CLA-2-90:OT:RR:NC:N1:405
Ms. Cynthia Benway
Taco, Incorporated
1160 Cranston Street
Cranston, RI 02920
RE: The tariff classification of a temperature gage from Australia
Dear Ms. Benway:
In your letter dated October 24, 2013, you requested a tariff classification ruling. No samples were provided.
From the description that you provide, the assembly consists of a brass pipe fitting, open through the middle, one end attaches to a valve and the other end is a union nut which attaches to piping for a boiler unit. A temperature gauge fits through the middle of this fitting into an opening in order to read the temperature of the water as it passes through.
You suggest classification under subheading 7412.20.0035, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for copper tube or pipe fittings (for example couplings, elbows, sleeves), of copper alloys, other, of copper-zinc base alloys (brass), threaded, other. A temperature gage assembly is not correctly classified in copper pipe fittings of subheading 7412.20.0035, HTSUS, as suggested. The assembly is more than simply a pipe fitting. It is manufactured past the point of a pipe fitting and the essential character is not that of a pipe fitting (GRI 3(b) HTSUS).
The import has a large, dial thermometer, which is designed to measure the temperature of the water in the fitting to determine if that temperature has reached “the set point required for the boiler system.” We consider that temperature measurement to provide the “clearly defined function” for the import for purposes of Note 3 to Chapter 90, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
The applicable subheading for the temperature gage will be 9025.19.8080, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for "other" Thermometers, not combined with other instruments. The rate of duty will be 1.8 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 J. Sheridan at (646) 733-3012.
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Acting Director
National Commodity Specialist Division