Origin of Foil Rolled and Annealed in Germany From Chinese Aluminum Is German, CBP Says

Aluminum foil cold-rolled and annealed in Germany from Chinese “foilstock” is of German origin for customs country of origin purposes, CBP said in a recent ruling. The annealing process necessary to make the foil flexible again following the rolling operation substantially transforms the foil into a much weaker but more flexible material with the character and use of aluminum foil, CBP said in HQ 302201, issued April 6.

Amcor Flexibles requested the ruling on the foil, which it imports into the U.S. from Germany. In Germany, the Chinese origin foilstock undergoes an intermediate annealing process to soften it, before it is cold-rolled to the desired thickness. The rolling process again hardens the foil, so a second annealing process is then carried out, softening the metal and removing lubricating oils left on the foil as a result of the rolling process. “This finished bare aluminum foil may be shipped to the United States or further processed (converted) by coating, lacquering, or laminating,” CBP said.

The Court of International Trade has ruled that “the process of annealing steel -- whereby the ductility of an article of steel is restored after cold rolling operations by heating the steel to a high temperature, then rapidly cooling the article with water or by other means -- substantially transformed articles of cold rolled steel,” CBP said. The court “found that strength and ductility constituted important characteristics of steel and that annealing significantly affected the character of an article of steel by dedicating the article to uses compatible with the strength and ductility of the steel imparted by the annealing process,” the agency said.

CBP found Amcor’s aluminum foil is substantially transformed in Germany for the same reasons. The process of rolling and annealing “alters the physical and mechanical characteristics of the foilstock, the raw material used to produce aluminum foil, and completely changes it into a different and significantly more expensive product,” it said. “The recrystallization annealing process in this case causes a reconfiguration of the atomic structure of the foil, further changing its mechanical properties, and resulting in a product with unique, specifically tailored characteristics,” CBP said.

“We find that the complex, costly, and time-consuming cold rolling and recrystallization annealing operations, performed in Germany, substantially transformed foilstock into aluminum foil -- a new, significantly more valuable, product with a different name, character and use. Therefore, for marking purposes, the country of origin of the aluminum foil at issue is Germany,” CBP said.