NY 810816 - COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED GOLF CLUBS. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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NY 810816

June 1, 1995

MAR-2-95:S:N:N8:224 810816

CATEGORY: MARKING

Daniel Murphy
DiMarco Golf
5170 Dixie Rd
Mississauga L4W 1E3
Canada

RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED GOLF CLUBS.

Dear Mr. Murphy:

This is in response to your letter dated May 16, 1995, requesting a ruling on the country of origin marking requirements for imported golf club sets which are assembled from U.S. and Japanese components in a NAFTA country. A marked sample was not submitted with your letter for review.

Your company assembles golf clubs for companies based in the United States. These companies supply components for the assembly operations including golf club heads, rubber golf club grips, golf club ferrules, two sided grip tape and steel golf club shafts. All of the components with the exception of the steel shafts have as their country of origin the United States. The shafts originate in Japan.

You have indicated that these components are assembled into 8 piece golf club sets ranging from a 3 iron to a pitching wedge. The assembly operation consists of the following steps:

1. cutting the steel shaft
2. applying the ferrule to the shaft
3. epoxying the head to the shaft
4. applying the grip to the shaft
5. packaging ready for shipping
6. marking the carton "Assembled in Canada"

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 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 interim amendments to the Customs Regulations published as T.D. 94-4 (59 Fed. Reg. 109, January 3, 1994) with corrections (59 Fed. Reg. 5082, February 3, 1994) and T.D. 94-1 (59 Fed. Reg. 69460, December 30, 1993). These interim amendments took effect on January 1, 1994 to coincide with the effective date of the NAFTA. The Marking Rules used for determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country are contained in T.D. 94-4 (adding a new Part 102, Customs Regulations). The marking requirements of these goods are set forth in T.D. 94-1 (interim amendments to various provisions of Part 134, Customs Regulations).

Section 134.45(a)(2) of the interim 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 interim 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. and Japanese components are exported to a NAFTA country where they are assembled prior to being re-imported into the U.S.

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.

Section 102.14 of the interim regulations, provides in pertinent part that no good, last advanced in value or improved in condition outside the United States has United States origin. If under any other provisions of Part 102 such a good is determined to be a good of the United States, that determination will be disregarded and the country of origin of the good will be the last foreign country in which the good was advanced in value or improved in condition. "Advanced in value" is defined in section 102.1(a) of the interim regulations as "an increase in the value of a good as a result of production with respect to that good, other than by means of those "minor processing" operations described in paragraphs (m)(5), (m)(6) and (m)(7) of this section". "Improved in Condition" is defined in section 102.1(i) as "the enhancement of the physical condition of a good as a result of production with respect to that good, other than by means of those "minor processing" operations described in paragraphs (m)(5), (m)(6) and (m)(7) of this section". (Minor processing operations described in paragraphs (m)(5), (m)(6) and (m)(7) include unloading, reloading or any other operation necessary to maintain the good in good condition; putting up in measured doses, packing, repacking, packaging, repackaging; testing, marking, sorting or grading).

In this case, we find that the U.S. and Japanese components are advanced in value or improved in condition as a result of the assembly operation in "Canada". Accordingly, pursuant to section 102.14 of the interim regulations, the country of origin of the imported golf clubs is "Canada", the last foreign country in which the good was advanced in value or improved in condition. Therefore, for purposes of the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304, the imported golf club sets must be marked to indicate that the country of origin of the golf clubs is "Canada", the last foreign country in which the good was advanced in value or improved in condition. Section 134.43(e) of the interim regulations, provides in part that "where the country of origin of an article is determined in accordance with section 102.14, part 102 of this Chapter, such article, at the choice of the importer, exporter or producer of the good, may be marked, as appropriate, in a manner such as the following:

(1) Assembled in (name of foreign country) from U.S. and Japanese components;

(2) Further processed in (name of country of origin) from U.S. and Japanese materials;

(3) Product of (name of foreign country) made from U.S.and Japanese components.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 181).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.

Sincerely,

Jean F. Maguire
Area Director

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