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NY 896028





MAR-2-83:S:N:N3:113 896028

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Herb Wolfarth
Radix Group International
745 Dillon Drive
Wood Dale, IL 60191

RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED DOOR PULLS

Dear Mr. Wolfarth:

This is in response to your letter dated March 1, 1994, on behalf of Harris Systems, Inc., Skokie, Illinois, requesting a ruling on whether imported door pulls are required to be individually marked with the country of origin if it is later to be processed in the U.S. by a U.S. manufacturer. A marked sample was not submitted with your letter for review.

The merchandise consists of fireplace door pulls manufactured in China and Taiwan. The importer assembles the pulls onto a fireplace door and sells the complete door to distributors. The pulls are never sold separately. The pull becomes a permanent part of the door and represents a small part of its value.

The brochures you provided with your inquiry claim the completed fireplace doors are made in the USA. You do not indicate whether the doors themselves are so marked nor if it is your intention to continue to make this claim. The specific use of "Made in USA" is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. We suggest that you contact the Federal Trade Commission, Division of Enforcement, located at 6th & Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500, for advice on marking. Nothing in this ruling may be construed to address any use of the marking or claim that these items are made in the United States.

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. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. Section 134.1(d), defines the ultimate purchaser as generally the last person in the U.S. who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported. 19 CFR 134.1(d)(1) states that if an imported article will be used in manufacture, the manufacturer may be the ultimate purchaser if he subjects the imported article to a process which results in a substantial transformation of the article. The case of U.S. v. Gibson-Thomsen Co., Inc., 27 C.C.P.A. 267 (C.A.D. 98) (1940), provides that an article used in manufacture which results in an article having a name, character or use differing from that of the constituent article will be considered substantially transformed and that the manufacturer or processor will be considered the ultimate purchaser of the constituent materials. In such circumstances, the imported article is excepted from marking and only the outermost container is required to be marked. See, 19 CFR 134.35.

In this case, the imported door pulls are substantially transformed as a result of the U.S. processing, and therefore the U.S. manufacturer is the ultimate purchaser of the imported door pulls and under 19 CFR 134.35 only the containers which reach the ultimate purchaser are required to be marked with the country of origin "China" or "Taiwan".

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 177).

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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