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NY N025719





May 7, 2008

CLA-2-84:OT:RR:NC:N1:102

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8481.80.3070, 8481.80.9050, 8481.90.9060, 8483.40.5010

Ms. Karen Cuccia
Clearfreight, Inc.
880 Apollo Street (Suite 101)
El Segundo, CA 90245

RE: The tariff classification of valves, a valve body and an actuator from Italy

Dear Ms. Cuccia:

In your letter dated March 31, 2008 on behalf of Trinity Precision Flow Control LLC, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Descriptive literature was submitted.

The articles in question are a ball valve with a hand-operated actuator, a ball valve without an actuator, a valve body for a ball valve, and a hand-operated actuator. The valve actuator is gear assembly designed to be mounted onto the valve stem and provide the means by which the valve mechanism is actuated. You indicate that the ball valve without an actuator, the actuator and the valve body will be imported separately. The ball valves and the valve body are made of steel.

In your request you suggest that the ball valve, whether or not presented with its actuator, is classified as a hand-operated valve in subheading 8481.80.30, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). However, the ball valve, when presented without a hand-operated actuator, lacks the essential character of a hand-operated valve. Accordingly, the valve without and actuator falls to be classified elsewhere in HTSUS heading 8481.

You also suggest that the valve actuator, when imported separately, is provided for as a part of the ball valve in heading 8481, HTSUS. We agree that the actuator may be, prima facie, a part of the valve with which it is used, but actuators for valves are usually more specifically described and provided for elsewhere in the tariff. Here, the subject actuator, which is a gear assembly, is more specifically provided as gearing in heading 8483, HTSUS, than as parts of valves in heading 8481, HTSUS.

The applicable subheading for the ball valve with hand-operated actuator will be 8481.80.3070, HTSUS, which provides for other taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances, hand operated, of steel and of the ball type. The rate of duty will be 5.6 percent ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for the ball valve without actuator will be 8481.80.9050, HTSUS, which provides for other taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances. The rate of duty will be 2 percent ad valorem.

The applicable subheading for the ball valve body will be 8481.90.9060, HTSUS, which provides for valve bodies as other parts of other taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances. The rate of duty is free.

The applicable subheading for the actuator, when presented separately, will be 8483.40.5010, HTSUS, which provides for fixed ratio gear boxes and other speed changers. The rate of duty will be 2.5 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 Kenneth Brock at 646-733-3009.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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