OT:RR:CTF:VS H354210 EE
Kenneth R. Paley
Sharretts, Paley, Carter & Blauvelt, P.C.
75 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
RE: Grain Splits of Bovine Crust Leather; Country of Origin for Purposes of Trade Remedies
Dear Mr. Paley:
This is in response to your letters, dated September 2, 2025, and October 16, 2025, on
behalf of your client, Kamali Group Incorporated (“KGI”), concerning the country of origin of
certain grain splits of bovine crust leather for purposes of additional trade remedy measures.
Your request, submitted as an electronic ruling request, was forwarded to this office from the
National Commodity Specialist Division for review.
FACTS:
The product in question is grain splits of bovine crust leather to be imported into the
United States from Brazil. You state that since 2018, KGI has been engaged in an ongoing
program with one of its largest customers under which it provides bovine crust leather for the
customer in 18 different colors. The leather is processed in Brazil from wet blue bovine leather
produced in the United States from American hides. You state that to produce the wet blue
whole hides, raw American hides are salted, bated, pickled, and chrome tanned in the United
States. The hides are then sorted for grading and shipped to the Brazilian company. In Brazil,
the hides are shaved to yield a more uniform thickness, retanned to add colors (during which
process chemicals are added to make the leather flame-retardant), and fatliquored to achieve
desired color and softness. Finally, the hides are vacuum dried and shipped to KGI back in the
United States. After importation, KGI will sell the imported bovine crust leather to a leather
finishing manufacturer in the United States who will finish the leather in accordance with the
specifications of its customers.
You claim that the country of origin of subject bovine crust leather is the United States
and that the leather will not be subject to additional tariffs imposed under subheadings
9903.01.77 and 9903.02.09, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”).
ISSUE:
What is the country of origin of the bovine crust leather for purposes of additional trade
remedy measures?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
When determining the country of origin for purposes of applying current trade remedies,
the substantial transformation analysis is applicable. 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, 69 CCPA 151 (1982). This determination is based on
the totality of the evidence. See National Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 CIT 308 (1992),
aff’d, 989 F.2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
In Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) W559969, dated February 3, 1997, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (“CBP”) revoked an earlier ruling, HQ 557714, dated September 9, 1994,
where CBP held that the processes performed in Mexico on the wet blue split sides which
consisted of shaving, retanning, coloring, fatliquoring, and conditioning known as “staking”
resulted in a substantial transformation. In HQ W559969, CBP found that the processes
performed in Mexico actually did not result in a substantial transformation, as the exported
article, wet blue, was actually leather, and the additional operations performed to make
conditioned crust leather were only finishing operations similar to those involved in HQ 556242,
dated October 2, 1991.
In HQ 556242, CBP considered, for purposes of Note 2(b), non-perishable crust leather
which was imported into the United States from several South American countries. The
operations performed in the United States included among the following operations:
1. Retanning the crust for more consistent texture;
2. Coloring the crust based on the desired finished color;
3. Fatliquoring or oiling to change the texture of the leather;
4. Drying;
5. Dampening if vacuum drying was used;
6. Dry milling by tumble drying for a softer feel;
7. Toggling to stretch the hides back to yield size after shrinkage;
8. Mechanical softening to further soften the leather;
9. Embossing the leather with the desired print pattern;
10. Painting to desired color; and
11. Sealing and trimming.
CBP held that the material imported into the United States did not undergo a substantial
transformation by the operations performed in the United States as the operations were cosmetic
in nature and the crust leather and the finished leather were the same product at different stages
of production. See also HQ 560381, dated June 13, 1997. Consistent with our previous rulings,
we find that the operations performed in Brazil do not substantially transform the wet blue hides
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from the United States. The processing in Brazil is cosmetic in nature and akin to finishing
operations. Accordingly, we find that the country of origin of the grain splits of bovine crust
leather will be the United States for purposes of additional trade remedy measures.
HOLDING:
The country of origin of the grain splits of bovine crust leather will be the United States.
Please note that 19 C.F.R. § 177.9(b)(1) provides that “[e]ach ruling letter is issued on the
assumption that all of the information furnished in connection with the ruling request and
incorporated in the ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and
complete in every material respect. The application of a ruling letter by a [CBP] field office to
the transaction to which it is purported to relate is subject to the verification of the facts
incorporated in the ruling letter, a comparison of the transaction described therein to the actual
transaction, and the satisfaction of any conditions on which the ruling was based.”
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this
merchandise is entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be
brought to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction.
Sincerely,
Monika R. Brenner, Chief
Valuation and Special Programs Branch
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