CBP Finds Taiwan is Country of Origin for Digital Projectors

U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a final determination that the country of origin of certain digital projectors is Taiwan for purposes of U.S. government procurement. CBP concluded that the assembly and programming operations performed in Taiwan substantially transform the components of the projectors. The determination ran in the Federal Register June 12.

The final determination was issued at the request of Mastriani & Schaumberg LLP.

(CBP issues country of origin advisory rulings and final determinations on whether an article is or would be a product of a designated country or instrumentality for the purpose of granting waivers of certain "Buy American" restrictions in U.S. law or practice for products offered for sale to the U.S. government.)

Taiwanese & Chinese Components Assembled into Projectors in Taiwan

The subject merchandise is five models of digital projectors. One of the digital projectors uses light emitting diodes (LEDs) to project videos and images, while the other digital projectors are lamp based. While there are there are some distinctions among the five different versions of the digital projectors, these differences aren't relevant in determining their country of origin, said CBP.

First, components from Taiwan and China are assembled in China and shipped to Taiwan. In Taiwan, the imported components are inspected and assembled into a complete digital projector using miscellaneous Chinese components (screws, tape, etc.). The projector is then programmed with two types of firmware developed in Taiwan, and subjected to various tests. During the testing stage, the projector is loaded with Taiwanese-origin Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) firmware.

CBP Says Assembly & Programming Performed in Taiwan Create New Article

CBP notes that various Chinese and Taiwanese components are assembled in Taiwan to form a complete projector.

CBP said the assembly and the programming operations performed in Taiwan are sufficiently complex and meaningful to create new articles with a distinct name, character, and use. Accordingly, CBP finds the country of origin of the projectors is Taiwan because the assembly and programming performed in Taiwan substantially transform the components of the projector from China, a non-TAA country¹.

Any Party-at-Interest May Request Judicial Review by July 12

CBP said any party-at-interest, as defined in 19 CFR 177.22(d), may seek judicial review of a final determination by July 12. In addition, under 19 CFR 177.31, any party-at-interest other than the party which requested this final determination may request that CBP reexamine the matter anew and issue a new final determination.

¹This determination request was made pursuant to 19 CFR 177, which implements the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (TAA), to which Taiwan is a designated country and China is not. Under the TAA, the President may waive, in whole or in part, the application of any law, regulation, procedure, or practice regarding Government procurement that would, if applied to eligible foreign products and suppliers of such products, result in treatment less favorable than that accorded (1) to U.S. products and suppliers of such products; or (2) to eligible products of another foreign country which is a party to the TAA and suppliers of such products.

(FR Pub 06/12/12, HQ H193929)

(See ITT's Online Archives 11081105 for a similar country of origin determination CBP made on digital projectors).