CBP Finds Section 301 Tariffs Don't Apply to Mattress Base Assembled in Vietnam
Mattress bases largely sourced from China but assembled in Vietnam undergo a substantial transformation and are not subject to the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, CBP said in an Oct. 30 ruling. The ruling, NY N306524, came in response to a request from lawyer George Tuttle on behalf of Ergomotion. The company asked CBP to confirm that the mattress bases are “country of origin Vietnam, and not subject to China Section 301 duties," CBP said.
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The mattress base "incorporates the characteristics of a bed foundation and sits directly on the ground via legs and is the platform for a mattress which sits atop the foundation." The base uses electricity to move it into multiple positions, the company said. The components come from both China and Vietnam and are assembled in Vietnam. "In Vietnam, nearly 300 individual components and materials are assembled by general assemblers, production engineers, and quality assurance workers to product design specifications," Ergomotion said.
A “'complex or meaningful' assembly operation may result in a substantial transformation while a 'minimal, simple, assembly-type operation' ordinarily will not," CBP said. "The term 'simple assembly' is defined in 19 CFR 102.1(o) as 'the fitting together of five or fewer parts all of which are foreign (excluding fasteners such as screws, bolts, etc.) by bolting, gluing, soldering, sewing or by other means without more than minor processing.'"
The adjustable mattress base assembly includes "a combination of wood, glue, fabrics, steel weldments, fasteners, electronic motors, and a control system so that the sum of the parts transform into a piece of electro-mechanical motion furniture," CBP said. "The major assemblies and their components are manufactured to an extent that none of the individual components alone can perform the mattress adjustability function."
As a result, "the foreign Chinese components and the domestic Vietnamese material components lose their identity during manufacture in Vietnam and undergo a substantial transformation, thereby, taking on a new name, character, and identity," CBP said. "In view of these facts, the country of origin for the mechanically adjustable bed foundation is conferred in Vietnam," and the Section 301 tariffis don't apply, the agency said.