The country of origin and eligibility for preferential treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (“USMCA”) of fishing tackle

N361490June 10, 2026OT:RR:NC:N4:462
CATEGORY: Origin; Trade ProgramsCatherine ForbesTomic Lures LimitedPO Box 472Gold River, British Colombia V0P 1G0CanadaRE: The country of origin and eligibility for preferential treatment under the United States-Mexico-CanadaTrade Agreement (“USMCA”) of fishing tackleDear Ms. Forbes:In your letter dated
May 12, 2026
, you requested a ruling regarding the country of origin and eligibility forpreferential treatment under the USMCA of fishing tackle.Images were provided in lieu of samples.There are three types of fishing lures and one fishing flasher under consideration.The first of the lures are Spoon Lures, which resemble small oval-shaped fish and are available in lengthsranging from three to six inches. They are comprised of a metal body, spinner, ring, swivel, and hook, withstickers for the eyes and scales. The second are the Plug Lures, which resemble small fish with a pointed tail. They are offered in five stylesin lengths ranging from two to seven inches, depending on the style. All include a plastic body and may include a metal tow bar, joiner, wire, swivel, and hook as well as decorative sheets.For only one of the styles, the Wee Tad, the swivel is optional and may be ordered/imported without one.The third are the TNT Lures, which resemble small fish with a tail fin and are available in lengths of 3.5inches and 4.5 inches. They are comprised of a plastic body, a spinner, swivel, and hook made of metal, anda monofilament line.The lures may be imported either with or without a hook, depending on customer preference. For all luresexcept the Wee Tad plug style, the swivel is molded in. Per your submission, thousands of colors may be applied to any of these lures.
The last article under consideration are Flashers, which are attractor devices used in conjunction with lures tomake them more appealing to fish. Flashers are flat and rectangular in shape with rounded edges, measuring12 inches in length by 4.25 inches in width.They are comprised of a thin plastic “blade,” stickers, two metal swivels and wire.Flashers do not include hooks. Classification If imported without a hook, fishing lures are classified as artificial bait under heading 9507, HarmonizedTariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). If imported with a hook, the lure and hook together areconsidered a composite article, with each classifiable under a different subheading within heading 9507,HTSUS.Since the hook cannot perform its ultimate function without the lure, the lure imparts the essential character to the complete article, GRI 3(b) noted. . ee HQ 951921, dated July 9, 1992S The applicable subheading for the fishing lures, imported with or without hooks, will be 9507.90.7000,HTSUS, which provides for “Fishing rods, fish hooks and other line fishing tackle; fish landing nets,butterfly nets and similar nets…; parts and accessories thereof: Other: Other, including parts and accessories:Artificial baits and flies.” The rate of duty will be 9% ad valorem.The applicable subheading for the fishing flashers will be 9507.90.8000, HTSUS, which provides for“Fishing rods, fishhooks and other line fishing tackle; fish landing nets, butterfly nets and similar nets…;parts and accessories thereof: Other: Other…: Other, including parts and accessories.” The rate of duty willbe 9 percent ad valorem. The duties cited above are current as of this ruling’s issuance. Duty rates are provided for your convenienceand are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are providedat https://hts.usitc.gov/.Country of OriginIn your submission, you request a country of origin determination for the fishing tackle. You describe the manufacturing processes, which all take place in Canada, as detailed below.For the Spoon Lures, metal spoon-shaped blanks from the US are powder coated, sanded, and airbrushedwith paint in Canada. Stickers from the US may be applied to some patterns for scales and eyes. US-originwire is cut, shaped into rings and welded on with Chinese-origin swivels attached. Chinese-origin hooks andmetal spinners from the US are added. The lures are then packaged in either a clear plastic bag or in a plasticclamshell box.For the Plug Lures, plastic pellets from the US are injection molded into the plug bodies in Canada. If a plugis clear, it may first be stuffed with decorative paper from the US. Two halves of the body are glued togetherbefore the plug is sanded, polished, and airbrushed with paint that is either from Canada or the US. Eyes arepainted using a hand tool. US-origin wire is cut and shaped to form tow bars and rings. One of the plugstyles, the Broken Back, features a metal joiner manufactured in Canada. The rings are welded on withChinese-origin swivels attached, and Chinese-origin hooks are added. For the Wee Tad style only, the swivelis optional and may be ordered without one, and the hooks originate in France. The lures are packaged ineither a clear plastic bag or in a plastic clamshell box. For TNT Lures, plastic pellets from the US are injection molded into TNT bodies in Canada and holes aredrilled at the tail end. The bodies are airbrushed and eyes painted using a hand tool, then the bodies arerigged with a monofilament line from the US. US-origin wire is cut, shaped into rings and welded on withChinese-origin swivels attached. Metal spinners from the US and hooks from China are added. The lures arethen packaged in a plastic clamshell box.
For the Flashers, plastic pellets from the US are injection molded into blades in Canada. Rolls of stickersfrom the US are cut and applied in Canada, and US-origin wire is cut, shaped into rings and welded on withChinese-origin swivels attached. Packaging consists of a paper wrapped around the flasher.Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that unless excepted, everyarticle 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 toindicate to the ultimate purchaser in the United States, the English name of the country of origin of thearticle. Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. 1304 was “that the ultimate purchaser should be able toknow 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, byknowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy them, if such marking shouldinfluence his will.” See United States v. Friedlander & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297, 302 (1940).Section 134.1(b), CBP Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(b)), defines “country of origin” as the country ofmanufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the United States. Further workor material added to an article in another country must effect a substantial transformation in order to rendersuch other country the “country of origin” within the meaning of the marking laws and regulations.Pursuant to section 102.0, interim regulations, related to the marking rules, tariff-rate quotas, and otherUSMCA provisions, published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2021 (86 FR 35566), the rules set forth insections 102.1 through 102.18 and 102.20 determine the country of origin for marking purposes with respectto goods imported from Canada and Mexico. Section 102.11 provides a required hierarchy for determiningthe country of origin of a good for marking purposes, with the exception of textile and apparel goods whichare subject to the provisions of 19 CFR 102.21. See 19 CFR 102.11.Applied in sequential order, 19 CFR 102.11(a) provides that the country of origin of a good is the country inwhich:(1) The good is wholly obtained or produced;(2) The good is produced exclusively from domestic materials; or(3) Each foreign material incorporated in that good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification setout in section 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all otherrequirements of these rules are satisfied.Sections 102.11(a)(1) and 102.11(a)(2) do not apply to the facts presented in this case because the fishinglures and flashers are neither wholly obtained nor produced exclusively from “domestic” materials. Accordingly, we look to section 102.11(a)(3). The applicable tariff shift requirement in section 102.20 reads,“a change to subheading 9507.90 from any other subheading, except from heading 5004 through 5006, 5404,5406, or 5603, or from subheading 5402.11 through 5402.49.”Based on the manufacturing operations outlined previously, while the tariff shift rule noted above is met forthe Chinese-origin and French-origin hooks classifiable under subheading 9507.20.8000, HTSUS, it is notmet for the Chinese-origin swivel. The swivel, classified under 9507.90.8000, HTSUS, does not undergo achange in subheading of the same level, i.e., subheading 9507.90, HTSUS, as specified in the tariff shift rule,when assembled into either the fishing lures or the flashers. Only one of the Plug Lure styles, the Wee Tad,would satisfy the required tariff shift rule when ordered without a swivel. Therefore, the country of origin forthe Wee Tad Plug Lure style, when ordered without a swivel, is Canada.For the styles that do not meet the Part 102.20 tariff shift requirement, origin will be determined under Part102.11(b), which states in pertinent part:
The country of origin of the good is the country or countries of origin of the single material that imparts theessential character to the good. It is the decision of this office that the body of the lures and the blade of the flashers are the principalcomponents which impart the essential character to each. When determining the country of origin, the substantial transformation analysis is applicable. See, e.g.,Headquarters Ruling Letter H301619, dated November 6, 2018. The test for determining whether asubstantial 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, 681 F.2d 778 (C.C.P.A. 1982). This determination is based on the totality of the evidence. See National Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 CIT 308 (1992), aff’d, 989 F.2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993). The metal blanks used to make the Spoon Lure bodies are already shaped into their final form when shippedto Canada. The powder coating, sanding, and airbrushing that takes place in Canada does not substantiallytransform the blanks, therefore the country of origin for the Spoon Lures is the US. The US-origin plastic pellets that are injection molded in Canada to form the Flasher blades, and the bodiesof the Plug Lures and TNT Lures, do undergo a transformation and emerge as an article with a new name,character, or use from that prior to processing. Therefore, the country of origin for the Plug Lures, TNTLures, and Flashers is Canada. USMCAThe USMCA was signed by the Governments of the United States, Mexico, and Canada on November 30,2018. The USMCA was approved by the U.S. Congress with the enactment on January 29, 2020, of theUSMCA Implementation Act, Pub. L. 116-113, 134 Stat. 11, 14 (19 U.S.C. § 4511(a)). General Note ("GN")11 of the HTSUS implements the USMCA. GN 11(b) sets forth the criteria for determining whether a good is an originating good for purposes of the USMCA. GN 11(b) states:For the purposes of this note, a good imported into the customs territory of the United States from theterritory of a USMCA country, as defined in subdivision (l) of this note, is eligible for the preferential tarifftreatment provided for in the applicable subheading and quantitative limitations set forth in the tariff scheduleas a "good originating in the territory of a USMCA country" only if-(i) the good is a good wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries;(ii) the good is a good produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries, exclusively fromoriginating materials;(iii) the good is a good produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries usingnon-originating materials, if the good satisfies all applicable requirements set forth in this note (including theprovisions of subdivision (o));Since the swivels and hooks are non-originating, the fishing tackle which contain these components are notconsidered a good wholly obtained or produced entirely in a USMCA country under GN 11(b)(i), nor are theproducts produced exclusively from originating materials per GN 11(b)(ii). Thus, we must determinewhether the products qualify under GN 11(b)(iii). As previously noted, the fishing lures are classified undersubheading 9507.90.7000, HTSUS, and the flashers under subheading 9507.90.8000, HTSUS. Theapplicable rule of origin for goods classified under these subheadings is in GN 11(o), which provides inrelevant part: Chapter 95 (6), “A change to headings 9507 through 9508 from any other chapter.” The non-originating swivel and hook must come from a chapter other than 95, HTSUS. However, both areclassified within heading 9507, HTSUS, thus the requirements of HTSUS General Note 11(b)(iii) are notmet.Both the fishing lures and the flashers do not qualify for USMCA preferential tariff treatment if they
contain the swivel and/or the hook. Only the Wee Tad Plug Lure style, when imported without a hook and a swivel, qualifies for USMCA preferential tariff treatment and will be entitled to a Free rate of duty underUSMCA upon compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and agreements.The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise description asidentified 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 theinformation furnished in the ruling letter, whether directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate andcomplete in every material respect. In the event that the facts are modified in any way, or if the goods do notconform to these facts at time of importation, you should bring this to the attention of U.S. Customs andBorder Protection (CBP) and submit a request for a new ruling in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2.Additionally, we note that the material facts described in the foregoing ruling may be subject to periodicverification by CBP.This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs and Border ProtectionRegulations (19 C.F.R. 177).A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documentsfiled at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, please contactNational Import Specialist Sandra Walia at [email protected].
Sincerely,
(for)James P. ForkanDirectorNational Commodity Specialist Division