MAR-2 RR:NC:1:102 G87425
Mr. Robert Moore
Livingston International Consulting Group
5090 Explorer Drive
Mississauga ON Canada L4W 4T9
RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED VALVES FROM CANADA; ARTICLE 509
Dear Mr. Moore:
This is in response to your letter dated February 20, 2001 requesting a ruling on the country of origin marking requirements for imported pressure balanced shower valves incorporating U.S. and Canadian components packaged in Canada. The request was made on behalf of your client Delta Faucet. A marked sample was not submitted with your letter for review.
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. Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134) implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304.
The country of origin marking requirements for a "good of a NAFTA country" are also determined in accordance with Annex 311 of the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA"), as implemented by section 207 of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat 2057) (December 8, 1993) and the appropriate Customs Regulations. The Marking Rules used for determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country are contained in Part 102, Customs Regulations. The marking requirements of these goods are set forth in Part 134, Customs Regulations.
Section 134.45(a)(2) of the regulations, provides that "a good of a NAFTA country may be marked with the name of the country of origin in English, French or Spanish. Section 134.1(g) of the regulations, defines a "good of a NAFTA country" as an article for which the country of origin is Canada, Mexico or the United States as determined under the NAFTA Marking Rules.
In this case, you state that U.S. components are exported to Canada where they are combined with items of Canadian origin and packaged for export to the U.S. as a pressure balanced shower valve, Delta Faucet product number 11T5143. The U.S. components, which include a valve body, wall bar, shower bracket, hand-shower, hand-shower vacuum breaker, and a hand-shower hose, are finished articles that are simply repacked in Canada without any further processing or assembly. The items of Canadian origin included in the shower valve are a threaded nipple, spout elbow, and adapter fitting.
Based on the information presented, the U.S. valve body is actually the pressure balanced shower valve used to control the flow of shower water by means of hand operation and automatically regulate the temperature of the flowing water by means of a pressure balance mechanism. We find that the valve body upon importation into Canada is classifiable an article of subheading 8481.80.9015, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for regulator valves. We also find that the exported valve is a set of goods put up for retail sale that derives its essential character from the U.S valve body it incorporates. Accordingly, the U.S. and Canadian components, when exported together from Canada as the 11T5143 pressure balanced shower valve, will be classifiable as a set in subheading 8481.90.9015, HTSUS.
The rules for determining when, for marking purposes, the country of origin of an imported good is one of the parties to "NAFTA" are set forth in Part 102, Customs Regulations.
Part 102 of the regulations, sets forth the "NAFTA Marking Rules" for purposes of determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country for marking purposes. Section 102.11 of the regulations, sets forth the required hierarchy for determining country of origin for marking purposes.
Applying the NAFTA Marking Rules set forth in Part 102 of the regulations to the facts of this case, we find that the imported pressure balanced shower valve is a good of the United States for marking purposes. Accordingly, it will not be required to have any country of origin marking pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1304 when imported into the United States.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 181).
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 Kenneth T. Brock at 212-637-7026.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director,
National Commodity
Specialist Division