CBP Finds Origin of Woodworking Clamps Based on Clamp Heads

The country of origin for pipe clamps and bar clamps depends on where the clamp heads that hold things in place are made, CBP said in a Sept. 11, 2020, ruling. The recently released ruling was requested by a lawyer at Sonnenberg & Cunningham on behalf of Great Star Industrial USA. The pipe clamps are imported without a pipe, which is supplied by the user, while the bar clamps are imported already mounted on a steel bar.

Both types of clamps are used in woodworking for holding wood together for gluing or screwing, CBP said. “The actual parts of the clamps that perform the function of holding the pieces of wood together are the clamp heads,” the agency said. “The two clamp heads grasp the pieces of wood and press upon them to keep them in place until they permanently fasten together.” Aluminum is molded into the clamp heads in Vietnam, CBP said.

The other components of the bar clamps “are the horizontal metal bar and the disc clutch which are made in China,” it said. “These components serve as a means to adjust the heads into the desired position and maintain pressure.” The Chinese parts of the bar clamps don't “perform that basic function of the clamps,” which is also true of the pipe clamps, it said. “Thus in our opinion, the Vietnamese made heads impart the essence of the finished clamps.”

The assembly operations in China involving the Vietnamese clamp heads don't result in a “name, character, and use,” CBP said. When produced in Vietnam, the clamp heads “have a pre-determined use in the production of bar or pipe clamps and they do not have any other function,” CBP said. “Therefore, in our judgment the origin of the clamp heads dictates the origin of the finished bar and pipe clamps, and thus we find that the Vietnamese heads are not substantially transformed by the processing performed in China to make the finished clamps.” CBP said the country of origin of the pipe clamps and bar clamps is Vietnam for marking and duty purposes.