The country of origin of a Hunting Knife and Hunting Axe

N333337 June 15, 2023 OT:RR:NC:N1:118 CATEGORY: Origin M Jason Cunningham Sonnenberg & Cunningham, PA 780 Fifth Ave South ,Suite 200Naples, FL 34102 RE: The country of origin of a Hunting Knife and Hunting Axe Dear Mr. Cunningham: In your letter dated June 5, 2023, on behalf of your client, Great Star Industrial USA, LLC, you requested a country of origin ruling.  The subject tools are identified as a hunting knife and hunting axe that are made predominantly from steel.  Pictures and detailed descriptions of the manufacturing processes were included with your submission. The hunting knife is a fixed blade knife with a cutting blade at the tip and bottom edge, and a saw-type blade on the top edge.  The blade and tang are made from a single piece of steel and the knife handle’s coating is made of injection molded material.  The hunting axe is made from a single piece of steel except for the handle cover.  It consists of a steel blade (bit), heel, toe, cheek, poll, and handle.  The cheek has three hexagonally shaped holes, which fit three standard screw, bolt, and nut sizes.  The handle is wrapped with a length of versatile paracord.   In your request you provide manufacturing scenarios for each tool.  You contend that the tools produced are of Vietnam-origin.  You state that a substantial transformation occurs in Vietnam and that the Chinese components and processing do not substantially transform the Vietnamese components of the hand tools. The manufacturing process for the hunting knife begins in Vietnam, where Vietnamese-origin raw steel panel is cut to the form, size, and shape of the hunting knife.  The article is then sent to China, where the blade is sharpened, teeth are milled on the top edge, a black finished is added, and the knife is heat-treated.  Finally, a Chinese origin plastic handle is installed over the steel tang. The manufacturing process for the hunting axe also beings in Vietnam, where Vietnamese-origin raw steel panel is die-cut into the final shape, size, and form of the hunting axe.  The article is then sent to China, where the blade is sharpened, a black finished is added, and the axe is heat-treated.  Finally, a paracord is wrapped around the steel handle to provide a more comfortable grip to the user. Regarding your request for the appropriate country of origin of the hunting knife and hunting axe, 19 C.F.R. § 134.1(b) provides in pertinent part as follows: Country of origin means 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 test for determining whether a substantial transformation will occur is whether an article emerges from a process with a new name, character, and use, different from that possessed by the article prior to processing.  See Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States, 69 C.C.P.A. 151 (1982).  This determination is based on the totality of the evidence.  See National Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 C.I.T. 308 (1992), aff’d, 989 F.2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993). In order to determine whether a substantial transformation occurs when components of various origins are assembled into completed products, all factors are considered in order to conclude whether a product with a new name, character, and use has been produced.  These factors include the components used to create the product and manufacturing processes that these components undergo.  No one factor is decisive, and minimal assembly operations will generally not result in a substantial transformation.  In our view, the raw steel panel is cut and formed into a hunting knife blank and a hunting axe blank in Vietnam.  The articles that leave Vietnam are in the final form, size, and shape of the finished tools.  These blanks provide the essential characteristics of the finished hunting knife and hunting axe.  Based on the provided description of the finishing operations performed in China, the blanks are not substantially changed so as to transform them into a new article with a different name, character, or use.  Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that the country of origin of the finished hunting knife and hunting axe is Vietnam.  With regard to the appropriate country of origin marking of the hunting knife and hunting axe, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 USC 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. Certain types of articles must be marked in a specified manner as required by 19 CFR 134.43. Knives are specifically identified in this regulatory provision as articles that must be marked legibly and conspicuously by die stamping, cast-in-the-mold lettering, etching, or engraving.  However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has previously ruled that such articles may be excepted from individual marking if the marking of their containers will reasonably indicate the origin of the articles pursuant to 19 CFR 134.32(d). This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs and Border Protection 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, please contact National Import Specialist Anthony Grossi at [email protected]. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division