The marking and country of origin of Rice.

N306642 December 3, 2019 OT:RR:NC:N:N2:231 CATEGORY: Country of Origin Mr. Jose Gonzalez-Freyre Pan American Grain 9 Claudia St. Amelia Industrial Park Guaynabo, Puerto Rico 00968 RE: The marking and country of origin of Rice. Dear Mr. Gonzalez-Freyre: In your letter dated October 9, 2019, you requested a marking and country of origin ruling determination on “Enriched Rice”. You have presented a scenario whereby Pan American Grain will purchase medium grain rice from China and domestic medium grain rice in the United States. You have stated that in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, the rice will be cleaned, sorted, polished, sized and enriched via the addition of “vitamin infused domestic whole grain rice”. The finished product, “Enriched Rice”, will be packed in paper and plastic bags with the net weight of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 17, 20, 25, 50 and 100 pounds, respectively. The product will be sold to restaurants and food service institutions, as well as retail outlets for consumer purchase. The "country of origin" is defined in 19 CFR 134.1(b) 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. The courts have held that a substantial transformation occurs when an article emerges from a process with a new name, character or use different from that possessed by the article prior to processing. United States v. Gibson-Thomsen Co., Inc., 27 CCPA 267, C.A.D. 98 (1940); National Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 CIT 308 (1992), aff’d, 989 F. 2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993); Anheuser Busch Brewing Association v. The United States, 207 U.S. 556 (1908) and Uniroyal Inc. v. United States, 542 F. Supp. 1026 (1982). In this case, medium grain rice imported from China is blended with domestic rice of the same grade in Puerto Rico. The intermingled rice will undergo cleaning, sorting, polishing, sizing then fortification by the addition of “vitamin infused domestic whole grain rice”. Pertaining to the China origin rice, the product has its fundamental character at the time it enters the U.S. and the U.S. processing, which involves treatment that may be necessary for the product to be marketable and may add some value, does not change it. The finished product, “Enriched Rice”, does not possess a different name, character, or use. Accordingly, we find that the domestic processing does not constitute a substantial transformation and the proposed marking for the containers for the finished product should be "Product of China, Processed and Packaged in the USA". Products of China classified under subheadings 9903.88.01, 9903.88.02, 9903.88.03, 9903.88.04 or 9903.88.15, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), unless specifically excluded, are subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty. At the time of importation, you must report the appropriate Chapter 99 subheading, in addition to the product’s tariff classification. See U.S. Note 20 to Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS. The HTSUS is subject to periodic amendment so you should exercise reasonable care in monitoring the status of goods covered by the Note cited above and the applicable Chapter 99 subheading. For background information regarding the Section 301 trade remedy, you may refer to the relevant parts of the USTR and CBP websites, which are available at https://ustr.gov/issueareas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/tariff-actions and https://www.cbp.gov/trade/remedies/301-certain-products-china, respectively. 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 Ekeng Manczuk at [email protected]. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division