CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 961916 HMC
Mr. George Huang
Sino-American Corporation
440 S. Hindry Ave.
Inglewood, CA 90301
RE: Pocket Lighters, Gas Fueled, Refillable
Dear Mr. Huang:
This is in response to your request to the Customs Service National Commodity Specialist Division, New York, dated May 11, 1998, on behalf of Benchi USA International , Inc., regarding the tariff classification of a lighter under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Your letter, together with a sample lighter, was referred to this office for reply. We regret the delay.
FACTS:
The merchandise consists of a refillable gas pocket lighter. The lighter’s trigger mechanism contains a porcelain sensor that creates an electrical charge that ignites the gas fuel. A sample, and an enclosed drawing, shows that the lighter’s mechanism has a refillable gas fuel compartment and a separate porcelain firing mechanism enclosed in a plastic casing. The flame comes out of a small hole that has an injection spray on the bottom and a coil at the top.
When the lighter’s trigger is clicked with the user’s thumb, the porcelain mechanism forms an electrical charge on top of the lighter just above the gas fuel spray. The same pressing motion that causes the electric spark to be released also forces the gas fuel to flow. The electrical charge produced by the porcelain sensor ignites the gas fuel and starts the fire. The flame heats up the small coil located above the aperture where the flame is formed.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
9613 Cigarette lighters and other lighters, whether or not mechanical or electrical, and parts thereof other than flints and wicks:
9613.20.00 Pocket lighters, gas fueled, refillable...9%
9613.80 Other lighters:
9613.80.20 Electrical...3.9%
ISSUE:
Whether the lighter is classifiable as electrical lighters under subheading 9613.80.20, HTSUS, or as gas fueled, refillable lighters under subheading 9613.20.00, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the HTSUS in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 states in part that for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6. GRI 6 states that the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.
There is no dispute that the subject lighter is described by heading 9613, HTSUS. You claim that the merchandise is classifiable under subheading 9613.80.20, HTSUS, due to the nature of its firing mechanism. In your letter, dated May 11, 1998, you argue that when a user applies pressure to the lighter’s trigger, a porcelain sensor creates an electrical voltage or flow. You further state that this electrical mechanism is entirely different from the traditional pocket lighters that use resistance to produce a spark from a flint. We disagree with your contention that the lighter in this case is classifiable under subheading 9613.80.20, HTSUS, as other lighters, electrical. We instead find that because the pocket lighter is gas fueled and refillable, it is classifiable under subheading 9613.20.00, HTSUS.
Two New York Rulings, NY 868538, dated November 27, 1991, and NY C82697, dated January 6, 1998, classified similar refillable pocket lighters that had a piezoelectric firing mechanism under subheading 9613.20.00. We find that this is the subheading applicable to the subject lighter. It is our view that the lighter is not different from traditional pocket lighters that produce a spark by means of a wheel which strikes a flint. Like traditional lighters, the subject lighter’s porcelain sensor mechanism produces a spark. The firing mechanism, even though it creates electricity, is not a mechanism that can be described as electric. Also, the lighter does not use electricity as the main fuel to create a flame. The lighter is thus described by subheading 9613.20.00, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The lighter is properly classifiable under subheading 9613.20.00, HTSUS, as “Cigarette lighters and other lighters, whether or not mechanical or electrical, and parts thereof other than flints and wicks: Pocket lighters, gas fueled, refillable.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division