can function alone as a protective hand covering but the finished article is a new and different article, i.e., a glove. The finished glove can serve as a protective hand covering for use in environments where there is such a need. Therefore, the country of origin of the gloves is the country where the gloves are manufactured from the component materials. The country of origin of the gloves is Malaysia. 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 Karen Sikorski at karen.sikorski@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, (for) Evan Conceicao Designated Official Performing the Duties of the Division Director National Commodity Specialist Division