N324313

N324313 March 4, 2022 CLA-2-28:OT:RR:NC:N3:136 CATEGORY: Origin Sunghee Yeon EcoPro BM 100 2 Sandan-ro (Songdae-ri 329) Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, 28117 South Korea RE: The country of origin of Cathode Active Material Dear Ms. Yeon: In your letter dated February 14, 2022, you requested a country of origin determination for two scenarios. Each scenario involves different levels of production in different countries, related to the manufacturing steps described herein. Your country of origin questions are as follows: 1. Scenario 1: What is the country of origin of the imported Semi-Finished Good B when manufactured in South Korea and imported into the U.S.? 2. Scenario 2: What is the country of origin of the imported Finished Good when manufactured in South Korea and imported into the U.S.? In the steps leading up to the production of the Finished Good, multiple semi-finished goods are produced. The first step produces a precursor, Semi-Finished Good A, which is chemically reacted to produce a cathode active material in the second step, herein referred to as Semi-Finished Good B. The cathode active material is then doped in the third step, resulting in Semi-Finished Good C, and finally coated in the fourth step to form the Finished Good. The level of production and finishing of Semi-Finished Good A into the various semi-finished forms determines the overall performance and potential output of the Finished Good. Description of Goods: Raw Materials Major raw materials used in the production of Semi-Finished Goods A through C and the Finished Good include nickel sulfate (country of origin Australia), cobalt sulfate (country of origin China), manganese sulfate (country of origin China), sodium hydroxide (country of origin South Korea), lithium hydroxide (country of origin China or Chile), proprietary substance 1 (country of origin Japan), proprietary substance 2 (country of origin Germany), and proprietary substance 3 (country of origin China). Description of Goods: Semi-Finished Good A, B and C Semi-Finished Good A (precursor) is nickel cobalt manganese hydroxide in a black powder state, which is manufactured by reacting four different raw materials (nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate, manganese sulfate, sodium hydroxide) under a special manufacturing process. The result is a metal hydroxide composed of three metallic elements, which is also called a “precursor” in the commercial market. Semi-Finished Good B (cathode active material) is lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide in a black powder state, which is made by chemically reacting “Semi-Finished Good A” and lithium hydroxide under a special manufacturing process. The result is a mixed metal oxide composed of three metallic elements, which is also called a “cathode active material” in the commercial market. Semi-Finished Good C (doped-cathode active material) is doped-lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide in a black powder state, which is made by doping Semi-Finished Good B with proprietary doping elements under a special doping process where proprietary substances 1, 2, and 3 are added. Semi-Finished Good C is differentiated from Semi-Finished Good B as it is doped and therefore has superior product performance over Semi-Finished Good B. Specifically, the proprietary substance 1 doping element is used to increase discharge capacity, improve lifespan of the cathode active material, and improve capacity and retention rate under high voltage conditions. The proprietary substance 2 doping element is used to prevent the spread of lithium. Finally, the proprietary substance 3 doping element is used to increase charge and discharge capacity, and to control cation mixing. Semi-Finished Good C is also called “doped-cathode active material” in the commercial market. Description of Goods: Finished Good The Finished Good (coated and doped-cathode active material), is the core material used in electric vehicle batteries that determines the voltage, energy density, lifespan, and output. More specifically, the unique combination of nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co) and proprietary substance 2 determine the performance of each cell contained within the EV battery. The Finished Good is coated and doped-lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide in a black powder state, which is made by coating Semi-Finished Good C with propriety coating elements under a special coating process where proprietary substance 1, proprietary substance 2, and proprietary substance 3 are added. The coating process provides a heightened structural stability that uncoated products do not have. Manufacturing Process Manufacturing of the Finished Good is a four-step process where Semi-Finished Goods A, B, and C are produced in each successive step. In each step, a chemical reaction occurs that transforms the input chemicals into the single output chemical, which is either a semi-finished good or the Finished Good. Process 1: Four different raw materials (nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate, manganese sulfate, sodium hydroxide) are dissolved, and these solutions are mixed together. This combined solution is used to synthesize the precursor through a special manufacturing process involving a chemical reaction. After the precursor synthesis process, washing and dehydration processes are performed. Then, the product is dried, and a quality check is performed to eliminate defects. The resulting precursor in powder form, Semi-Finished Good A, is then de-ironed, evenly blended, and packaged. Final inspection is done after final packaging. Process 2: The precursor powder, Semi-Finished Good A, is mixed with lithium hydroxide and subjected to a firing process at high temperature. During the firing, the powder undergoes a chemical reaction which changes the input into cathode active material. It then goes through roll smashing and crushing processes, and then is filtered to remove defective product. The cathode active material, Semi-Finished Good B, is packaged and sold to the market or is put into the 3rd process. Process 3: The cathode active material, Semi-Finished Good B, is then combined with doping compounds and undergoes a chemical reaction during another firing at a high temperature. The new material that has undergone the doping and firing process, Semi-Finished Good C, is packaged and sold to the market as a doped cathode active material or is put into the 4th process. Process 4: This step is almost identical to Process 3, however, where Process 3 uses proprietary substance 1, proprietary substance 2, and proprietary substance 3 as doping compounds to produce Doped-Lithium Nickel Cobalt Manganese Oxide, Process 4 uses those same three input chemicals as coating compounds to chemically coat the doped output from Process 3 into the Finished Good, Doped & Coated-Lithium Nickel Cobalt Manganese Oxide. Country of Origin and Classification "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.” A substantial transformation occurs when an article emerges from a process with a new name, character or use different from that possessed by the article prior to processing. United States v. Gibson-Thomsen Co., Inc., 27 CCPA 267, C.A.D. 98 (1940); National Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 CIT 308 (1992), aff’d, 989 F. 2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993). However, if the manufacturing or combining process is merely a minor one that leaves the identity of the article intact, a substantial transformation has not occurred. Uniroyal, Inc. v. United States, 3 CIT 220, 542 F. Supp. 1026, 1029 (1982), aff’d, 702 F.2d 1022 (Fed. Cir. 1983). In this case, we find the above-described scenarios and manufacturing processes result in the following: Scena