Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings for May 4
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated May 4 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
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H315287: Country of origin marking and tariff applicability under HTSUS 9903.88.01 of a centrifugal water cooling pump manufactured in Mexico
| Marking: Mexico |
| Section 301: Country of origin Mexico, does not apply. |
| Item: A centrifugal pump with an internal permanent magnetic direct current motor (“centrifugal pump” or “pump”), used as a cooling pump for the battery pack in Hybrid or all-electric passenger automobiles. The pump is not used to cool internal combustion engines. The components used to manufacture the pumps originate from China, Serbia and various other third-party countries. At a factory in Mexico, approximately 27 unique components are manufactured into subassemblies for a brushless DC motor, including a stator, rotor and housing subassemblies. The subassemblies are then combined to assemble a finished centrifugal pump. |
| Reason: The relevant 19 CFR 102 tariff shift rule requires a shift to subheading 8413.70 from any other subheading outside of 8413.11 through 8413.82. None of the components used to produce the centrifugal cooling pump are classified in subheadings 8413.11 through 8413.82, so the components all undergo the required tariff shift. The manufacturing process is complex and the process involves stamping, which includes the production of the stator subassembly by forming the stator laminations using a stamping process. The discrete parts are substantially transformed when they are created and combined to form a finished centrifugal cooling pump in Mexico. |
| Ruling Date: April 21, 2021 |
H316278: Tariff Classification and USMCA Eligibility of Social Distancing Wristband
| HTS: 8517.62.0090, free, "Telephone sets, including telephones for cellular networks or other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images, or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network), other than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527, or 8528; parts thereof: Other apparatus for transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network): machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, including switching and routing apparatus: Other.” |
| FTA: Not eligible for USMCA. |
| Item: A wrist-worn band that is designed to facilitate Covid-19 safety in offices, manufacturing facilities, and other job sites. The device incorporates a Bluetooth transceiver and a unique identifying number that is used to detect, alert, and report interactions between individuals wearing the wristband. The device has two primary functions: the first is to vibrate any time that the wearer comes within six feet of another person wearing the device, which serves to remind staff of the need to maintain social distance. The second is to record and report each time that users come into close contact. The resulting proximity logs allow organizations to create contact tracing lists to ascertain which workers might need testing and quarantine in the event of a Covid-19 exposure. The final product will be based on a fully functional Chinese-origin fitness wristband. In Canada, the existing software will be removed from the device and new software installed, which will allow the device to function as a social distancing wristband. |
| Reason: The device is relying on its Bluetooth transceiver to detect the presence of other Bluetooth transceivers incorporated into other wristbands at the specified proximity. Despite the programming, no new good was produced, and the Chinese fitness tracker has the same tariff classification as the finished social distancing wristband, so no tariff shift rule is satisfied. |
| Ruling Date: March 25, 2021 |
H316006: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 0401-20-101543; Section 301; Country of origin of Norway lobster tails
| Origin: U.K. |
| Item: Norway lobsters that are trawl-caught and tailed onboard vessels registered in Great Britain. The lobster tails are landed at ports in Scotland and transported by refrigerated trucks to processing plants in Scotland, where they are washed, graded, individually quick frozen, weighed, packed, passed through metal detectors, and placed into cold storage. The lobster tails with the shell on are then shipped to China for additional processing, including thawing, de-shelling, de-veining, vacuum tumbling, freezing, grading, glazing, refreezing, packaging in plastic bags, passing through metal detectors, and packing into cartons. |
| Reason: The subject merchandise does not emerge from the processing in China as an entirely new product than the product from Great Britain. The Norway lobster tails were originally a product of Great Britain because the lobster was caught and processed into lobster tails onboard vessels registered in Great Britain. These lobster tails were subsequently shipped to China where the frozen tails were thawed, de-shelled, de-veined, vacuum tumbled, placed on trays, frozen, graded, glazed, refrozen, and packed. The removal of the shell in China and subsequent deveining do not substantially transform the lobster tail because both before and after the shelling and deveining, the subject products are essentially the same and remain frozen lobster tails. Additionally, the uncooked and unpasteurized lobster tail is packaged to still resemble a complete lobster tail and is not ready to eat. |
| Ruling Date: March 2, 2021 |