CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H257787 GGK
Julie C. Vair
Expeditors Tradewin, LLC
1015 Third Avenue
12th Floor
Seattle, WA 98104
RE: Request for a binding ruling; tariff classification of the CoolCooker™
Dear Ms. Vair:
This letter is in reply to your electronic request for a ruling from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), dated July 9, 2014, on the classification of the CoolCooker™, a domestic kitchen appliance that combines a slow cooker with refrigeration and a timer, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). Your request for a ruling was submitted to the National Commodity Specialist Division (NCSD) in New York, New York, on behalf of Arete Creations, LLC (“Arete”). Your request was forwarded by the NCSD to us for a response.
FACTS:
The subject merchandise is described as a domestic kitchen appliance that functions as a combined slow cooker with refrigeration and a timer. According to Arete, the CoolCooker™ is designed to provide a safe, fresh, home cooked meal without the need to have someone at home to start the cooking process. Food placed into the appliance may be refrigerated until the programmed time for cooking begins. After cooking is complete, the food can be held warm or safely refrigerated in the appliance.
The overall dimensions of the appliance are less than 10 inches by 15 inches with an internal power supply. The electrical requirements of the appliance are 120 VAC, 60 Hz, and 1.5 amps nominal. In terms of components, Arete states that the appliance is comprised of a cooking vessel, a Peltier device, a timer, and a housing.
The cooking vessel is a removable convex cooking pot with a holding capacity of 3 quarts. Moreover, the cooking pot has a curved bottom, handle(s) for easy removal, and a Teflon™ coating. The Peltier device is a thermoelectric device that converts electric power into cooling or heating power. See Mark Lundstrom, Near-equilibrium Transport: Fundamentals and Applications 59-60 (2013). Generally a Peltier device consists of two dissimilar metals. See John W. Steward, Peltier Effect, 13 McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology 133 (11th ed., 2012). When an electrical current flows through the device, the temperature rises or falls at the junction of the materials depending on the direction of the current flow. Id. In other words, when a direct current of electricity flows through the device, heat is brought from one junction of the device to the other so that one side gets colder while the other becomes hotter. Id. If the direction of the electric current is reversed, then the direction of the heat flow reverses, thereby flipping the hot and cold sides of the device. Id. Thus, the cooling and heating element of a Peltier device is generated through the consumption of electrical energy.
Here, the Peltier device is housed underneath the cooking pot and constitutes the sole heating and cooling source for the CoolCooker™. A lid is attached to the outer housing of the appliance which creates a moderate hermetic seal similar to a rice cooker when closed over the cooking pot. Finally, the appliance has a timer that allows the user to set a time for cooling, heating, and cooling again once cooking is complete. After food is placed in the cooking vessel, the user programs the timer for a “present time,” “cook time,” and “ready time.” The “present time” initiates the cooling function of the device and food is cooled to less than 5 degrees Celsius. The “cook time” triggers the cooking function of the device and heats the food to approximately 95 degrees Celsius. Lastly, the “ready time” stops the heating and once again triggers cooling. The “present time” may be set for a maximum of 24 hours prior to the start of the “cook time”.
ISSUE:
Whether the CoolCooker™ is classified in heading 8418, HTSUS, as a “refrigerator”, or in heading 8516, HTSUS, as “other electrothermic appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes.”
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. GRI 6 requires that the classification of goods in the subheadings of headings shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings, any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the GRIs 1 through 5.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
8418 Refrigerators, freezers and other refrigerating or freezing equipment, electric or other; heat pumps, other than the air conditioning machines of heading 8415; parts thereof:
***
Other refrigerating or freezing equipment; heat pumps:
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8418.69.01 Other
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8418.69.0180 Other refrigerating or freezing equipment
8516 Electric instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters; electric space heating apparatus and soil heating apparatus; electrothermic hairdressing apparatus (for example, hair dryers, hair curlers, curling tong heaters) and hand dryers; electric flatirons; other electrothermic appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes; electric heating resistors, other than those of heading 8545; parts thereof:
***
Other electrothermic appliances:
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8516.79.00 Other
* * *
You assert that the CoolCooker™ is classifiable under heading 8418, HTSUS, as a composite good pursuant to GRI 3(b). GRI 3(b) states that:
When, by application of Rule 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are prima facie classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows:
…
Mixtures, composite goods consisting or different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.
You describe the appliance as both a slow cooker of heading 8516, HTSUS, and a refrigerator of heading 8418, HTSUS. According to Arete, the essential character of the product is imparted by the cooling function. Therefore, Arete concludes that the product is classified as refrigerating equipment of heading 8418, HTSUS.
However, GRI 3 does not apply in this case. At GRI 1, we note that the source of cooling and heating lies in a single thermoelectric device, a Peltier device. Note 3 to Section XVI, provides as follows:
Unless the context otherwise requires, composite machines consisting of two or more machines fitted together to form a whole and other machines designed for the purpose of performing two or more complementary or alternative functions are to be classified as if consisting only of that component or as being that machine which performs the principal function.
The EN to Section XVI, Note 3 further instructs the following:
Note 3 to Section XVI need not be invoked when the composite machine is covered as such by a particular heading, for example, some types of air conditioning machines (heading 84.15).
The CoolCooker™ is a composite machine that is covered and described entirely by heading 8516, HTSUS, as an electrothermic appliance of a kind used for domestic purposes.
Heading 8516, HTSUS, covers “other electrothermic appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes.” According to the EN to heading 8516 this group includes “all electro-thermic machines and appliances provided they are normally used in the household.” The CoolCooker™ is a domestic appliance that utilizes a Peltier device as the sole heating and cooling source, which automatically cooks and refrigerates food. When a direct current of electricity flows through the device, heat is brought from one junction of the device to the other so that one side gets colder while the other becomes hotter. If the direction of the electric current is reversed, then the direction of the heat flow reverses, thereby flipping the hot and cold sides of the device. The Peltier device is a thermoelectric device that converts electric power into cooling or heating power. Therefore, the CoolCooker™ is an electrothermic domestic appliance designed for normal use in a household. Compare NY N004224 (December 20, 2006) (finding that a yogurt maker which utilizes a Peltier device to automatically heat and cool ingredients to make yogurt is an electrothermic household appliance classified under subheading 8516.79.0000, HTSUSA).
Finally, we note that Arete cites to several rulings, HQ HQ 968277 (August 16, 2006), NY N008200 (April 3, 2007), NY 859984 (February 6, 1991) and NY D87523 (February 16, 1999), in support of classification under heading 8418, HTSUS. These rulings, however, are distinguishable from the case at bar. First, in both HQ 968277 and NY N008200, the merchandise was a composite machine consisting of two machines fitted together to form a whole, and described as a microwave unit mounted on top of a refrigerator. It was determined that Note 3 to Section XVI applied, and that the principal function was the refrigerator. Unlike these products, the CoolCooker™ is entirely described by heading 8516, HTSUS, as an electrothermic domestic appliance. Second, in NY 859984 and NY D87523, CBP classified portable travel coolers that utilized a Peltier device to cool food for travel. A side effect of utilizing a Peltier device for these coolers was the capability to warm food. According to these rulings, the travel coolers were principally used to refrigerate rather than to warm food. According to the website www.coolcooker.com, and the product description, recipes, and videos therein, the CoolCooker™ is not a cooler principally used to refrigerate food. The CoolCooker™ cooks and prepares food for slow cooking. We conclude that the CoolCooker™ is an electrothermic appliance of a kind used for domestic purposes described by subheading 8516.79.00, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the subject CoolCooker™, is classified in heading 8516, HTSUS, specifically subheading 8516.79.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Electric instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters; electric space heating apparatus and soil heating apparatus; electrothermic hairdressing apparatus (for example, hair dryers, hair curlers, curling tong heaters) and hand dryers; electric flatirons; other electrothermic appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes; electric heating resistors, other than those of heading 8545; parts thereof: Other electrothermic appliances: Other.” The applicable duty rate is 2.7% ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on the World Wide Web at www.usitc.gov.
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time the goods are entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction.
Sincerely,
Ieva O’Rourke, Chief
Tariff, Classification and Marking Branch