HQ 0732621 - Country of origin marking of liquid asphalt processed into solid roofing compound. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 732621

February 5, 1990

MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 732621 EAB

CATEGORY: MARKING

Roberto Rodriguez Vera, General Manager
Shield Asphalt Co.
1900 E. Elizabeth Street, Apartment 15F
Brownsville, TX 78520

RE: Country of origin marking of liquid asphalt processed into solid roofing compound.

Dear Mr. Rodriguez:

This is in reply to your letters dated July 31 and September 26, 1989, requesting a ruling on the country of origin marking requirements of liquid asphalt imported into the U.S. from Mexico. Further information was obtained by Mr. Edward A. Bohannon of our staff during a telephone call with you on October 5, 1989. This ruling applies only to prospective transactions.

FACTS:

Shield Asphalt Co. (the importer) plans to import from Mexico liquid asphalt contained in tank trucks. The imported liquid asphalt will be processed by mixing it with latex fiber- glass, other chemicals and an emulsifier. The resulting product will be packaged in solid form in paperboard drums and sold as a roofing compound.

You indicate that you and another importer have received conflicting advice from Customs officials in Brownsville and Laredo, Texas, as to whether the paperboard drums are required to be marked with the country of origin of the liquid asphalt.

ISSUE:

What are the country of origin marking requirements of liquid asphalt imported from Mexico and used in the manufacture of solid roofing compound.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that 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 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. The primary purpose of the country of origin marking statute is to "mark the goods so that at the time of purchase the ultimate purchaser may, by knowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy the product, if such marking should influence his will." United States v. Friedlaender & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297, 302, C.A.D. 104 (1940); National Juice Products Association v. United States, 10 CIT 48, 628 F. Supp. 978 (1986).

Section 134.35, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.35), provides that an article used in the U.S. in manufacture which results in an article having a name, character, or use differing from that of the imported article, will be within the principle of the deci-sion in the case of United States v. Gibson-Thomsen, 27 CCPA 267 (CAD 98). Under this principle, the manufacturer or processor in the U.S. who converts or combines the imported article into the different article will be considered the ultimate purchaser of the imported article within the contemplation of 19 U.S.C. 1304(a), and the imported article is excepted from individual marking.

Customs finds that your manufacturing process, consisting of mixing the imported liquid asphalt with latex fiberglass, other chemicals and an emulsifier, converts the imported article into a new and different article, having a new name, character and use, namely, solid roofing material. Therefore, you are the ultimate purchaser of the imported article, and it is excepted from individual country of origin marking.

Section 134.22, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.22), provides that when an article is excepted from the marking requirements, the outermost container or holder in which the article ordinarily reaches the ultimate purchaser shall be marked to indicate the country of origin of the article. However, Customs has determined that tank trucks are instruments of international traffic, see Headquarters Memorandum 102278 (July 27, 1976), and that they are not containers within the context of 19 CFR Part 134, and, therefore, are not required to be marked with the country of origin of their contents.

In addition, since you are the ultimate purchaser of the imported liquid asphalt, you are not required to mark the country of origin of the liquid asphalt on the paperboard drums in which the roofing compound is packaged after processing.

HOLDING:

The manufacturer who imports liquid asphalt and converts it into solid roofing material is the ultimate purchaser of the liquid asphalt. The liquid asphalt is excepted from marking. Further, because the tank trucks in which the liquid asphalt is imported are instruments of international traffic, they are not containers within the context of 19 CFR Part 134, and, therefore, are not required to be marked with the country of origin of the liquid asphalt.

Sincerely,

Marvin M. Amernick, Chief

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