What goes wrong

The container was assumed to be enough

On this page14

The parenthesis was read as an open permission Which this property does not describe The exception was treated as self-executing And incapable was read as impractical The mark was put on the container and described the container The audience was forgotten A label was put on polypropylene Or on glass in an oily environment And a clear container was used for a printed label A marking service was expected from us Made in USA was treated as the same rule And UL listing was expected to be federal Read the subsection, then pick the surface References

Or its container, as provided in subsection (b).

The parenthesis was read as an open permission

It says or its container, as provided in a further subsection. The route exists and its conditions are in that subsection.

Which this property does not describe

A real limit on how far these pages go, and stated rather than papered over.

The exception was treated as self-executing

Clause (A) permits the Secretary of the Treasury to authorize an exception where an article is incapable of being marked. A packer does not decide that.

And incapable was read as impractical

Two different words. Incapable is a higher bar than the proportionality clause in the main requirement.

The mark was put on the container and described the container

The country of origin required is that of the article. A jar made in one country holding parts made in another carries the parts' origin.

The audience was forgotten

The mark indicates to an ultimate purchaser in the United States, in the English name of the country. A mark nobody sees reaches nobody.

A label was put on polypropylene

78 of the 251 containers. Low surface energy, which is why adhesive labels lift from polypropylene more readily than from PET.

Or on glass in an oily environment

56 containers. Glass takes a fired mark permanently and loses an adhesive one to oil.

And a clear container was used for a printed label

91 of 251 are clear, which reduces contrast behind anything not fully opaque. Legibly is one of the three adverbs.

A marking service was expected from us

We publish none. The container is the authorized surface and we sell it blank.

Made in USA was treated as the same rule

It is a voluntary claim under a different scheme, which the favors and gifts property covers.

And UL listing was expected to be federal

It is not, and it is what an installer actually looks for on an electrical part.

Read the subsection, then pick the surface

Which is the order, and we can help with the second half.

References

19 U.S.C. 1304(a). Every article of foreign origin "(or its container, as provided in subsection (b)" must be marked "as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit", and the marking must "indicate to an ultimate purchaser in the United States the English name of the country of origin of the article." Among the exceptions in subsection (a)(3), clause (A) permits the Secretary of the Treasury to "Authorize the exception of any article from the requirements of marking if such article is incapable of being marked." This is customs marking for articles of foreign origin; nothing on these pages determines the origin of anything or how the exceptions are administered. law.cornell.edu

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. The 251 containers on this shelf are 117 PET, 78 polypropylene and 56 glass. There is no metal and no polyethylene. Glass takes an etched or fired mark and loses an adhesive label to oil; PET and polypropylene take an adhesive label well and take an etch not at all. We publish no marking, printing or decorating service of any kind.

Written from 19 U.S.C. 1304 and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. That section is customs marking for articles of foreign origin and nothing here determines the origin of anything, what subsection (b) requires of containers, or how the exceptions are administered. Made in USA claims are a different scheme covered in the favors and gifts property. We publish no marking, printing or decorating service: the mark goes on by some process we do not supply. This shelf is shared identically by nine groups and the sewing notions property enumerates the inventory.