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NY A84611




July 17, 1996

CLA-2-84:RR:NC:4:102 A84611

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8414.90.4065

Ms. Crystal Cox
Burlington Air Express
5500 W. Century Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045

RE: The tariff classification and country of origin marking of aluminum turbocharger housings from China

Dear Ms. Cox:

In your letter dated May 30, 1996, on behalf of your client, Allied Signal Inc., you requested both a tariff classification ruling and a ruling on whether the marking requirements are satisfied if imported castings for turbocharger housings which are marked with a U.S. reference at the time of importation, and which are later to be substantially transformed by a U.S. manufacturer are not individually marked but the container which reaches the U.S. manufacturer is properly marked with the country of origin. A marked sample was not submitted with your letter for review.

The items at issue are aluminum castings for turbocharger housings. The castings will be machined in the United States and combined with additional components to produce finished turbochargers. The castings will not be resold in their imported condition.

The applicable subheading for the turbocharger housing castings will be 8414.90.4065, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other parts of compressors, other, compressor housings. The rate of duty will be 2 percent ad valorem. The value issues addressed in your inquiry will be, per your request, answered in a separate ruling.

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 castings are substantially transformed as a result of the U.S. processing, and therefore the U.S. manufacturer is the ultimate purchaser of the imported casting and only the containers are required to be marked with the country of origin "China".

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

A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Karl J. Riedl at 212-466-5493.

Sincerely,

Roger J. Silvestri

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