Court Addresses “Substantial Transformation” Standard for Country of Origin Under the Trade Agreements Act

In Energizer Battery, Inc. v. United States, the US Court of International Trade (CIT) recently addressed “substantial transformation” for purposes of determining country of origin (COO) for US government procurement purposes under the Trade Agreements Act (TAA). This is a case of first impression for the CIT, which has jurisdiction to review Customs and Border Protection determinations of COO for government procurement purposes under the TAA. Among other things, the CIT looked to judicial decisions…