H333319

HQ H333319 May 15, 2024 OT:RR:CTF:VS H333319 AP CATEGORY: Origin William Baldwin, Partner Cassidy Levy Kent USA (LLP) 900 19th St., N.W. Fourth Floor Washington, D.C. 20006 RE: Food Waste Disposers; Origin; Section 301 trade remedy Dear Mr. Baldwin: This is in response to your June 16, 2023 ruling request, on behalf of Whirlpool Corporation (“importer”), regarding the country of origin of four food waste disposers, which will be manufactured in Mexico and imported into the United States, for purposes of Section 301 measures. The importer has asked that certain information submitted in connection with this ruling be treated as confidential. Inasmuch as this request conforms to the requirements of 19 C.F.R. § 177.2(b)(7), the request for confidentiality is approved. The information contained in the attachments to the ruling request and the video, forwarded to our office, will not be released to the public and will be withheld from published versions of this ruling. FACTS: The subject food waste disposers of subheading 8509.80.20, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) will be electrically powered. The disposers will incorporate an electric motor housed in a plastic chamber and a leak-proof seal connected to a kitchen sink trap enabling shredded waste to be discharged down the sink’s drain. All four models will be manufactured in Mexico using Mexican, U.S., and Chinese-origin component parts. There will be 34 unique purchase parts (14 sourced from the United States, 12 from Mexico, and 8 from China) required for the food waste disposer unit assembly. Depending on the specific model, approximately 45-49 percent of the cost of the finished disposers will be provided by Chinese-origin components. The China-origin component parts will include the motor, four through bolts, container body seal, mounting gasket with baffle, two rivets, two tailpipe screws, and power cord. The Chinese motor will consist of a Chinese upper end bell containing a Chinese bearing, a U.S. slinger, a U.S. sleeve, a Chinese seal, a Chinese lower end frame, a Chinese crimp connector, and a Mexican motor cover. The motors used in SKU Nos. 80499A-ISE and 80500A-ISE models will include a Chinese power cord designed to plug into an electrical outlet. SKU Nos. 80499-ISE and 80500A-ISE will be wired directly into a building’s electrical system without a power cord. The mounting gasket with baffle serves to help prevent leakage between the U.S. mounting subassembly and U.S. body flange. It will act as a shield intended to prevent liquid and solids from escaping the shredding chamber and spraying into the sink while the disposer is in operation. Two Chinese rivets will connect the U.S. lugs to the rotating U.S. shredder plate of the Mexican shredder subassembly. Approximately 29-31 percent of the cost of the finished disposers will be provided by Mexican-origin manufactured components and assembly costs. The Mexico-origin component parts will include the container body/shredding chamber, motor cover, and rotating shredder subassembly. The container body/shredding chamber will connect with the body flange and mounting subassembly, and will incorporate a dishwasher drain and plug to facilitate connection to a dishwasher. The motor cover will house the motor. The container body and motor cover will be manufactured in Mexico via a plastic injection molding process. During this process, high-strength performance plastic resin will be melted and fed into a mold that will hold the plastic and allow it to cool and form into the container body and motor cover. When installed, the container body and the U.S.-origin mounting subassembly will allow food waste and water to enter into the disposer to begin the shredding process. The shredder subassembly made in Mexico and the stationary shredder ring made in the United States will perform the disposer’s function to shred food waste. The shredder subassembly will press food waste collected in the shredding chamber toward the stationary shredder ring allowing it to flow through the disposal to the drainpipe subassembly. With respect to the Mexican rotating shredder subassembly, the shredder plate and metal lugs will be fabricated in the United States from flattened steel coil and two rivets formed in China through a high-speed cold heading process. The U.S. shredder plate will help push food waste in the Mexican shredding chamber toward the U.S. stationary shredder ring. The U.S. lugs and Chinese rivets will be connected to the U.S. shredder plate. Approximately 22-24 percent of the cost of the finished disposers will be provided by U.S.-origin parts, which will include the mounting subassembly, drainage subassembly, body flange, plastic stopper, sealant, and stationary shredder ring. The mounting subassembly, composed of a sink flange, mounting screws, mounting flange and retaining ring, will enable the disposer to be attached to the kitchen sink with a leak-free connection. You explain that the sink flange and retaining ring will be manufactured in the United States from U.S.-origin steel. Following quality testing, the mounting subassembly will be shipped to Mexico for assembly into the finished disposer. The drainage subassembly consists of a tailpipe, tailpipe gasket, and tailpipe connectors. The body flange will connect the disposer’s container body to the mounting subassembly. The plastic stopper will stop liquid from exiting the sink through the drain hole. The stationary shredder ring will be fabricated in the United States from flattened steel coil. The assembly operation in Mexico will consist of ten distinct steps, which will include processes such as molding of plastic parts, pressing, fastening, screwdriving through the use of complex tools, and extensive testing with complex tools and equipment. During the assembly operation, the rotating shredder plate subassembly will be attached to the shaft of the Chinese motor to form a subassembly. The motor and rotating shredder plate subassembly will be inserted into the Mexican motor cover. The Mexican stationary shredder will be attached and incorporated with the Mexican container body. The rotating shredder, motor subassembly, container body, and stationary shredder subassembly will be assembled together to create a third subassembly, which will be vacuum, leak, and electrical tested to ensure quality, safety, and performance prior to final assembly processes. Next, the U.S. body flange and U.S. mounting subassembly will be assembled together. Finally, the U.S. mounting subassembly, the fully tested and quality assured container body/stationary shredder subassembly, motor/rotating shredding subassembly, and U.S. plumbing (tailpipe) kit will be assembled together to create the finished food waste disposer. Product and safety tests will be completed. ISSUE: What is the origin of the food waste disposers as described for purposes of Section 301 trade remedies? LAW AND ANALYSIS: The United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) has determined that an additional ad valorem duty of 25 percent will be imposed on certain Chinese imports pursuant to its authority under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Section 301 measures”). The Section 301 measures apply to products of China enumerated in Section XXII, Chapter 99, Subchapter III, U.S. Note 20(f), HTSUS. Among the subheadings listed in U.S. Note 20(f) of Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS, is 8509.80.20, HTSUS. When determining the country of origin for purposes of applying current trade remedies under Section 301, the substantial transformation analysis is applicable. 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). The substantial transformation determination is based on the totality of the

The United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) has determined that an additional ad valorem duty of 25 percent will be imposed on certain Chinese imports pursuant to its authority under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Section 301 measures”). The Section 301 measures apply to products of China enumerated in Section XXII, Chapter 99, Subchapter III, U.S. Note 20(f), HTSUS. Among the subheadings listed in U.S. Note 20(f) of Subchapter III, Chapter 99, HTSUS, is 8509.80.20, HTSUS.When determining the country of origin for purposes of applying current trade remedies under Section 301, the substantial transformation analysis is applicable. 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). The substantial transformation determination is based on the totality of the evidence. See Nat’l Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 CIT 308 (1992), aff’d, 989 F.2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993).In deciding whether the combining of parts or materials constitutes a substantial transformation, the determinative issue is the extent of operations performed and whether the parts lose their identity and become an integral part of the new article. See Energizer Battery, Inc. v. United States, 190 F. Supp. 3d 1308 (CIT 2016) (the assembly of the partially assembled lens head and remaining components into a flashlight constituted a “fitting together of parts,” the components were “imported with a pre-determined end-use and arrive[d] ready for assembly” and the process was “not sufficiently complex to give rise to a substantial transformation.”). Assembly operations that are minimal or simple, as opposed to complex or meaningful, will generally not result in a substantial transformation.Factors which may be relevant in this evaluation may include the nature