CBP Finds China Is Country of Origin for Surgical Tubing

The tariff shift rules for the U.S. free trade agreement with the Dominican Republic don't apply in questions of country of origin for government procurement purposes, CBP said in a ruling. Global Resources, the importer of insufflation tubing used to pump carbon dioxide gas during laproscopic surgery, requested a final determination from CBP on the country of origin. The tubing includes clear tubing, blue tubing, filter assembly and fittings, all from China.

The company argued that the tubing is a product of the Dominican Republic because it meets the tariff shift rules for CAFTA-DR. The tariff rule shift "is an incorrect analysis to apply to determine the country of origin for U.S. Government procurement purposes," CBP said. Instead, the country of origin for government procurement purposes is based on "substantial transformation," the agency said. While the tubing is "assembled, sterilized, packed, and labeled in the Dominican Republic," that's not enough to meet the "substantial transformation" test, it said.

All of the components come from China "and there is no evidence of a change in the shape or material composition of the components," CBP said. "The individual components do not lose their separate identities as a result of the assembly process in the Dominican Republic and do not undergo a change in their pre-determined uses," the agency said. As a result, the country of origin of the assembled insufflation tubing is China, CBP said.

(Federal Register 07/20/18)