Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings May 15

May 16, 2023 by Ben Perkins|Customs Rulings

The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated May 15 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):

H322161: AFR of Protests Nos. 2301-20-100059 and 2301-20-100060; Actuator Cable Assembly; Origin; Section 301; Post Summary Corrections; Reliquidations; 19 U.S.C. § 1501

Ruling: (1) The final actuator cable assembly is a product of China for purposes of Section 301 measures. (2) The 190 entries covered by Protest No. 2301-20-100059 were properly and timely liquidated and/or reliquidated as products of China, and the protest should be DENIED. The reliquidation of the 12 entries covered by Protest No. 2301-20-100060 was untimely and voidable. Those 12 entries should be as liquidated in the initial liquidations as products of Mexico and the protest should be GRANTED.

Issues: (1) What is the origin for the subject actuator cable assembly for purposes of Section 301 measures? (2) Did CBP fail to reliquidate the 12 entries covered by Protest No. 2301-20-100060 within the 90-day statutory deadline for reliquidation?

Item: An actuator cable assembly of subheading 8501.10.60. It is a remotely powered electromechanical system featured in the second row seating of sports utility vehicles. The actuator assembly operates by having customers push a remote push-button, which sends an electric signal to a printed circuit board assembly (“PCBA”) to power up and instruct a motor to pull a cable with a specific amount of force to activate certain functions in the vehicle. The functions performed by the actuator assembly consist of changing the seating arrangement in a vehicle by folding a seat, tumbling a seat, and retracting the headrest of a seat.

Reason: (1) The instant Chinese motor does not lose its separate identity and undergo a change in its pre-determined use as a result of the assembly in Mexico. Since the assembly process in Mexico leaves the identity of the instant Chinese electric motor intact and the finished actuator assembly is an electrical motor with additional components, the finished actuator is not substantially transformed into a product of Mexico. (2) All 12 entries of Protest No. 2301-20-100060 were reliquidated more than 90 calendar days from the date of the original liquidations, and are therefore untimely and voidable.

Ruling Date: March 14, 2023