THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF JEWELRY

N259851 December 24, 2014 MAR-2 OT:RR:NC:N4:433 CATEGORY: MARKING Amy Hess Corporate Legal Consultant World Exchange Inc. 11205 S. La Cienega Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90045 RE: THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF JEWELRY Dear Ms. Hess: This is in response to your letter dated December 3, 2014, on behalf of Ronald Pratt Co. (RP), requesting a country of origin ruling on a Stainless Steel Crystal Sapphire Ear Stud, identified with item number B24D6049W-316. The relevant facts as stated in your submission are: (1) RP purchases 24K (gold plated) stainless steel ear studs with empty settings from a United States manufacturer, country of origin U.S.; (2) RP purchases glass imitation stones, 9pp crystals and 11pp sapphire colored crystals, from a United States supplier, who imports them duty-paid from China, country of origin China; (3) RP plans to ship the stainless steel settings of U.S. origin and the stones of Chinese origin, along with epoxy adhesive of U.S. origin, to Thailand; (4) in Thailand the stones will be manually glued into the setting using the U.S. adhesive; and (5) the finished product will be imported back into the United States by RP. Each setting is designed to hold a total of 5 crystals and 1 sapphire colored crystal, placed in a design to form a daisy flower on the head of the earring. You cite 19 C.F.R. § 102.11 as the “Rules of Origin” for the Stainless Steel Crystal Sapphire Ear Stud assembled in Thailand, however, 19 C.F.R. Part 102 – “Rules of Origin” is only applicable for goods of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and additionally to the United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement and the United States-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement. Consequently, 19 C.F.R. Part 134 – “Country of Origin Marking” governs the country of origin and its marking for the ear stud assembled in Thailand. Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. § 1304), and placed into Federal Regulation by 19 C.F.R. Part 134, 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. Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. § 1304 was “that the ultimate purchaser should be able to know by an inspection of the marking on the imported goods the country of which the goods is 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.” See United States v. Friedlander & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297, 302 (1940). Part 134 of Code of Federal Regulations implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. § 1304. Section 134.1(b) of Part 134 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 the marking laws and regulations. A substantial transformation occurs when, as a result of manufacturing process, a new and different article emerges, having a distinct name, character or use, which is different from that originally possessed by the article or material before being subjected to the manufacturing process. See Texas Instruments, Inc. v. United States, 69 C.C.P.A. 142, 681 F.2d 778 (1982). In perspective, there is nothing in the record submitted on behalf of RP to suggest that anything more than simple combining of foreign imitation stones to a U.S. origin setting took place, resulting in no substantial transformation of the stud of U.S. origin. As such, Thailand is not the country of origin for the stud. In turn, the assembling in Thailand of six foreign imitation stones of Chinese origin to the head of a stud of U.S. origin does not substantially change the stud from that of the United States to a good of China. Accordingly, the country of origin of the Stainless Steel Crystal Sapphire Ear Stud is that of the United States. 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 Neil H. Levy at E-mail address: [email protected]. Sincerely, Gwenn Klein Kirschner Director National Commodity Specialist Division