The tariff classification of Shank Sub-assemblies for gas water heater control valves from Mexico.

N148617 March 8, 2011 CLA-2-90:OT:RR:NC:N4:405 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 9025.19.8080 William Polkinhorn Bill Polkinhorn, Inc.2401 Portico Boulevard Calexico, CA 92231 RE: The tariff classification of Shank Sub-assemblies for gas water heater control valves from Mexico. Dear Mr. Polkinhorn: In your letters dated December 14, 2010 and February 9, 2011, on behalf of Robertshaw Controls Company, you requested a tariff classification ruling. No samples were provided, but you did provided copies of Robertshaw sheets, including photographic images, for Shank Assemblies, which you also refer as Shank Sub-assemblies, part numbers 49953, 49954, 21757-003, and 29877-002. In your later letter, in response to our question in our January 31, 2011 letter to you, i.e., “Noting Harmonized System Explanatory Note II – B to 9032, does your import contain a device which ‘compares the measured value with the desired value’?”, your reply makes it clear that it does not, so classification in HTSUS 9032.10, as a Thermostat, in itself, as you proposed, cannot apply. Your reply to that question also states, “As the water temperature within the water heater tank increases, the Invar rod moves away from the gas valve actuating lever, thus shutting off the flow of gas to the burner. The described operation is strictly mechanical in nature.” As we understand you, the rod in your import sticks out more the higher the temperature of the water in the heater rises in a precisely proportional way. A bulbous part at the other end projects into the water in the heater. If a simple temperature chart with the appropriate spacings were placed next to the rod, it would apparently be possible to read off the current temperature of the water by looking at the position of the end of the rod. In reply to another question, you indicate that the patent that you attached for a “Gas Valve for a Water Heater,” did not describe your import, per se, but you did agree that it did “perform the function of the ‘temperature probe assembly’ described in the patent application. In fact, it IS a temperature probe assembly.” (Capitalization in original.) While your import might be considered to be a part of a thermostat of HTSUS 9032 (or perhaps of a thermostatically controlled valve of HTSUS 8481), whether or not that is the case, it is, in itself, included in HTSUS 9025, which, in particular, excludes it from classification as a part in 9032 due to Note 2(a) to Chapter 90. The difference in coefficient of thermal expansion of two metals is common principle of operation for a Metallic thermometer as indicated by Harmonized System Explanatory Note B-2 to 9025. The applicable subheading for your part numbers 49953, 49954, 21757-003, and 29877-002 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% 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, Robert B. Swierupski Director National Commodity Specialist Division