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NY N004276





December 26, 2007

CLA-2-90:RR:NC:N1:105

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9025.80.1000

Ms. Jane Johnson
Scarbrough International, Ltd.
10841 Ambassador Drive
Kansas City, MO 64153

RE: The tariff classification of a Wireless Weather Station from China

Dear Ms. Johnson:

In your letter dated November 30, 2006, for Bushnell Corporation, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The sample, WS-9029U-CBP, is marked LaCrosse Technology.

Per the packaging the Features are:

“Wireless Indoor Humidity (%RH)
Wireless Outdoor Temperature (F or C) Monitors Indoor Temperature (F or C) Records MIN & MAX Temperature & Humidity
Digital Clock with 12 or 24 Hour Time Display Wall Hanging or Free Standing.”

The transmission of the outdoor temperature is via a 915 Mhz radio signal and the information is updated every 4 seconds. Its transmission range is “up to 330 feet.”

You state, “GRI states to go to the last number in the tariff.” We assume you mean General Rule of Interpretation 3-c. However, that Rule further states that the Heading would be the one “which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.”

In this case, while the display shows, in approximately equal sizes the time of day, the indoor temperature and humidity, and the outdoor temperature, its radio transmission is only of the temperature information. That, at minimum, adds a considerable cost, bulk, and weight to that function, and those are factors in determining “essential character” per Harmonized System Explanatory Note VIII to GRI 3.

Also, the humidity and indoor and outdoor temperature functions are all described in HTSUS Heading 9025.

The time of day function, classified in a heading of HTSUS Chapter 91, is not claimed to be extremely precise. In particular, unlike those in many home “weather stations,” it is not an “atomic clock,” which would be accurate to milliseconds indefinitely because it receives periodic time signals broadcast over the air to its own radio receiver. Also, the device has no alarm or calendar functions.

Therefore, we do not consider the Chapter 91 Heading to “equally merit consideration.”

Within HTSUS 9025, we note that the thermometer is “combined with” another instrument and that, from the sample, both measurements appear to be “electrical” per Additional US Note 2 to HTSUS Chapter 90.

The applicable subheading for the sample will be 9025.80.1000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for, inter alia, "electrical" thermometers, combined with other instruments. The rate of duty will be 1.7 percent ad valorem.

Per your request, the samples are being returned to you, in a separate mailing.

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,

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