H339849

H339849 September 16, 2024 OT:RR:CTF:VS H339849 AMW CATEGORY: Origin Ms. Annelori Roder Littelfuse, Inc. 8755 West Higgins Road Suite 500 Chicago, IL 60631 RE: Electrical Contactor; United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement; Regional Value Content; De Minimis Dear Ms. Roder: This is in response to your June 7, 2024, ruling request on behalf of Littelfuse Inc. (“Littelfuse”), in which you request a ruling concerning the eligibility of certain electrical contactors for preferential tariff treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”). Your request, submitted as an electronic ruling request, was forwarded to this office from the National Commodity Specialist Division (“NCSD”) for review. Our ruling is set forth below. FACTS: The following facts are based on your June 7, 2024, ruling request as well as follow-up information submitted to this office on August 7, 2024, August 8, 2024, August 12, 2024, August 16, 2024, August 27, 2024, and September 11, 2024. The merchandise at issue consists of electric contactors. According to Littelfuse’s website, the contactors function as on/off switches controlled by thermostats, pushbuttons, and manual interfaces.1 The subject contactors belong to a family of contractors identified by product numbers holding prefixes of “HCC” followed by a sequence that identify the contactor as a one, two, or three pole contactor as well as the voltage. The contactor subject to this request is model HCC3XU04CG. According to your request, and confirmed by the NCSD, the subject contactor is classified under subheading 8536.49.00, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), which provides for, “Electrical apparatus for switching or protecting electrical circuits, or for making connections to or in electrical circuits (for example, switches, relays, 1 See Contactors, available at https://www.littelfuse.com/products/contactors.aspx (accessed Aug. 19, 2024). fuses, surge suppressors, plugs, sockets, lamp-holders and other connectors, junction boxes), for a voltage not exceeding 1,000 V; connectors for optical fibers, optical fiber bundles or cables: Relays: Other.” The subject contactor is assembled at a facility in Matamoros, Mexico owned by Productos Electromecanicos BAC, S. DE R.L. DE C.V. (the “Mexico facility”), which is a related party to Littelfuse. The contactor is comprised of various originating components as well as non-originating components purchased from unrelated manufacturers located in China and India. A costed bill of materials (“BOM”) provided in your request indicates the components incorporated into the finished contactor include the following: Component HTSUS Country of Price Description Classification Origin SCREW, #4-24 7318.14.1060 IN [ ] Zinc plated steel 7318.14.1060 IN [ ] phillips head screw LUG, 40 AMP 7210.12.0000 CN [ ] Flat Filler 4819.40.5060 MX [ ] Cardboard 4819.40.5060 MX [ ] Partitioned Filler CONTACT 7409.40.0000 CN [ ] COVER, 3 POLE, 8538.90.6000 CN [ ] NC STYLE BASE, 3 POLE 8538.90.6000 CN [ ] 20-40 AMP 3 POLE 8538.90.6000 CN [ ] ACTUATOR RUBBER PAD, 3 4016.99.6050 IN [ ] POLE 20-40 AMP TERMINAL, 3 & 8536.90.8585 CN [ ] 4 POLE LUG STYLE LUG SCREW, 20- 7318.14.1060 IN [ ] 40 BRIDGESPRING 7320.20.5060 IN [ ] E-LAM ASSY, 3P 7326.90.8688 CN [ ] 20/40 COILSHIELD 8538.90.6000 CN [ ] MOUNTING 7905.00.0000 CN [ ] PLATE, 3 POLE 20-40 AMP 3P RETURN 7320.20.5060 IN [ ] SPRING SPRING CLIP 8302.30.6000 IN [ ] 2 BRIDGE, 3P & 7419.20.0050 CN [ ] 4P, 20-40 AMP Label 4821.90.2000 MX [ ] Master Box Label 4821.90.2000 US [ ] BOBBIN, 3 POLE 3926.90.9985 CN [ ] 20-40 AMP COIL 8536.90.8585 CN [ ] TERMINAL RIGHT COIL 8536.90.8585 CN [ ] TERMINAL LEFT Copper AWG 26.5 8544.11.0020 MX [ ] Magnet Wire Master box 4819.10.0040 MX [ ] Labor rate – per MX [ ] unit Overhead – per MX [ ] unit As outlined in the chart, the total cost per unit of each contactor is $6.3659. The net cost per unit, which excludes the packing and shipping costs in bolded text, is $5.4338. Once finished, the subject contactors will be placed in corrugated boxes based on order quantities and shipped to purchasers in various countries, including the United States. Throughout the ruling process, Littelfuse provided to CBP various product descriptions and BOMs that contained different and, at times, conflicting information. For example, in an earlier iteration of the BOM, the per-unit cost of the “screw, #4-24” was listed as $0.0022, but a later iteration of the BOM reported the component’s per-unit cost to be $0.265. Littelfuse explained this discrepancy by stating that the sourcing costs of certain components had changed during the period between generating the earlier and more recent versions of the BOM. In addition, Littelfuse’s initial ruling request reported that the subject contactor would incorporate certain components that were not in fact reflected in the BOM. Littelfuse reported that this discrepancy was the result of a clerical error and that the BOM, excerpted above, contains the complete and final list of all components. As a result, we note that this ruling relates exclusively to contactor units comprised of the above components, with the same component costs listed above. This ruling is not applicable to any units imported by Littelfuse that have different pricing or component profiles. ISSUE: Whether contactor model HCC3XU04CG is eligible for preferential tariff treatment under the USMCA when imported from Mexico into the United States. 3 LAW AND ANALYSIS: 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 states, in relevant part: … (b) 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- (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 from originating materials; (iii) 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)); or … Here, the subject contactors contain non-originating materials. As such, they are not considered goods wholly obtained or produced entirely in a USMCA country under GN 11(b)(i) and 11(b)(ii). Thus, we must determine whether the contactors qualify under GN 11(b)(iii). As noted above, the NCSD has determined that the applicable subheading for the contactors is 8536.49.00, HTSUS. The applicable rule of origin for merchandise under heading 8536.49, HTSUS, is in GN 11(o)/85(83), which provides: (A) A change to subheadings 8536.41 through 8536.49 from any other heading, except from tariff items 8538.90.10, 8538.90.30 or 8538.90.60; or (B) A change to subheadings 8536.41 to 8536.49 from tariff items 8538.90.10, 8538.90.30 or 8538.90.60, whether or not there is also a change from any other heading, provided there is a regional value content of not less than: (1) 60 percent where the transaction value method is used; or (2) 50 percent where the net cost method is used. According to the costed BOM, a majority of components utilized in the subject contactors are non-originating, including four which you have classified in subheading 8538.90.60, HTSUS. 4 Considering four components are classified under 8538.90.60, the tariff shi

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 states, in relevant part: … (b) 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- (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 from originating materials; (iii) 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)); or … Here, the subject contactors contain non-originating materials. As such, they are not considered goods wholly obtained or produced entirely in a USMCA country under GN 11(b)(i) and 11(b)(ii). Thus, we must determine whether the contactors qualify under GN 11(b)(iii). As noted above, the NCSD has determined that the applicable subheading for the contactors is 8536.49.00, HTSUS. The applicable rule of origin for merchandise under heading 8536.49, HTSUS, is in GN 11(o)/85(83), which provides: (A) A change to subheadings 8536.41 through 8536.49 from any other heading, except from tariff items 8538.90.10, 8538.90.30 or 8538.90.60; or (B) A change to subheadings 8536.41 to 8536.49 from tariff items 8538.90.10, 8538.90.30 or 8538.90.6