CBP Further Clarifies Origin of Electric Motors, Finds Stator Gives Essential Character

A newly issued CBP ruling further clarifies how the agency determines country of origin for electric motors. After having recently found that the stator and the rotor are the “most essential components” of an electric motor and, under a substantial transformation analysis, determine the country of origin (see 2104210041), the agency on April 22 issued another ruling that considered motors where the rotor and stator were made in different countries, and found the stator assembly controlling.

In HQ H314638, CBP examined several production scenarios for electric motors made by Adient Yanfeng Seating Mechanism Co., Ltd. While in most scenarios, the rotor and stator, or at least the rotor and stator cores, were made in the same country, CBP confronted one where the complete rotor assembly was of Chinese origin, and the stator assembly was of Vietnamese origin. The two assemblies were then combined in Vietnam with other components to produce a finished electric motor.

“The stator and the rotor impart the essential character of the motor,” CBP said. “However, the stator is arguably the more fundamental component of a motor. The stator consists of the frame, the core, and the windings, which are more complex than the rotor windings. The stator serves as the stationary base of the rotor and plays a crucial role in producing the physical rotation of the rotor. The stator produces the magnetic field, and the rotor interacts with that field,” it said.

“Furthermore, even if the rotor and stator are considered to be viewed equally important, the assembly in scenario 2, although not exceedingly complex, occurs in Vietnam, which is the last country of production prior to importation into the United States,” CBP said, finding the motor of Vietnamese origin and not subject to Section 301 duties that would have applied had it been Chinese.