CBP: US Is Country of Origin for Unifyia Platform Software
The U.S. is the country of origin for platform software manufactured by Unifyia, according to a May 15 final determination announced via notice set for publication in the Federal Register.
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According to the ruling, HQ H342822, which is not yet in the customs ruling database, the software provides identity and credential management and high assurance authentication solutions for the U.S. government.
The software is built using a four-step process with help from a subsidiary in India. Those four steps consist of: (1) design and engineering efforts conducted by the Unifyia team in the U.S.; (2) source code development by the Unifyia team in India; (3) the compilation of source code into executable object code by the same team in the U.S.; and (4) securing the finished software in storage on Amazon Web Services for deployment to government customers.
In reviewing the case, CBP said it has consistently held that, when conducting a software build, compiling source code into object code results in a substantial transformation.
In this situation, "the writing of source code in India (and the United States) involves the creation of computer instructions in a high level human readable language, whereas the software build performed in the United States involves the compilation of those instructions into a format that computers can execute," CBP said.
"Based on the information provided, and consistent with the rulings cited above, we find that as a result of the software build that occurs when the source code is transformed into executable code when moved through either of the two U.S.-based platforms, Bitbucket Pipeline or the U.S.-based server, the last substantial transformation occurs in the United States," CBP continued. "Through this process, the character changes from computer code to finished software, and the use changes from instructions to an executable program. Therefore, Unifyia’s software is not a product of a foreign country or instrumentality."