CLA-2-90:OT:RR:E:NC:4:405
Timothy Hawkins Farhawk Marketing Services
107 Court Street Number 261
Watertown, NY 13601
RE: The tariff classification, marking, and country of origin of an FP-Meter from the Netherlands.
Dear Mr. Hawkins:
In your letter dated July 6, 2009, you requested a tariff classification ruling. No sample of the FP -Meter was provided.
You asked us to rule on the classification, marking, and country of origin of your item. However, the only information you have provided regarding either of the latter two is your statement that its country of origin is the Netherlands. Since we have no information to the contrary, we assume that a marking of Made in the Netherlands in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the nature of the article will permit will be acceptable. See Customs Regulation 134.11.
In your submission you state that the manufacturer, Applied Instruments of the Netherlands, has revived the FP-Meter. The FP-Meter is a device that has been sold in the past by other firms, identified at the time as model FP407. You go on to state “The ideal application for the FP-Meter is to measure gas flows in gas chromatographs and gas chromatograph/mass spectrometers. This product has several unique features that set it apart from other products on the market, the most important being that the FP-Meter has very little impact on the flow that is measured when the FP-Meter is connected.”
The product specifications indicate that it is a mass flow meter with a resolution (on the digital display) of .1 mLn/min, i.e., normalized milliliter per minute, and that the pressure meter component has a resolution of .01 psi.
For mass flow, it is calibrated for GC gases: Air, N2, He, H2, and Ar. This is consistent with your statement about its applications. We also note that accurate measurement of gas mass flows usually require more complex and expensive equipment than doing the same for gas pressures.
We find that this item is a composite good and that the elements necessary for the mass flow measurement are in a later heading than the elements for measuring pressure and, at minimum, equally merit consideration in supplying essential character to the whole. See HTSUS General Rule of Interpretation 3-c.
You did not explain the method of operation of either measurement, but we assume that, at minimum, the measurement of mass flow is “electrical” per Chapter 90, HTSUS, Additional U.S. Note 2.
The applicable subheading for the FP-Meter will be 9026.80.2000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for, inter alia, "electrical" instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking the flow of gases. The rate of duty will be free.
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