N326702

N326702 July 6, 2022 CLA-2-84:OT:RR:NC:N1:118 CATEGORY: Country of Origin TARIFF NO.: 8433.11.0050 Ramon DeLaRosa Border 2 Border Services 12160 Rojas Drive El Paso, TX 79936 RE: The eligibility of a walk-behind lawn mower under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Dear Mr. DeLaRosa, In your letter dated June 17, 2022, on behalf of your client, Duro Industries, you requested a binding ruling on the eligibility of a walk-behind lawn mower under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The imported merchandise is identified as a YARDMAX walk-behind lawnmower with a 3-kW gasoline-powered engine. You suggested classifying the lawn mower within subheading 8433.11.0010, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Harvesting or threshing machinery, including straw or fodder balers; grass or hay mowers…, parts thereof: Mowers for lawns, parks or sports grounds: Powered, with the cutting device rotating in a horizontal plane: Electric mowers, including battery operated.” We disagree. The information you provided clearly states that the lawn mower has a gasoline engine, not electric. The applicable subheading for the YARDMAX walk-behind lawnmower will be 8433.11.0050, HTSUS, which provides for “Harvesting or threshing machinery, including straw or fodder balers; grass or hay mowers…, parts thereof: Mowers for lawns, parks or sports grounds: Powered, with the cutting device rotating in a horizontal plane: Other: Under 3.7 kW.” The general rate of duty will be Free. Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current. In your submission you inquire whether the YARDMAX walk-behind lawnmower is eligible for preferential treatment under the USMCA. Per the information provided (e.g., the Bill of Materials), the parts of the lawn mower hail from China and Mexico. The myriad of parts are assembled with one another in Mexico to form a complete lawn mower (i.e., the YARDMAX walk-behind lawn mower). 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 the USMCA 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 the territory of a USMCA country, as defined in subdivision (l) of this note, is eligible for the preferential tariff treatment provided for in the applicable subheading and quantitative limitations set forth in the tariff schedule as a “good originating in the territory of a USMCA country” only if— the good is a good wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries; the good is a good produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries, exclusively from originating materials; the good is a good produced entirely in the territory of one or more USMCA countries using non-originating materials, if the good satisfies all applicable requirements set forth in this note (including the provisions of subdivision (o)); The subject YARDMAX walk-behind lawn mower contains non-originating materials and is not considered a good wholly obtained or produced entirely in a USMCA country under GN 11(b)(i). Moreover, under GN 11(b)(ii), the YARDMAX walk-behind lawn mower is not a good produced entirely in Mexico exclusively from originating materials. Therefore, we must next determine whether the non-originating materials undergo the tariff shift and satisfy other applicable requirements provided for in GN 11(b)(iii) and GN 11(o). The applicable tariff shift rule for merchandise classifiable under heading 8433.10 HTSUS, is in GN 11(o), HTSUS, which provides, in relevant part: A change to subheadings 8433.11 through 8433.60 from any other subheading, including another subheading within that group. Since all the Chinese-origin parts are classified outside of subheadings 8433.11 through 8433.60, HTSUS, the requisite tariff shift rule is met, and the finished YARDMAX walk-behind lawn mower is considered an originating good under the USMCA and eligible for preferential treatment. The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 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. 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; however, for a good of a NAFTA or USMCA country, the marking rules set forth in part 102 of this chapter (hereinafter referred to as the part 102 Rules) will determine the country of origin.” Pursuant to section 102.0, interim regulations, related to the marking rules, tariff-rate quotas, and other USMCA provisions, published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2021 (86 FR 35566), the rules set forth in §§ 102.1 through 102.18 and 102.20 determine the country of origin for marking purposes with respect to goods imported from Canada and Mexico. Section 102.11 provides a required hierarchy for determining the country of origin of a good for marking purposes, with the exception of textile goods which are subject to the provisions of 19 C.F.R. § 102.21. See 19 C.F.R. § 102.11. 19 CFR Part 102.11(a) provides that the country of origin of a good is the country in which: (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 set out in Part 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all other applicable requirements of these rules are satisfied. The YARDMAX walk-behind lawn mower is neither “wholly obtained or produced” nor “produced exclusively from domestic materials.” Therefore, paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) cannot be used to determine the country of origin of the lawn mower, and paragraph (a)(3) must be applied next to determine the origin of the finished article. The tariff shift requirement in Part 102.20 for the YARDMAX at issue states: A change to subheading 8433.11 through 8433.60 from any other subheading, including another subheading within that group. As we have established earlier, the “foreign” components are classified outside of subheadings 8433.11 through 8433.60, HTSUS. Therefore, the tariff shift is met and the country of origin of the YARDMAX walk-behind lawn mower will be Mexico for marking purposes. Please note, however, the merchandise in question may be subject to antidumping duties and countervailing duties (AD/CVD). Written decisions regarding the scope of AD/CVD orders are issued by the Enforcement and Compliance office in the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce and are separate from tariff classification and origin rulings issued by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). You can contact them at https://trade.gov/enforcement/ (click on “Contact Us”). For your information, you can view a list of current AD/CVD cases at the United States International Trade Commission webs

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 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. You should also be aware 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 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 Anthony E. Grossi at anthony.e.grossi@cbp.dhs.gov.Sincerely,Steven A. MackDirectorNational Commodity Specialist Division