CLA-2-85:OT:RR:NC:1:110
Ms. Marian E. Ladner
Ladner & Associates PC
The Kirby Mansion
2000 Smith Street
Houston, TX 77002
RE: The tariff classification of a flashlight from China.
Dear Ms. Ladner:
In your letter dated September 22, 2009 you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, Bayco Products.
The merchandise under consideration is the Nightstick Task Light, model number NSR-2492. Samples of the item were submitted with your ruling request and will be returned to you.
The Nightstick Task Light is a cylindrical battery-powered hand-held work light that measures approximately 11 ½ inches high by 2 inches in diameter at its widest points. It is made of plastic, features sculpted finger grooves for a positive grip, and is powered by an internal Ni-MH (nickel-metal hydride) battery. At one end of the Nightstick is an LED (light emitting diode) bulb and a reflector under a clear lens. Along one side of the upper part of the housing are 60 LED bulbs, arranged in a 4 by 15 grid, under a clear lens. On the other side of the housing is a push button switch that cycles the light between flashlight on, grid on, and off, as well as a connection for a battery charger adapter. The Nightstick also features two removable plastic cuffs designed to snap onto the body of the light. One cuff provides a magnet for mounting the light on any flat, ferrous surface; the other a swiveling combination hook/stand. The Nightstick Task Light is packaged for retail sale in a plastic clamshell case with an AC wall adapter, a DC 12-V car charger adapter, and an instruction booklet.
In your ruling request you suggest classification of the Nightstick Task Light in 8513.10.4000, as a portable electric lamp other than a flashlight. However, “Flashlights” have been defined in previous Customs Rulings as small battery-operated portable electric lights normally held in the hand by the housing itself, whose primary function is to project a beam of light. (HQ 084852) The Nightstick Task Light meets this definition by virtue of its design.
As imported above, the Nightstick Task Light, AC adapter, car charger adapter, and instruction sheet meet the definition of “goods put up in sets for retail sale.” As per GRI 3(b), classification is determined by the component, or components taken together, which confer on a set as a whole its essential character. The Nightstick Task Light clearly provides the essential character of the set.
The applicable subheading for the Nightstick Task Light, model number NSR-2492 will be 8513.10.2000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Portable electric lamps designed to function by their own source of energy (for example, dry batteries, storage batteries, magnetos)…: Lamps: Flashlights.” The general rate of duty will be 12.5 percent ad valorem.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Thomas Campanelli at (646) 733-3016.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division