COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED TAPERED ROLLER BEARINGS

N227856 August 9, 2012 MAR-2 OT:RR:NC:N1:102 CATEGORY: MARKING Ms. Beth Black STEMCO LP 300 Industrial Blvd. Longview, TX 75602-4720 RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED TAPERED ROLLER BEARINGS Dear Ms. Black: This is in response to your letter dated July 18, 2012 requesting a ruling on whether the proposed marking “Made in China by STEMCO” is an acceptable country of origin marking for imported tapered roller bearings if another marking appears on the article which is a country or locality other than the actual country of origin of the article. A marked sample of the logo that will appear on the packaging for the bearings was included with your letter for review. The submitted sample of the logo is printed with your company’s name, “STEMCO®” followed underneath by the company’s address, “300 Industrial Blvd. Longview, TX 75602-4720”, telephone number, “800-527-8492”, and website, “www.stemco.com”. Directly below this information is the marking, “Made in China by STEMCO” to indicate the country of origin of the contents. The markings “300 Industrial Blvd. Longview, TX 75602-4720” and “Made in China by STEMCO” are a sufficiently similar size. You inquire as to the acceptability of this marking. 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. Section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), deals with cases in which the words “United States,” or “American,” the letters “U.S.A.,” any variation of such words or letters, or the name of any city or locality in the United States, or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced, appears on an imported article or its container, and those words, letters or names may mislead or deceive the ultimate purchaser as to the actual country of origin. In such a case, there shall appear, legibly and permanently, in close proximity to such words, letters, or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin preceded by “Made in,” “Product of,” or other words of similar meaning. In order to satisfy the close proximity requirement, the country of origin marking must generally appear on the same side(s) or surface(s) in which the name or locality other than the actual country of origin appears. The proposed marking of the imported tapered roller bearings, as described above, satisfies the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 and 19 CFR Part 134 and is an acceptable country of origin marking for the imported articles. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 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 Kenneth T. Brock at (646) 733-3009. Sincerely, Thomas J. Russo Director National Commodity Specialist Division