The country of origin and United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement eligibility of an elevator cable cleaning and lubrication system

N363347August 11, 2026OT:RR:NC::N1:104
CATEGORY: Origin; Trade ProgramsRhonda Chisholm536153 B.C. Ltd. (operating as SkyOiler 360)1221 Goldstream AvenueLangford V9B 2Y9CanadaRE: The country of origin and United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement eligibility of an elevator cablecleaning and lubrication systemDear Ms. Chisholm:In your letter dated
July 15, 2026
, you requested a country of origin ruling on the SkyOiler 360 elevator wirerope (cable) cleaning and lubrication system binding ruling, in addition to the eligibility of the product underthe United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).This office previously determined in New York Ruling Letter N359206 dated March 6, 2026, that the tariffclassification of the SkyOiler 360 is subheading 8479.89.9599, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the UnitedStates (HTSUS).As noted in N359206, SkyOiler 360 will be imported as a complete article, either assembled or partiallyassembled. It consists of a plastic main housing or case, a metal brush assembly comprised of two brushunits, each with three replaceable synthetic bristle brushes, a metal U-shaped base/mounting plate, an electricpump and 12V DC motor, electrical pump volume controls and a wireless fob activator, a lubricant deliverysystem (rope cleaning/oiling head assembly), a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, a battery charger, a felt matto capture excess oil and help clean the cables, and specially-designed slotted rails, a rail guide, and mountingcomponents.You state that the SkyOiler 360 will be produced and assembled in Canada from a combination of bothoriginating (Canadian) and internationally sourced components and parts. Final assembly, quality control,and packaging will be performed at the SkyOiler 360’s Canadian facility. The Canadian production andassembly operations involve five steps: (1) receiving and inspecting the components; (2) preparing the mainhousing for assembly and fabricating assembling the mounting bracket assemblies; (3) integrating the pumpsystem into the main housing, including installation of fittings and hoses. Electrical components are installedand bench-tested. Brush systems are cut, assembled, and installed into the unit; (4) the assembled unit isinstalled into the the housing, and the battery charger, remote fob, felt components, and tool kit are placedand secured in the case; and (5) the unit is functionally tested, inspected, and packaged.
Country of Origin: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. Friedlaender & 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 Part 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all other applicablerequirements of these rules are satisfied.The SkyOiler 360 is neither “wholly obtained or produced” nor “produced exclusively from domesticmaterials.” Therefore, paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) cannot be used to determine its country of origin, andparagraph (a)(3) must be applied next to determine the origin of the finished article. As noted above, the SkyOiler 360 is classified under subheading 8479.89.9597, HTSUS.The tariff shift requirement in Part 102.20 for subheading 8479.89 states in pertinent part:A change to subheading 8479.10 through 8479.89 . . . from any other subheading, including anothersubheading within that group . . .Here, the individual components and materials used in the production of the SkyOiler 360 are classifiedunder various tariff headings other than subheading 8479.89, HTSUS. Upon assembly and integration inCanada, the finished product is classified under HTSUS 8479.89.9599, as a machine having an individualfunction, no specified elsewhere in Chapter 84. Therefore the finished SkyOiler 360 meets the tariff shift. Asa result, Part 102.11(a) applies. Accordingly, the country of origin of the SkyOiler 360 for marking purposeswill be Canada.
USMCA:The 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 isan 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));The SkyOiler 360 contains non-originating materials and is not considered a good wholly obtained orproduced entirely in a USMCA country under GN 11(b)(i). Moreover, under GN 11(b)(ii), the SkyOiler 360is not a good produced entirely in Canada from originating materials. Therefore, we must next determinewhether the non-originating materials undergo the tariff shift and satisfy other applicable requirementsprovided form in GN 11(b)(iii) and GN 11(o).As the Sky Oiler 360 is classified under subheading 8479.89.9597, HTSUS, the applicable tariff shift rule forgoods classified in subheading 8479.89 is GN 11(o), which provides in relevant part:A change to any other good of subheading 8479.89 from any other subheading.Since all the foreign-origin parts are classified outside of subheading 8479.89, HTSUS, the requisite tariffshift rule is met, and the finished SkyOiler 360 is considered an originating good under the USMCA andeligible for preferential treatmentThe 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 Arthur Purcell at [email protected].
Sincerely,
(for)James P. ForkanDirectorNational Commodity Specialist Division