OT:RR:CTF:EMAIN H343451 PF
Center Director
Pharmaceutical Health and Chemicals Center
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
10980 Interstate 29
Pembina, ND 58271
Attn: Nancy Anderson, Import Specialist
RE: Application for Further Review of Protest No: 460124137945; Classification of AquaHT
water heater module
Dear Center Director:
This is our decision regarding an Application for Further Review (AFR) of Protest No.
460124137945 filed by counsel on behalf of Fresenius Medical Care NA (Protestant). The
Protest and AFR concern the classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS) of the AquaHT water heater module (AquaHT).
The subject merchandise was entered between May 3, 2023 and May 3, 2024 and was
liquidated under subheading 8419.89.95, HTSUS, which provides for “Machinery, plant or
laboratory equipment, whether or not electrically heated (excluding furnaces, ovens and other
equipment of heading 8514), for the treatment of materials by a process involving a change of
temperature such as heating, cooking, roasting, distilling, rectifying, sterilizing, pasteurizing,
steaming, drying, evaporating, vaporizing, condensing or cooling, other than machinery or plant
of a kind used for domestic purposes; instantaneous or storage water heaters, nonelectric; parts
thereof: Other machinery, plant or equipment: Other: Other: Other.”
Protestant maintains that the subject merchandise is properly classified in heading 8516,
HTSUS, and specifically subheading 8516.10.00, HTSUS, which provides for “Electric
instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters; electric space heating apparatus
and soil heating apparatus; electrothermic hairdressing apparatus (for example, hair dryers, hair
curlers, curling tong heaters) and hand dryers; electric flatirons; other electrothermic appliances
of a kind used for domestic purposes; electric heating resistors, other than those of heading 8545;
parts thereof: Electric instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters.”
FACTS:
The subject AquaHT is described as a water heater module that disinfects the AquaA, a
reverse osmosis system. The AquaHT uses electrical energy and consists of multiple heating
elements, water pumps, electrical controls, and a water tank situated inside a cabinet enclosure.
The AquaHT is designed to treat (by heating) water, which is later drawn by the AquaA and
circulated through a network of hoses, loops, and other conduits. According to the Protestant,
the AquaHT allows for automated integrated heat disinfection of up to 40 hemodialysis machines
with the hot water stored in the AquaHT tank.
The hot water supplied by the AquaHT can be used for multiple purposes including: 1)
heat disinfection of the reverse osmosis system with membranes; 2) heat disinfection of the
dialysis water ring main; and 3) as a supply of hot dialysis water to the dialysis devices and their
connecting lines while heat disinfection of the dialysis water ring main is in progress. 1
ISSUE:
What is the proper classification for the AquaHT?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
We first note that this matter is protestable under 19 U.S.C. §1514(a)(2) as a decision on
classification. The protest was timely filed within 180 days of liquidation of the first entry. See
Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-429, § 2103(2)(B)(ii)–
(iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3) (2006)). Further review of the protest is
properly accorded to Protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(a) because the Protestant alleges
that the Center’s decision in this matter is inconsistent with prior rulings on similar merchandise.
Classification under the HTSUS is determined in accordance with the General Rules of
Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined
according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter
notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the
headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be
applied in order. The 2023 and 2024 HTSUS provisions at issue are as follows:
8419 Machinery, plant or laboratory equipment, whether or not electrically heated (excluding
furnaces, ovens and other equipment of heading 8514), for the treatment of materials by a
process involving a change of temperature such as heating, cooking, roasting, distilling,
rectifying, sterilizing, pasteurizing, steaming, drying, evaporating, vaporizing,
condensing or cooling, other than machinery or plant of a kind used for domestic
purposes; instantaneous or storage water heaters, nonelectric; parts thereof:
1
Exhibit 3 to Protest, page 193.
2
8516 Electric instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters; electric space
heating apparatus and soil heating apparatus; electrothermic hairdressing apparatus (for
example, hair dryers, hair curlers, curling tong heaters) and hand dryers; electric flatirons;
other electrothermic appliances of a kind used for domestic purposes; electric heating
resistors, other than those of heading 8545; parts thereof:
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes
(“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level.
While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of
each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these
headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).
The EN to heading 8419, HTSUS, provides in pertinent part:
The machinery and plant classified in this heading may or may not incorporate
mechanical equipment. They may be heated by any system (coal, oil, gas, steam,
electricity, etc.), except in the case of instantaneous water heaters and storage water
heaters which are classified in heading 85.16 when heated electrically.
The heading covers only non-domestic equipment, except for the instantaneous or storage
water heaters referred to later in this Explanatory Note.
* * *
The apparatus described above is essentially used industrially, but the heading also
covers non-electric instantaneous water heaters and storage water heaters, including solar
water heaters, domestic or not. If electrically heated, such appliances are excluded
(heading 85.16).
The EN to heading 8516, HTSUS, states, in relevant part:
(A) ELECTRIC INSTANTANEOUS OR STORAGE WATER HEATERS AND
IMMERSION HEATERS
This group includes :
(1) Geysers in which the water is heated as it flows through.
(2) Storage water heaters (whether or not of the pressure type), i.e., heat-insulated
tanks with immersion heating elements. In these heaters water is heated gradually.
Heading 8516, HTSUS, provides for “electric storage water heaters.” The AquaHT is
designed to heat water by operation of multiple heating elements that are powered by electricity.
The water is later drawn by the AquaA and circulated through a network of hoses, loops, and
other conduits to disinfect the AquaA. Based on the function of the AquaHT as an “electric
water heater,” it is properly classified in heading 8516.10.00, HTSUS.
3
We also note that the AquaHT is not classifiable in heading 8419, HTSUS, because
heading 8419 provides for in relevant part “… storage water heaters, nonelectric.” Because the
AquaHT is an electric water heater, it cannot be classified in heading 8419, as a “non-electric
water heater.” Further, EN 84.19, HTSUS, states that electric water heaters of heading 85.16 are
excluded from classification in heading 84.19. Therefore, we find that the AquaHT is properly
classified under heading 8516, HTSUS, as an electric water heater. Electric water heaters are
specifically provided for in subheading 8516.10.00, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
By application of GRIs 1 and 6, the AquaHT is classified under heading 8516, HTSUS,
specifically subheading 8516.10.00, HTSUS, which provides, in relevant part, for: “Electric
instantaneous or storage water heaters and immersion heaters…: Electric instantaneous or
storage water heaters and immersion heaters….” The general, column one rate of duty is Free.
This ruling does not address the applicability of any additional duties, such as those
provided for in Subchapter III to Chapter 99, HTSUS, which may apply to the goods discussed
herein. Likewise, 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 the World Wide
Web at www.usitc.gov.
Since re-classification of the merchandise as indicated above will result in the rate of duty
claimed, you are instructed to ALLOW the Protest in full.
You are instructed to notify the Protestant of this decision no later than 60 days from the
date of this decision. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision
must be accomplished prior to this notification. Sixty days from the date of the decision, the
Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings will make the decision available to CBP personnel and
the public on the Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) at https://rulings.cbp.gov/, or
other methods of public distribution.
Sincerely,
for Yuliya A. Gulis, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division
4