What goes wrong

The standard was read as fixed

On this page15

The three adverbs were read as absolutes So a small article was assumed to be exempt Or assumed to need a full-size mark Which is the contrast worth holding Two schemes, two attitudes to the same problem Indelibly and permanently were treated as one requirement And legibility was treated as permanent too The container qualifier was overlooked Which makes the material a compliance variable A deformed article was marked before deformation And an already-used surface was marked again The origin was assumed from the supplier And the proportionality was read as applying to cost Read the qualifier, then read the surface References

As the nature of the article will permit.

The three adverbs were read as absolutes

Legibly, indelibly and permanently, each qualified by as the nature of the article or container will permit.

So a small article was assumed to be exempt

It is not. The standard bends to what the article allows, which is not the same as excusing it.

Or assumed to need a full-size mark

Also wrong in the other direction, and the qualifier is what distinguishes this from a fixed type size.

Which is the contrast worth holding

The cannabis topicals property quotes a 1/16 inch minimum that does not bend for a small package at all, with relief only by petitioning for a rulemaking.

Two schemes, two attitudes to the same problem

One accommodates a small object by its own terms and the other does not accommodate it.

Indelibly and permanently were treated as one requirement

They are adjacent and separate. A mark can be indelible and sit on something that comes off.

And legibility was treated as permanent too

Heat shrink is the counterexample: a mark survives the process and stops being readable because the substrate moved.

The container qualifier was overlooked

The clause says the nature of the article or container will permit, so a container mark is held to what that container allows.

Which makes the material a compliance variable

117 PET, 78 polypropylene and 56 glass, and three different marking processes behind them.

A deformed article was marked before deformation

Crimp, ring and spade terminals and ferrules are all crushed in use, so a mark applied before may not survive after.

And an already-used surface was marked again

A glass fuse carries its rating on a metal end cap, which is the only markable surface and is already occupied.

The origin was assumed from the supplier

Where anything was made is a fact about a supply chain and this property establishes none of it.

And the proportionality was read as applying to cost

It applies to the nature of the article or container. Expense is not mentioned anywhere in the clause.

Read the qualifier, then read the surface

Which is the whole method for this spine.

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.