The country of origin of Burley Tobacco

N355156 December 8, 2025 OT:RR:NC:N5:231 CATEGORY: Origin Maria Celis, Esq. Neville Peterson LLP 55 Broadway Suite No. 2602 New York, NY 10006 RE: The country of origin of Burley Tobacco Dear Ms. Celis: In your letter dated October 22, 2025, you requested a country of origin ruling on a tobacco product on behalf of your client, Japan Tobacco International USA Inc. (Raleigh, NC). The subject merchandise is a manufactured tobacco product referred to as Final Blended Strips (FSS). It consists of burley leaf tobacco sourced from, but not limited to, the Philippines, United States, Uganda, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zambia, and Mozambique. The batches of tobacco leaves are shipped to Germany, where the product undergoes an eight-phase processing operation that includes unpacking, slicing into five strips, conditioning to loosen the compressed tobacco, pre-casing with steam application, toasting (roasting) to develop the characteristic burley flavor, final casing with silo scanning and blending, secondary drying, and filling. You state that after these operations occur in Germany, the tobacco is no longer suitable for use in pipe-tobacco blends or as chewing tobacco and is dedicated exclusively for use in cigarettes. The final blended strips are packed into cases with each holding 120 kilogram per case. 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). In this case, we find that the above-described processing in Germany constitutes a substantial transformation. Accordingly, we have determined that the finished good is a product of Germany. 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 Ekeng Manczuk at ekeng.b.manczuk@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, (for) Deborah Marinucci Designated Official Performing the Duties of the Division Director National Commodity Specialist Division