May 30, 2007 CBP Bulletin Notice on Country of Origin of Certain Artist Canvas
In the May 30, 2007 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 41, No. 23), CBP published a notice proposing to modify a country of origin ruling and revoke a treatment as follows:
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Proposed modification of ruling; proposed revocation of treatment. CBP is proposing to modify a ruling on the country of origin of certain artist canvas. CBP is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
CBP states that any party who has received a contrary written ruling or decision on the merchandise that is subject to the proposed ruling modification, or any party involved with a substantially identical transaction, should advise CBP by June 29, 2007, the date that written comments on the proposed ruling are due. Furthermore, CBP states that an importer's failure to advise CBP of such rulings, decisions, or substantially identical transactions may raise issues of reasonable care on the part of the importer or its agent for importations subsequent to the effective date of the final decision in this notice.
In addition, CBP states that this notice covers any rulings on the subject merchandise that may exist but have not been specifically identified.
Artist canvas.The subject article is a prepared, framed artist canvas. The manufacturing process is as follows: In India the 100% fabric is woven from Indian yarn. The canvas is then primed with gesso to make the material suitable for painting. The primed canvas is shipped to China for further fabrication. In China the primed rolls of canvas are cut to the appropriate size. The cut canvas is then stretched over a wooden frame which is produced in China. The edges of the canvas are folded into a groove on the back of the frame and a spline is inserted to hold the stretched canvas in place. The canvas and spline are then stapled to hold them in place.
CBP is proposing to issue HQ H007440 in order to modify NY L89513 in order to change the country of origin determination. The classification of the merchandise remains unchanged.
In NY L89513, CBP determined that the country of origin for the subject artist canvas was India, pursuant to 19 CFR 02.21 (c) (4). Based on review and analysis of the manufacturing process and the requirements of 19 CFR 102.21 (c) (3), CBP now determines that the appropriate country of origin designation should be China.
Subsection (c)(3)(ii) identifies the country of origin for goods which are ''wholly assembled'' in a single country. The term ''wholly assembled'' when used with reference to a good means that all components preexisted in essentially the same condition as found in the finished good and were combined to form the finished good in a single country.
Applying this test, CBP finds that the component pieces - the canvas and the wooden frame - preexisted in essentially the same condition as found in the finished goods. Prior to assembly, the canvas was primed, cut and stretched and the wooden frame was fully formed. If disassembled, the component pieces would consist of a primed, cut and stretched piece of canvas, and a fully formed wooden frame.
As a result, the subject article meets the definition of "wholly assembled," and the country of origin may be determined as China according to (c) (3).
(Note that the general rules set forth in 19 CFR 102.21(c)(1) through (5) must be applied sequentially.)
May 30, 2007 CBP Bulletin (Vol. 41, No.23) available athttp://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/legal/bulletins_decisions/bulletins_2007/