Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings for June 15
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated June 15 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
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H314566: Country of origin of FB3 Wiper Blade assembled in Mexico; Marking; Section 301 trade remedy; 9903.88.03, HTSUS
| Ruling: The country of origin is Mexico for marking and Section 301 purposes; Section 301 tariffs do not apply. |
| Issue: The country of origin marking and applicability of Section 301 tariffs to a wiper blade assembled in Mexico. The imported components used to produce the wiper blade include steel coil from China, which is cut to size in Mexico, bent to shape, and formed using a punch press to create holes for final wiper blade assembly; a rubber wiper blade element from a country in Europe, a basic adaptor, a spoiler, and an end cap from Kosovo, and a hook connector/holding spring, a plastic beauty cover, and a holding spring from China. With the exception of the steel coil, all other components of non-Mexican origin are imported as-is with their end-use determined. |
| Reason: No single component gives the wiper blades their essential character, but the totality of operations performed in Mexico constitute more than “minor processing” and exceed a “simple assembly. Consequently, the country of origin of the wiper blade is the last country in which the goods underwent production. Taken together, the operations performed in Mexico constitute production. The totality of processing that takes place in Mexico is sufficient for the imported materials to be substantially transformed in Mexico. |
| Ruling Date: June 14, 2021 |
H309489: Ruling Request Regarding Eligibility of Consolidated Corporation to Claim Substitution Unused Merchandise Drawback; 19 U.S.C. §1313(j)(2); 19 C.F.R. § 190.32
| Ruling: Volvo Car USA may claim unused merchandise drawback. |
| Issue: Whether a Volvo Car USA can claim unused merchandise drawback on cars imported by a former related company, Volvo Car US Operations, that is now a subsidiary. Also, whether the use of the formerly separate corporate entity's name, Volvo Car US Operations, to identify a facility will restrict Volvo Car USA’s drawback rights. |
| Reason: Since the reorganization Volvo Car USA remains as the only corporation with only one board of directors, one C-suite, and operates as the sole importer and exporter of Volvo passenger vehicles in the United States. Volvo Car USA owns and controls the imported merchandise, it owns and controls the US production facility, and it owns and controls that facility’s output. Volvo Car USA’s right to claim substitution unused merchandise drawback is not predicated on organizational nomenclature or self-identification, but rather its underlying corporate identity as both the exporter of the substituted merchandise and the importer of the duty-paid imported merchandise |
| Ruling Date: June 11, 2021 |
H315436: Tariff Classification of Organic Baby Foods; USMCA
| Ruling: (1), (3), (4) and (5): 2104.20.1000, 2.5%, “Soups and broths and preparations therefor; homogenized composite food preparations: Homogenized composite food preparations: Put up for retail sale as food suitable for infants or for dietetic purposes.” Eligible for USMCA treatment. (2) 2008.97.1040, 5.6%, “Fruits, nuts and other edible parts of plants, otherwise prepared or preserved, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or spirit, not elsewhere specified or included: Other, including mixtures other than those of subheading 2008.19: Mixtures: In airtight containers and not containing apricots, citrus fruits, peaches or pears: Other.” Not eligible for USMCA treatment. |
| Issue: The tariff classification of five varieties of organic baby foods, manufactured in Canada. The five varieties – (1) “Coconut Kiwi Mangosteen,” (2) “Banana Fig Oatmeal,” (3) “Roasted Squash & Fruit Medley,” (4) “Juicy Pear and Garden Greens,” and (5) “Gingery Pear” – consist of a mix of fruit and/or vegetable purees, are packaged in 90-gram pouches, and are marketed towards infants of six months and older. |
| Reason: For four of the baby foods, while their specific ingredients differ, each are a mixture of fruit and/or vegetable purees, As the Explanatory Notes to heading 2104 specifically exclude “preparations of this kind which consists of one basic ingredient such as meat, meat offal, fish, vegetable or fruit (generally Chapter 16 or 20), whether or not containing small quantities of any ingredients added for seasoning, preservation or for other purposes,” the Banana Fig Oatmeal is classified elsewhere. The Banana Fig Puree does not meet the relevant USMCA tariff shift rule. |
| Ruling Date: June 11, 2021 |
H316570: USMCA Eligibility; Hydraulic Hose Assemblies; Country of Origin; Marking
| Ruling: The hydraulic hose assemblies do not qualify for USMCA, and must be marked as products of Malaysia. |
| Issue: The eligibility of certain hydraulic hose assemblies for preferential tariff treatment under USMCA and their country of origin for marking purposes. The importer will import into Canada or Mexico couplings from China made in Poland and/or China, and hoses from Malaysia made in Malaysia to fabricate hydraulic hose assemblies for transport of energy via high pressure fluid. |
| Reason: Since the couplings and the plastic hoses are classified in heading 8412, the tariff shift rule is not met and the hydraulic assemblies of subheading 8412.90.90 do not qualify for USMCA preferential tariff treatment pursuant. Considering that the assemblies are assembled in Mexico or Canada, and are classified in a tariff provision from which a change in tariff classification is not allowed, we find that the single material imparting the essential character of the finished hydraulic assembly is imparted by the hose, and the country of origin of the finished hydraulic assembly will be the country of origin of the hose, Malaysia. |
| Ruling Date: June 10, 2021 |