OT:RR:NC:N2:220
Brad Wozniak
Deloitte
1001 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48243
RE: The country of origin of Busbar Assemblies
Dear Mr. Wozniak:
In your letter dated February 3, 2023, you requested a country of origin ruling on behalf of your client, Rogers Corporation.
The first item under consideration is identified as the Spine Busbar, Model Number BB252900100E, which is described as an assembly having two nickel plated aluminum busbars fabricated onto a nylon-plastic base with multiple Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) film insulating sheets. On the end of each busbar are flexible electrical connectors. The Spine Busbar is said to be used in electric vehicles (EV) to make electrical connections to the battery pack and is rated at 400 VDC.
In your request, you state that the Spine Busbar is assembled in Mexico and involves the stamping/punching/forming of raw busbars from aluminum sheets. The raw busbars are further processed by deburring, milling, and plating with nickel to produce Spine Conductors. Next, each Spine Conductor end receives a flexible connector, which is press fit and welded, PET sheets are cut to shape, and each subassembly is wrapped in heat shrink tubing to produce Spine Subs. The Spine Subs undergo a lamination process using PET film and synthetic polyamide thermoplastic where FR4 insulation is glued to the assembly, which is then heat shrink wrapped together to form the Spine Busbar. Lastly, the Spine Busbar is inspected, tested, and packaged. We would note that the aluminum sheet is said to be of Mexico origin, while the flexible electrical connectors are of China origin.
The second item under consideration is identified as the Integration Busbar, Model Number BB252900200H, which is described as an assembly having four nickel plated copper busbars fabricated onto a nylon-plastic base and rigid fiberglass insulating plates. On the end of each busbar are flexible electrical connectors. The Integration Busbar, which is rated at 400 VDC, is said to be used in EVs to make electrical connections from the Spine Busbar to the inverter to power the electric vehicle.
In your request, you state that the assembly of the Integration Busbar occurs in Mexico and involves the stamping/punching/forming of raw busbars from copper sheets. The raw busbars are further processed by deburring, milling, and plating with nickel to produce Integration Conductors. Next, each Integration Conductor end receives a flexible connector, which is press fit and welded, PET sheets are cut to shape, and each subassembly is wrapped in heat shrink tubing to produce Conduction Subs. The Conduction Subs undergo a lamination process using specially milled rigid fiberglass plates, PET film, and synthetic polyamide thermoplastic, which is then bonded together using a high pressure and temperature treatment. To finish the assembly process, additional insulation material is applied to the flexible electrical connectors and a small wire harness is soldered onto one flexible connector. Lastly, the Integration Busbar is inspected, tested, and packaged. We would note that the copper sheet is said to be of Mexico origin, while the flexible electrical connectors are of China origin.
The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. 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 U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.
The "country of origin" is defined, in pertinent part, in 19 CFR 134.1(b) as
[T]he 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 this part; however, for a good of a NAFTA or USMCA country, the marking rules set forth in part 102 of this chapter (hereinafter referred to as the part 102 Rules) will determine the country of origin.
Pursuant to section 102.0, interim regulations, related to the marking rules, tariff-rate quotas, and other USMCA provisions, published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2021 (86 FR 35566), the rules set forth in §§ 102.1 through 102.18 and 102.20 determine the country of origin for marking purposes with respect to goods imported from Canada and Mexico. Section 102.11 provides a required hierarchy for determining the country of origin of a good for marking purposes, with the exception of textile goods which are subject to the provisions of 19 C.F.R. § 102.21. See 19 C.F.R. § 102.11.
Applied in sequential order, 19 CFR Part 102.11(a) provides for:
(a) The country of origin of a good is the country in which:
(1) The good is wholly obtained or produced;
(2) The good is produced exclusively from domestic materials; or
(3) Each foreign material incorporated in that good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification set out in section 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all other requirements of these rules are satisfied.
The subject busbar assemblies are neither “wholly obtained or produced” nor “produced exclusively from domestic materials.” Therefore, paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) cannot be used to determine the country of origin of the cabinets, and paragraph (a)(3) must be applied next to determine the origin of the finished article. As the Spine and Integration Busbars are classified under subheading 8537.10, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), the applicable tariff shift requirement in Part 102.20 for the busbar assemblies at issue states:
A change to heading 8537 from any other heading.
The identified foreign components used in the production of the Spine and Integration Busbars, namely the flexible electrical connectors and the bulk of the insulating materials, are all classified outside of heading 8537, HTSUS. As a result, the country of origin of the Spine Busbar, Model Number BB252900100E, and the Integration Busbar, Model Number BB252900200H, will be Mexico at the time of importation into 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 Customs and Border Protection 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.”
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs 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, contact National Import Specialist Karl Moosbrugger at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division