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HQ 561321




December 15, 1999

MAR-05 RR:CR:SM 561321 KKV

CATEGORY: MARKING

Armando Delgado
Miles & Joffroy, Inc.
2675 Customhouse Court, Suite A
San Diego, CA 92173

RE: Country of origin marking requirements applicable to shower curtain rod sets packaged in Mexico from imported components; essential character; aluminum rod; 19 CFR 102.11(b)(1); Article 509; 19 CFR 102.18(b)(2); 19 CFR 102.17

Dear Mr. Delgado:

This is in response to your letter dated March 18, 1999, on behalf of Western America Manufacturing, Inc., which requests a binding ruling with regard to the tariff classification, country of origin marking requirements and antidumping duties applicable to a shower curtain rod set imported from Mexico.

FACTS:

You indicate that Western American Manufacturing, Inc., which packages a variety of plumbing fittings and hardware items, proposes to import a shower curtain rod packaged at its Mexican maquiladora facility. The shower curtain rod set will consist of the following components:

One six-foot U.S.-origin aluminum tube that will have been cut to length in the United States;

Two low carbon rolled steel chrome-plated flanges of Taiwanese origin;

Four foreign screws.

The tube, flanges and screws will be packaged together in Mexico and the unassembled set will be imported for sale in the U.S. as a Shower Curtain Rod. The set will be contained in a plastic bag with a header card. Two different samples of header cards have been submitted for our examination. Printed on the front side of each header card is the brand name and product description. The back side of each header card is printed with the brand name, corporate name, installation instructions and illustrations.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

I. Tariff Classification

Classification of imported merchandise is accomplished pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Classification under the HTSUS is guided by the General Rules of Interpretation of the Harmonized System (GRIs). GRI 1, HTSUS, states in part that “for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes[.]” GRI 2(a) provides, in part, that any reference in a heading to an article shall include a reference to that article entered unassembled or disassembled.

The applicable HTSUS headings and subheadings under consideration are as follows:

8302 Base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture, doors, staircases, windows, blinds, coachwork, saddlery, trunks, chests, caskets or the like; base metal hat racks, hat-pegs, brackets and similar fixtures; castors with mountings of base metal; automatic door closers of base metal; and base metal parts thereof :

Other mountings, fittings and similar articles, and parts thereof:

Other:

8302.41.60 Of iron or steel, of aluminum or of zinc.

Note 3, Section XV, HTSUS (Section XV includes heading 8302), provides that “...the expression ‘base metals’ means: iron and steel,...aluminum [and various other named metals].”

When interpreting and implementing the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (ENs) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System may be utilized. The ENs, while neither legally binding nor dispositive, provide a guiding commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See, T.D. 8990, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).

EN 83.02 states, in part:

This heading covers general purpose classes of base metal accessory fittings and mountings, such as are used largely on furniture, doors, windows, coachwork, etc. . .

The heading covers:

(D) Mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for buildings.

This group includes:

(5) Curtain, blind or portiere fittings (e.g., rods, tubes, rosettes, brackets, bands, tassel hooks, clips, sliding or runner rings, stops); cleat hooks, guides and knot holders for blind cords, etc.; staircase fittings, such as protectors for staircase treads; stair carpet clips, stair rods, banister knobs.

Rods, tubes and bars, suitable for use as curtain or stair rods, etc., merely cut to length and drilled, remain classified according to the constituent material.

In its condition as imported, the article is similar to the merchandise listed above as being included in heading 8302, HTSUS. As entered, it is an unassembled shower curtain rod (i.e., the rod by itself would be classified according to the constituent metal, pursuant to EN 83.02, above, but as entered, the merchandise need only be assembled to be an article similar to those described in EN 83.02). The merchandise is classified as other mountings, fittings, and similar articles of iron or steel, of aluminum or zinc, in subheading 8302.41.60, HTSUS.

This determination is consistent with New York Ruling (NY) E82078, dated May 17, 1999, in which an expandable drapery or curtain rod of steel with mounting hardware was classified in the same provision.

II. Country of Origin Marking Requirements

Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin imported into the United States 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 United States the English name of the country of origin of the article. By enacting 19 U.S.C. 1304, Congress intended to ensure that the ultimate purchaser would be able to know by inspecting the marking on the imported goods the country of which the goods are the product. The evident purpose 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 them, if such marking should influence his will. United States v. Friedlaender & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297, 302 C.A.D. 104 (1940).

Section 134.1(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(b)), defines “country of origin” as:

The country of manufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the United States. Further work or material added to an article in another country must effect a substantial transformation in order to render such other country the "country of origin" within the meaning of this part; however for a good of a NAFTA country, the NAFTA Marking Rules will determine the country of origin.

Section 134.1(j), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(j), provides that the "NAFTA Marking Rules" are the rules promulgated for purposes of determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country. Section 134.1(g), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(g)), 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, set forth at 19 CFR Part 102.

Section 102.11, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 102.11), sets forth the required hierarchy for determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country for marking purposes. This section states that the country of origin of a good is the country in which:

(1) The good is wholly obtained or produced;

(2) The good is produced exclusively from domestic materials; or

(3) Each foreign material incorporated in that good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification set out in section 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all other applicable requirements of these rules are satisfied.

Section 102.1(e), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 102.1(e)) defines “foreign material” as “a material whose country of origin as determined under these rules is not the same country or origin as the country in which the good is produced.” Because the finished shower curtain rod sets to be processed in Mexico are made from U.S. and other foreign materials, they are neither wholly obtained or produced, nor produced exclusively from domestic (i.e., Mexican) materials. Accordingly, origin may not be determined under 19 CFR 102.11(a)(1) or (2), requiring continuation to 19 CFR 102.11(a)(3).

Pursuant to 19 CFR 102.11(a)(3), the country of origin of a good is the country where each foreign material incorporated in that good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification as set forth in 19 CFR 102.20, which sets forth the specific tariff classification changes and/or other operations that are specifically required to occur in order for country of origin to be determined on the basis of operations performed on the foreign materials contained in a good. As previously indicated, we are informed by the General Classification Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, that the packaged finished shower curtain rod set is classifiable under subheading 8302.42.60, HTSUS. Thus, the change in tariff classification must be made in accordance with section 102.20(n), Section XV: Chapters 72-83, headings 8302.10-8302.60, HTSUS, which requires “[a] change to heading 8302.10 - 8302.60 from any other subheading, including another subheading within that group.”

With regard to the component parts of the shower curtain rod set, we are informed by the General Classification Branch that the aluminum tube is classifiable under heading 7608, HTSUS, the flanges are classifiable under heading 7326, HTSUS, and the screws are classifiable under heading 7318, HTSUS. Although materials initially classifiable in headings 7608, 7318 and 7326, HTSUS, are subsequently classifiable under subheading 8302.42.60, HTSUS, as a result of packaging operations in Mexico, we note that section 102.17 of the NAFTA Marking Rules (19 CFR 102.17) provides, in pertinent part, that “[a] foreign material shall not be considered to have undergone an applicable change in tariff classification specified in § 102.20... merely by reason of...[s]imple packing, repacking or retail packaging without more than minor processing” (see 19 CFR 102.17(c)). Thus, there is no applicable change in tariff classification within the requirements of section 102.20, and the country of origin of the good may not be determined in accordance with this section.

Because 19 CFR 102.11(a) (incorporating section 102.20), is not determinative of origin, our analysis continues to section 102.11(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 102.11(b)), which states:

Except for a good that is specifically described in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule as a set, or is classified as a set pursuant to General Rule of Interpretation 3, where the country origin cannot be determined under paragraph (a), the country of origin of the good:

(1) Is the country or countries of origin of the single material that imparts the essential character of the good, or

(2) If the material that imparts the essential character of the good is fungible, has been commingled, and direct physical identification of the origin of the commingled material is not practical, the country or countries of origin may be determined on the basis of an inventory management method provided under the Appendix to part 181 of the Customs Regulations.

We are informed by the General Classification Branch that the shower curtain rod set is not “a good that is specifically described in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule as a set, or is classified as a set pursuant to General Rule of Interpretation 3" but is a good classifiable as an unassembled article, under General Rule of Interpretation 2. Because section 102.11(b)(2) is not applicable in this case, the applicable rule that must be applied to determine the country of origin of the shower curtain rod set is section 102.11(b)(1), which states that the origin of the good is the country or countries of origin of the single material that imparts the essential character of the good. “Material” is defined in 19 CFR 102.1 of the Customs regulations, (19 CFR 102.1), as “a good that is incorporated into another good as a result of production with respect to that other good, and includes parts, ingredients, subassemblies, and components.”

When determining the essential character of a good under section 102.11, Customs regulations, section 102.18(b), provides that:

(1) For purposes of identifying the material that imparts the essential character to a good under §102.11, the only materials that shall be taken into consideration are those domestic or foreign materials that are classified in a tariff provision from which a change in tariff classification is not allowed under the §102.20 specific rule or other requirements applicable to the good.

(2) For purposes of determining which one or two or more materials described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section imparts the essential character to a good under §102.11, various factors may be examined depending upon the type of good involved. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i) The nature of each material, such as its bulk, quantity, weight or value; and

(ii) The role of each material in relation to the use of the good.

Here, because none of the materials underwent the requisite tariff shift, by operation of 19 CFR 102.17, all of the components may be considered in determining the essential character of the good under 19 CFR 102.11(b)(1). Applying section 102.18(b)(2) to the facts of this case, the shower curtain rod set is composed of an aluminum tube of U.S. origin, two flanges of Taiwanese origin and four screws, of unidentified foreign (i.e., non-Mexican) origin. Based on the facts presented and weighing the above factors, we find that the aluminum tube manifests the essential character of the subject merchandise. Therefore, the country of origin of the unassembled packaged shower curtain rod set is the United States, pursuant to 19 CFR 102.11(b)(1). Because the marking statute only requires articles of foreign origin to be marked with their country of origin, the shower curtain rod sets will be excepted from country of origin marking requirements upon their importation into the U.S. from Mexico.

III. Antidumping Duties

We note that the applicability of antidumping duties to imported merchandise is solely within the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce. Therefore, to determine whether the subject merchandise is covered under an antidumping duty order, we suggest that you contact that agency.

HOLDING:

The shower curtain rod is classified in subheading 8302.41.60, HTSUS, which provides for other base metal mountings and fittings, other mountings and fittings and similar articles . . . of aluminum.

On the basis of the information provided, the single material that imparts the essential character of the packaged shower curtain rod set is the aluminum tube. Accordingly, the country of origin of the packaged, unassembled shower curtain rod set is the United States, pursuant to 19 CFR 102.11(b).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time the goods are 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,

John Durant
Director

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