Pub. L. 102-388, tit. III, sec. 355

Sec. 355. The Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act is amended by adding at the end of title II thereof the following: “labeling requirements for automobiles “Sec. 210. (a) Short Title.—This section may be cited as the ‘American Automobile Labeling Act’. “(b) Label Requirement.—(1) Each manufacturer of a new passenger motor vehicle distributed in commerce for sale in the United States shall annually establish for each model year and cause to be affixed, and each dealer shall cause to be maintained, on each such vehicle manufactured on or after October 1, 1994, in a prominent place, one or more labels— “(A) indicating the percentage (by value) of passenger motor vehicle equipment installed on such vehicle within a carline which originated in the United States and Canada to be identified with the words ‘U.S./Canadian content’; “(B) indicating the final assembly point by city, State (where appropriate), and country of such automobile; “(C) in the case of any country (other than the United States and Canada) in which 15 percent or more (by value) of equipment installed on passenger motor vehicles within a carline originated, indicating the names of at least the 2 countries in which the greatest amount (by value) of such equipment originated and the percentage (by value) of the equipment originating in each such country; “(D) indicating the country of origin of the engine for each passenger motor vehicle; and “(E) indicating the country of origin of the transmission for each passenger motor vehicle; “(2) The percentages required to be indicated by this section may be rounded to the nearest 5 percent by the manufacturers. Such percentage shall be established at the beginning of each model year for such carline and shall be applicable to that carline for the entire model year. “(3) The disclosure requirement of subparagraph (1)(B) of this section supersedes the disclosure requirement of section 3(b) of the Automobile Information Disclosure Act (15 U.S.C. 1232(b)). A manufacturer who indicates the final assembly point as required by this section shall be deemed to have satisfied the disclosure requirement imposed by section 3(b) of the Automobile Information Disclosure Act. “(c) Form and Content of Label.—The form and content of the label required under subsection (b), and the manner and location in which such label shall be affixed, shall be prescribed by the Secretary by rule. The Secretary shall permit a manufacturer to comply with this section by allowing such manufacturer to disclose the information required under this section on the label required by section 3 of the Automobile Information Disclosure Act (15 U.S.C. 1232), on the label required by section 506 of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act (15 U.S.C. 2006), or on a readily visible separate label. 106 STAT. 1557 “(d) Regulations.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this section, including regulations to establish a procedure to verify the labeling information required by this section. Such regulations shall provide to the ultimate purchaser of a new passenger motor vehicle the best and most understandable information possible about the foreign and U.S./Canada origin of the equipment of such vehicles without imposing costly and unnecessary burdens on the manufacturers. The regulations shall be promulgated promptly after the enactment of this section in order to provide adequate lead time for all manufacturers to comply with this section. The regulations shall include provisions applicable to outside and allied suppliers to require such suppliers to certify whether a component provided by such suppliers is United States, U.S./Canadian, or foreign and to provide such other information as may be necessary, as determined by the Secretary, to enable the manufacturer to reasonably comply with the provisions of this section and to rely on such certification and information. The regulations applicable to all suppliers shall be enforceable as a regulation of the Secretary under the appropriate provisions of this Act. “(e) Violations and Penalties.—Any manufacturer of automobiles distributed in commerce for sale in the United States who willfully fails to affix to any new automobile so manufactured or imported by him for sale in the United States the label required by this section, or any dealer who fails to maintain such label as required by this section, shall be fined not more than $1,000. Such failure with respect to each automobile shall constitute a separate offense. “(f) Definitions.— For purposes of this section: “(1) The term ‘manufacturer’ means any person engaged in the manufacturing or assembling of new automobiles, including any person importing new automobiles for resale and any person who acts for and is under the control of such manufacturer, assembler, or importer in connection with the distribution of new automobiles. “(2) The term ‘person’ means an individual, partnership, corporation, business trust, or any organized group of persons. “(3) The term ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning provided in section 2(1) of this Act, except that it shall include any multipurpose vehicle and light duty truck that is rated at 8,500 pounds gross vehicle weight or less. “(4) The term ‘passenger motor vehicle equipment’ means any system, subassembly, or component received at the final vehicle assembly point for installation on, or attachment to, such vehicle at the time of its initial shipment by the manufacturer to a dealer for sale to an ultimate purchaser. The term ‘component’ shall not include minor parts, such as attachment hardware (nuts, bolts, clips, screws, pins, braces, etc.) and such other similar items as the Secretary, in consultation with manufacturers and labor, may prescribe by rule. “(5) The terms ‘originated in the United States and Canada’, ‘U.S./Canadian’, and ‘of U.S./Canadian origin’, in referring to automobile equipment, means— “(A) for outside suppliers, the purchase price of automotive equipment which contains at least 70 percent value added in the United States and Canada; and 106 STAT. 1558 “(B) for allied suppliers, the manufacturer shall determine the foreign content of any passenger motor vehicle equipment supplied by the allied supplier by adding up the purchase price of all foreign material purchased from outside suppliers that comprise the individual passenger motor vehicle equipment and subtracting such purchase price from the total purchase price of such equipment. Determination of foreign or U.S/Canadian origin from outside suppliers will be consistent with subparagraph (A). “(6) The term ‘new passenger motor vehicle’ means a passenger motor vehicle the equitable or legal title to which has never been transferred by a manufacturer, distributor, or dealer to an ultimate purchaser. “(7) The term ‘dealer’ means any person or resident located in the United States, including any territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, engaged in the sale or the distribution of new automobiles to the ultimate purchaser. “(8) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Transportation. “(9) The term ‘State’ includes each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone, and American Samoa. “(10) (A) The term Value added in the United States and Canada’ means a percentage derived as follows: “‘Value added’ equals the total purchase price, minus total purchase price of foreign content, divided by the total purchase price. Costs incurred or profits made at the final vehicle assembly point and beyond (i.e., advertising, assembly, labor, interest payments, profits, etc.) shall not be included in such calculation. “(B) In determining the origin and value added of engines and transmissions, the following groupings will be used: “(i) Engines of same displacement produced at the same plant. “(ii) Transmissions of the same type produced at the same plant. “(11) The term ‘carline’ means a name denoting a group of vehicles which has a degree of commonality in construction (e.g., body, chassis). Carline does not consider any level of decor of opulence and is not generally distinguished by such characteristics as roof line, number of doors, seats, or windows, except for light duty trucks. Light duty trucks are considered to be different carlines than passenger cars. “(12) The term ‘country of origin’, in referring to the origin of an engine or transmission, means the country in which 50 percent or more of the dollar value added of an engine or transmission originated. If no country accounts for 50 percent or more of the dollar value, then the country of origin is the country from which the largest share of the value added originated. The estimate of the percentage of the dollar value shall be based upon the purchase price of direct materials as received at individual engine or transmission plants of engines of the same displacement and transmissions of the same transmission type. For the purpose of determining the country of origin for engines and transmissions, the United States and Canada shall be treated separately. 106 STAT. 1559 “(13) When used in reference to passenger motor vehicle equipment which is of U.S./Canadian origin, the term ‘percentage (by value)’ means the resulting percentage when the percentage (by value) of such equipment not of U.S./Canadian origin that will be installed or included on such vehicles produced within a carline is subtracted from 100 percent. Value shall be expressed in terms of purchase price. For both outside suppliers and allied suppliers the value used shall be the purchase price of the passenger motor vehicle equipment as paid at the final assembly point. “(14) The term ‘final assembly’ point shall mean the plant, factory, or other place at which a new passenger motor vehicle is produced or assembled by a manufacturer and from which such vehicle is delivered to a dealer or importer in such a condition that all component parts necessary to the mechanical operation of such automobile are included with such vehicle whether or not such component parts are permanently installed in or on such vehicle. “(15) The term ‘allied supplier’ means a supplier of passenger motor vehicle equipment that is wholly owned by the manufacturer, or in the case of a joint venture vehicle assembly arrangement, any supplier that is wholly owned by one member of the joint venture arrangement. “(16) The terms ‘foreign’ or ‘foreign content’ mean passenger motor vehicle equipment not determined to be U.S./Canadian origin. “(17) The term ‘outside supplier’ means a supplier of passenger motor vehicle equipment to a manufacturer’s allied supplier or anyone other than an allied supplier who ships directly to the manufacturer’s final assembly point. “(g) Effect on State Law.—(1) Whenever a content labeling requirement established under this section is in effect, no State or political subdivision of a State shall have the authority to adopt or enforce any law or regulation relating to the content of vehicles covered by such Federal requirement. “(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent any State or political subdivision thereof from establishing requirements with respect to content of automobiles procured for its own use.”.