HQ 0731938 - Country of origin marking requirements for imported router bits and screwdriver bits - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

United States International Trade Commision Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule

faqs.org Rulings By Number Rulings By Category Tariff Numbers

faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 1990 HQ Rulings > HQ 0731902 - HQ 0732330 > HQ 0731938

HQ 731938

January 9, 1989

MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 731938 jd

CATEGORY: MARKING

A. Robert Beikirch
District Director of Customs
40 South Gay Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202

RE: Country of origin marking requirements for imported router bits and screwdriver bits

Dear Mr. Beikirch:

This is in response to your memorandum of November 8, 1988 (MAR-2-05-DD:CO:TT:IS:1 GAS), seeking advice on the country of origin marking requirements applicable to interchangeable router bits and screwdriver bits.

FACTS:

According to your memorandum, router bits and screwdriver bits are imported in bulk with the outer containers marked with the country of origin. The screwdriver bits are not individually marked as to country of origin. While the router bits are individually marked on the end of the shank, you report that in some instances several letters are missing. The sample submitted had all the letters present but the letters were extremely close to one another and quite small.

All of the screwdriver bits are repacked in blister packs for retail sale. The sample blister pack we examined had country of origin marking. The router bits are repacked either in blister packs, plastic pouches, individual cardboard boxes or individual plastic tubes. All such containers are marked to show country of origin. Some router bits are repacked in blank plastic bags, the bags boxed in bulk, and the boxes sold to industrial users. It is not stated if these boxes carry any marking.

ISSUE:

Do rotary metal cutting tools of greater than 3/16" diameter, imported in bulk, qualify for an exemption from individual marking based on the fact they will be repacked for retail sale in containers bearing country of origin marking?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 304 of the 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 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 an ultimate purchaser in the United States the English name of the country of origin of the article.

Section 134.42, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.42), states that marking of certain articles shall be by specific methods as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Customs. By a decision published as T.D. 74-122, Customs established that rotary metal cutting tools (i.e., tools for hand tools or machine tools which are designed to be fitted to such tools and which cannot be used independently and include tools for pressing, stamping, drilling, tapping, threading, boring, broaching, milling, cutting, dressing, mortising or screw-driving of the kind classified in items 649.43, 649.44 and 649.46, Tariff Schedules of the United States) must be marked by means of die stamping in a contrasting color, raised lettering, engraving, or some other method of producing a legible, conspicuous and permanent mark to clearly indicate the country of origin to the ultimate purchaser in the United States. Specifically excluded from methods of acceptable marking were ink stamping, tagging with adhesive labels or any other impermanent form of marking which could be smudged, blurred or otherwise easily obliterated or removed. However, imported rotary metal cutting tools could be excepted from individual marking if they would reach the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. in individual tubes or containers which were legibly, conspicuously and permanently marked to indicate the country of origin of the tools therein. (In accordance with ORR Ruling 639-69, dated January 2, 1970, twist drills having a diameter of less than 3/16" are considered incapable of being marked.)

Subsequently, two trade associations representing the domestic rotary metal cutting tool industry requested Customs to change its practice in regard to that commodity because of alleged abuses of the exemption allowing tools to be unmarked if they were sold in marked containers. It was claimed that such tools were often removed from their containers before reaching the ultimate purchaser in the U.S.

After reviewing domestic industry's petition, the public comments received in response to the proposed change of practice and the available evidence, Customs concluded that the exception created in T.D. 74-122 to individual tool marking was being abused. To correct this problem the following points were clarified in a decision published as T.D. 84-214:

1. T.D. 74-122 provided for an exception from individual marking requirements in the case of tools imported in individual tubes or containers which are marked to indicate the origin of the tools inside.

2. That exception would continue to be available only if it can be shown to the satisfaction of the Customs officers at the port of entry that the containers are of a kind that are virtually certain to reach ultimate purchasers in the U.S.

3. Rotary metal cutting tools imported in individual tubes or containers of cardboard or plastic must be individually marked in accordance with T.D. 74-122 notwithstanding that the container is marked.

Extending the rationale of T.D.'s 74-122 and 84-214 to the case of bulk importations of rotary metal cutting tools, it follows that the tools in such importations must be individually marked. Customs designed the marking requirements for such tools to respond to a problem where unmarked tools were too often removed from their marked containers before delivery to ultimate purchasers. The individual marking of tools imported in insubstantial containers, or in this case no individual container at all, gives a high degree of assurance that the ultimate purchaser will be apprised of the origin of the article.

For your information, we have recently issued a ruling directly to (omitted) concerning the proper country of origin marking for a router bit assembled in the U.S. with a carbide blade from Israel, a bearing from Italy and other components of U.S. origin. That ruling determined that a substantial transformation of the blade and bearing occurred by their assembly with the other components into a finished router bit. Accordingly, the finished router bit reaching ultimate purchasers is not required to have country of origin marking.

HOLDING:

Rotary metal cutting tools, as described above, of greater than 3/16" diameter, imported in bulk, must be individually marked to show country of origin notwithstanding the fact that they will be packaged in containers showing the origin of the tool. The exception to individual marking, as mentioned in T.D. 74-122 and clarified in T.D. 84-214, is available only in the case of rotary metal cutting tools imported in containers that are virtually certain to reach the ultimate purchaser in the U.S., such as sealed index storage boxes.

Of the samples we examined, the screw driver bit was unmarked and therefore did not comply with marking requirements. The router bit was die stamped but not in a contrasting color. Also, it was reported to us that some samples seen at the port were missing letters of the country name. It is our suggestion that
the marking be moved to the shank of the tools to ensure that all the letters are displayed, and it remains mandatory that one of the enumerated methods of marking be used, or some other means producing an equally acceptable mark.

Sincerely,

John Durant
Director

Previous Ruling Next Ruling