CLA-2-83:OT:RR:NC:N1:121
Clifford O. Chi
Hampton Products International Corporation
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Foothill Ranch, CA 92610
RE: The country of origin of a metal interior locking privacy door lockset
Dear Mr. Chi:
In your letter dated August 1, 2019 you requested a country of origin ruling.
The merchandise under consideration is identified as Item # 2111-199, an Interior Locking Privacy Door Lockset. According to your request, the metal lockset does not lock with a key, combination, or with an electronic signal. Rather, it is a simple privacy lock that locks from the inside by turning a thumb lever. The lockset consists of a latch assembly, a strike plate, an outside knob assembly, and an inside knob assembly.
According to your request, your proposed manufacturing plan includes sourcing the inside and outside door knobs, the latch assembly and strike plate, and the thumb turn lever in Taiwan. Those parts would be shipped to China where they would be assembled together with Chinese origin couplers, rose screw posts, a spindle, locking tab, locking tab driver and a spring cage assembly to create the finished Interior Locking Privacy Door Lockset. The inside knob assembly, the outside knob assembly, the latch assembly, and the strike plate and screws will be packaged and sold together in one package as the Interior Locking Privacy Door Lockset.
You state in your request that the finished privacy door lockset is classified in subheading 8302.41.6045, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for Base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles… Other mountings, fittings and similar articles, and parts thereof: Suitable for buildings: Other: Of iron or steel, of aluminum or of zinc… Suitable for interior and exterior doors (except garage, overhead or sliding doors): Other.
With regard to your request for the appropriate country of origin of the interior locking privacy door lockset, 19 C.F.R. § 134.1(b) provides in pertinent part as follows: 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” within the meaning of this part; As stated in HQ 735009 dated July 30, 1993, “The country of origin is the country where the article last underwent a “substantial transformation”, that is, processing which results in a change in the article's name, character, or use”. In addition, the court has held that “A substantial transformation occurs when an article emerges from a manufacturing process with a name, character, and use that differs from the original material subjected to the processing.” However, if the manufacturing or combining process is merely a minor one that leaves the identity of the article intact, a substantial transformation has not occurred. In order to determine whether a substantial transformation occurs when components of various origins are assembled into completed products, all factors such as the components used to create the product and manufacturing processes that these components undergo are considered in order to determine whether a product with a new name, character and use has been produced. No one factor is decisive. Assembly operations that are minimal will generally not result in a substantial transformation. In this instance, it is this office’s opinion that the inside and outside door knobs, the latch assembly with strike plate and the thumb turn lever provide the essence of the privacy lockset. These items are not substantially changed by either the addition of the Chinese components or the minor assembly operations performed in China. The Taiwan produced door knobs, latch assembly and thumb turn lever would provide the essential operation elements for the privacy locket to work. In view of these facts, the country of origin would be Taiwan.
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 Jennifer Jameson at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division