The Country of Origin of Frozen Grilled Chicken Skewers

N354480
October 29, 2025
OT:RR:NC:N5:231
CATEGORY: Origin Ms. Ressie Thompson Marubeni America Corporation 90 Park Avenue New York, NY 10016 RE: The Country of Origin of Frozen Grilled Chicken Skewers Dear Ms. Thompson: In your letter dated October 1, 2025, you requested a country of origin determination. The subject merchandise is four kinds of prepared chicken products as follows: 1) skewered grilled chicken thigh meat without sauce; 2) skewered grilled chicken thigh meat and leek without sauce, 3) skewered grilled chicken thigh meat with teriyaki sauce, and 4) skewered grilled chicken thigh meat and leek with teriyaki sauce. For all four products, United States-origin chicken is exported to China where it undergoes processing which consists of using the raw chicken to prepare, cook, and freeze the above-described chicken-based products. The operations performed include deboning, tumbling, cutting, skewering, steaming, chargrilling, freezing, and packaging the products which are then shipped to the United States for sale to wholesalers. You seek a determination as to the country of origin of the above-described product. 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 test for determining whether a substantial transformation will occur is whether an article emerges from a process with a new name, character or 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), and National Juice Products Association v. United States, 628 F. Supp. 978 (Ct. Int’l Trade 1986).

In the case of the above-described Frozen Grilled Chicken Skewers, this office finds that the merchandise is not substantially transformed by the processing that occurred in China. Accordingly, based on the information presented, the finished goods are products of the United States. The question of whether the applicable merchandise at issue may be marked with a phrase such as “Product of U.S.A.” is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Enforcement, which may be contacted for advice at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580, or through the FTC’s website at http://www.ftc.gov. The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise description as identified in the ruling request. This position is clearly set forth in Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 177.9(b)(1). This section states that a ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in the ruling letter, whether directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. In the event that the facts are modified in any way, or if the goods do not conform to these facts at time of importation, you should bring this to the attention of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and submit a request for a new ruling in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2. This merchandise is subject to The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (The Bioterrorism Act), which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Information on the Bioterrorism Act can be obtained by calling FDA at 301-575-0156, or at the Web site www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html. Additionally, we note that the material facts described in the foregoing ruling may be subject to periodic verification by CBP. 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 Ekeng Manczuk at [email protected].
Sincerely,
(for) Evan Conceicao Designated Official Performing the Duties of the Division Director National Commodity Specialist Division