CBP Calls Proposed Marking 'Misleading' in New York Ruling

A proposed label for retail packaged 12 VDC electric motors was rejected by CBP in a recent ruling letter for noncompliance with marking regulations. The proposed label, submitted by Tarping USA, is a decal placed directly onto the motor housing that displays a stylized “Imported by Tarping USA,” along with contact info and company information. Although the retail packaging is marked with “Made in China," Tarping questioned whether the decal would require an additional origin designation.

CBP found that the suggested decal could potentially be misleading because the decal incorporates a stylized “Imported by Tarping USA” in which the “USA” is large and backfilled with an American flag. CBP ruled that even when considering the inclusion of the “Imported by” on the label, the suggested decal would "mislead the ultimate purchaser as to the actual country of origin." Applying the proposed decal label to the motors would be inconsistent with the marking regulations and unacceptable.

The purpose of the marking requirements is to prevent the possibility of misleading or deceiving the ultimate purchaser of an article as to the actual origin of the imported good, CBP said. The agency told Tarping that in any future ruling requests the decal label must include the appropriate country of origin markings and they must appear legibly, permanently, in comparable size, and in close proximity to the “Tarping USA” name.