(a) Fabricated components, the product of the United States. Except as provided in § 10.15, the exemption provided under subheading 9802.00.80, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) (19 U.S.C. 1202), applies to fabricated components, the product of the United States. The components must be in condition ready for assembly without further fabrication at the time of their exportation from the United States to qualify for the exemption. Components will not lose their entitlement to the exemption by being subjected to operations incidental to the assembly either before, during, or after their assembly with other components. Materials undefined in final dimensions and shapes, which are cut into specific shapes or patterns abroad are not considered fabricated components.
Articles identifiable in their exported condition as components or parts of the article into which they will be assembled, such as transistors, diodes, integrated circuits, machinery parts, or precut parts of wearing apparel, are regarded as fabricated components.
Prestamped metal lead frames for semiconductor devices exported in multiple unit strips in which the individual frame units are connected to each other, or integrated circuit wafers containing individual integrated circuit dice which have been scribed or scored in the United States, are regarded as fabricated components. The separation of the individual frames by cutting, or the segmentation of the wafer into individual dice by flexing and breaking along scribed or scored lines, is regarded as an operation incidental to the assembly process.
Wires of various type, electrical conductors, metal foils, insulating tapes, ribbons, findings used in dressmaking, and similar products, which are in a finished state when exported from the United States, and are ready for use in the assembly of the imported article, are regarded as fabricated components if they are only cut to length or subjected to operations incidental to the assembly process while abroad.
Uncut textile fabrics exported in bolts from which wearing apparel components will be cut according to a pattern are not regarded as fabricated components. Similarly, other materials, such as lumber, leather, sheet metal, plastic sheeting, exported in basic shapes and forms to be fabricated into components for assembly, are not eligible for treatment as fabricated components.
(b) Substantial transformation of foreign-made articles or materials. Foreign-made articles or materials may become products of the United States if they undergo a process of manufacture in the United States which results in their substantial transformation. Substantial transformation occurs when, as a result of manufacturing processes, a new and different article emerges, having a distinctive name, character, or use, which is different from that originally possessed by the article or material before being subject to the manufacturing process. The mere finishing or modification of a partially or nearly complete foreign product in the United States will not result in the substantial transformation of such product and it remains the product of a foreign country.
A cast metal housing for a valve is made in the United States from imported copper ingots, the product of a foreign country. The housing is a product of the United States because the manufacturing operations performed in the United States to produce the housing resulted in a substantial transformation of the foreign copper ingots.
An integrated circuit device is assembled in a foreign country and imported into the United States where its leads are formed by bending them to a specified angle. It is then tested and marked. The imported article does not become a product of the United States because the operations performed in the United States do not result in a substantial transformation of the foreign integrated circuit device.
A circuit board assembly for a computer is assembled in the United States by soldering American-made and foreign-made components onto an American-made printed circuit board. The finished circuit board assembly has a distinct electronic function and is ready for incorporation into the computer. The foreign-made components have undergone a substantial transformation by becoming permanent parts of the circuit board assembly. The circuit board assembly, including all of its parts is regarded as a fabricated component, the product of the United States, for purposes of subheading 9802.00.80, HTSUS (19 U.S.C. 1202).
[T.D. 75-230, 40 FR 43022, Sept. 18, 1975, as amended by T.D. 89-1, 53 FR 51247, Dec. 21, 1988]