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NY N024427




March 18, 2008

CLA-2-87:OT:RR:E:NC:N1:101

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8708.93.6000

Janice McEachern, Customs Audit & Compliance Specialist Rogers & Brown
2 Cumberland Street
Charleston, SC 29401-2601

RE: The tariff classification, country of origin, and marking requirements for a clutch repair kit from multiple countries

Dear Ms. McEachern,

In your letter dated March 7, 2008, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, Perfection Clutch from Timmonsville, SC.

The item concerned is a Clutch Kit used to repair a clutch used for motor vehicles. The Clutch Kit consists of a pressure plate/cover, a disc, two (2) bearings and an alignment tool. You state in your Ruling Request that the alignment tool is made expressly for the kit only, and has no other use.

The purpose of the Clutch Kit is to facilitate the repair and overhaul of an automotive clutch, and is available for almost all models of car or truck.

The applicable classification subheading for the Clutch Kit will be 8708.93.6000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Partsofmotor vehicles: Other parts: Clutches and parts: For other vehicles: Clutches”. The rate of duty will be 2.5%.

Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent Harmonized Tariff Schedule and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.

In addition, you requested a ruling on whether the Clutch Kit would be eligible for preferential treatment under NAFTA.

The merchandise does not qualify for preferential treatment under the NAFTA because (a) it will not be wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of a NAFTA country; (b) it will not be made exclusively from originating materials; (c) one or more of the non-originating materials used in the production of the goods will not undergo the change in tariff classification required by General Note 12(t)/Chapter Rule 7: Subheading Rule: 22., HTSUS; and (d) it will not meet the exceptions to the above tariff classification change rules detailed in HTSUS General Note 12(b)(iv).

Finally, you requested a ruling on Country of Origin Marking.

You state that the components of the Clutch Kit are imported from various countries into the United States. They are then assembled and packaged into kits and are sold as such. As the components are from various countries, you requested our advice with respect to the Country of Origin marking on the kits.

     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. If an imported article is to be sold at retail in its imported form, the purchaser at retail is the ultimate purchaser. In this case, the ultimate purchaser of the Clutch Kit is the consumer who purchases the product at retail.

           Therefore the packaging should be marked, "Packaged in the United States with goods from the “United States, China, Korea and Canada”.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Parts 134, 177, 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 134, 177, 181).

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 Richard Laman at 646-733-3017.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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