CLA-2-94:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Amy Davidson
Tumac Lumber Co., Inc
805 SW Broadway, Suite 600
Portland, OR 97205
RE: The tariff classification, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), country of origin, marking, and applicability of Section 301 trade remedies of drawer boxes from Canada.
Dear Ms. Davidson:
In your letter dated April 18, 2019, you requested a country of origin ruling. Illustrative literature and a product description were provided.
Tumac items, the “wooden drawer boxes,” are ultraviolet (UV) finished, poplar wood, drawer box blanks of varying sizes. The sides measure between 2” to 4” in width, 1.5” in depth, and 32” in length. The front measures between 2” to 4” in width, 1.5” in depth, and 18” in length. The back measures between 2” to 4” in width, 1.5” in depth, and 18” in length. The base measures between 2” to 4” in width, 1/4” in depth, and 18” in length.
The applicable subheading for the subject merchandise is 9403.90.7080, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, (HTSUS), which provides for “Other furniture and parts thereof: Parts: Other: Of wood: Other.”
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
Tumac presents a group of circumstances wherein in China the subject merchandise raw material component parts (wood panels) are cut from logs into rectangles of varying sizes, grooved, ultraviolet (UV) coated, and are then exported to Canada. In Canada, additional manufacturing operations are performed that include: cutting of male and female dovetail joints into the left, right, and back drawer sides, sanding, drawer base and drawer sides assembly, inspection, labeling, and packing for export.
Trade Agreement – NAFTA
General Note (GN) 12(b), HTSUS, sets forth the criteria for determining whether a good is originating under the NAFTA. To be an “originating good” the material components must satisfy the rule set forth in GN 12(b)(ii)(A)(t), HTSUS, in the territory of Canada, which states:
Chapter 94, Rule 5,
A change to subheading 9403.90 from any other heading.
The material components from China are classifiable outside of Section XX (miscellaneous manufactured articles), and a change in tariff occurs in Canada as a result of manufacturing, therefore, the wooden drawer boxes are eligible for NAFTA preferential duty treatment.
The manufacturing operations in Canada results in a substantial transformation of the Chinese cut-to-length wood panels. Therefore, the Canadian manufactured wood drawer boxes are not subject to the Section 301trade remedies as provided for under 9903.88.03, HTSUS.
Country of Origin and Marking
Pursuant to 19 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 134.1(b), “country of origin” means 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.” Further, 19 CFR 134.35 provide the approved marking requirements of a country name.
However, for a good of a NAFTA country (Mexico, Canada), the NAFTA Marking Rules (set forth in 19 CFR 102) will determine the country of origin. Because the wood drawer boxes are manufactured in part in Canada, a NAFTA country, the NAFTA origin marking rules will determine the country of origin.
Part 102.11(a)(3) of 19 CFR provides that for the purposes of determining the country of origin of imported goods other than textile and apparel products 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 applicable requirements of these rules are satisfied.
Part 102.20 states that, for goods of heading 9403.90 to be of Canadian origin, they must undergo:
A change to subheading 9403.90 from any other heading, except from subheading 9401.90.
Based on the information provided, a change in tariff occurs as the material components undergo a change to become wooden drawer boxes, taking on a new name, character, and identity. The country of origin is conferred in Canada.
Part 134, of 19 CFR implements the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Unless excepted by law, 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 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. As a product of Canada, the wooden drawer boxes are to be marked accordingly.
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, please contact National Import Specialist Dharmendra Lilia at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division