October 2023 — Question 60
Perky Juniper Inc. (PJ Inc.) submitted a purchase order to a pant manufacturer for 100 dozen women's woven cotton pajama pants. The manufacturer purchases cotton grown and harvested in the U.S. and sends the cotton to France to be spun into yarn. The yarn is shipped to Italy where it is woven into fabric. The fabric is sent to Belguim where it is tye-dyed. The tye-dye fabric goes to Spain where it is made into pajama pants and labelled. PJ Inc. imports the pajama pants into the U.S. What is the country of origin of the pajama pants?
- ABelgium
- BFrance
- CItaly
- DSpain✓ CBP's answer
Why this answer
The textile origin rules in the cited section apply in strict sequence, and under the paragraph CBP cited, a good that was not knit to shape and was wholly assembled in a single country takes its origin from that country. Every step of turning fabric into finished pajama pants happened in Spain, so Spain is the country of origin regardless of where the U.S.-grown cotton was spun, woven, or dyed. Italy tempts because fabric formation confers origin for some textile products, such as fabric itself, but that rule is never reached once the wholly-assembled rule resolves a garment, and dyeing alone in Belgium cannot confer origin on apparel. Watch for: Choosing the fabric-formation country when the wholly-assembled rule resolves apparel origin first.
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 October 2023 examination.
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