U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final determination concerning the country of origin of a fitness performance tracker, which combines a wrist-worn device with a cloud-based analytics system, that may be offered to the U.S. government under undesignated government procurement contracts.
According to CBP, the manufacturing of the hardware of the device occurs in China, where the sensor, printed circuit board assembly, battery, and housing are assembled. The device does not function at the time of shipment from China but only after importation, when the proprietary communications software, file software, and battery pack communications firmware (all of which are developed and written in the U.S.) are programmed.
In ruling HQ H309761, CBP concludes that the incomplete device and the programming in the U.S. would not render it to be a product of a foreign country or instrumentality designated for purposes of U.S. government procurement.
Any party-at-interest may seek judicial review of this determination by Jan. 13. CBP issues country of origin advisory rulings and final determinations as to whether an article is or would be a product of a designated country or instrumentality for the purposes of granting waivers of certain “Buy American” restrictions in U.S. law or practice for products offered for sale to the U.S. government.
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