April 2018 — Question 77
Which item is listed on the j-list?
- ABundles of red-cedar shingles
- BFinished Leather
- CSnelled Fish Hooks
- DBarbed Wire
- ESponges Category XIV – Power of Attorney✓ CBP's answer
Why this answer
The J-list in 19 CFR 134.33 names classes of articles excepted from individual country of origin marking, and sponges appear on it without qualification. Every distractor is drawn from a J-list entry's own carve-out, which is what makes them dangerous: the list covers bundles of wood shingles except bundles of red-cedar shingles, leather except finished leather, fish hooks except snelled fish hooks, and wire except barbed wire. Each wrong option therefore names precisely the article the list excludes from its exception. Reading the entries while skipping their parenthetical exclusions is the exact mistake this question is built to punish. Watch for: Remembering the J-list headwords but not the parenthetical carve-outs that exclude each distractor.
Original CBLE Simulator explanation — the question and key above are CBP's; this analysis is ours. Verify against the current edition before relying on it in practice.
CBP's cited authority
Answer and citations as published in CBP's official answer key for the April 2018 examination.
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