CLA-2-90:OT:RR:NC:N1:105
Mr. Lior Lev
Spartan Production USA
22 Ave at Port Imperial #424
West New York, NJ 07093
RE: The tariff classification of a storm glass weather forecaster from China
Dear Mr. Lev:
In your letter dated March 11, 2019, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The storm glass is an instrument designed to be used as a weather prediction device. The sealed, drop-shaped glass instrument contains a liquid said to consist of ethanol, ammonium, chloride, camphor, potassium nitrite and water. The state of the liquid’s crystallization is said to be associated with weather patterns. The product is 20 cm/8” tall.
While the product can be considered to have a decorative aspect, the weatherglass is nevertheless a fully functioning barometer. This office acknowledges that there may be more accurate ways to measure barometric pressure. However, General Explantory Note (I) to Chapter 90 must be considered. Said note reads, in pertinent part,
There are certain exceptions to the general rule that the instruments and apparatus of this Chapter are high precision types. For example, the Chapter also covers …fancy hygrometers, irrespective of their accuracy (heading 90.25)
The same principle can be applied to the barometers of heading 9025. In addition, the barometers of Chapter 90 are excluded from Chapter 70/Glass and Glassware by virtue of Note 1(d) to Chapter 70.
The applicable subheading for the storm glass weather forecaster will be 9025.80.1500, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Hydrometers and similar floating instruments, thermometers, pyrometers, barometers, hygrometers and psychrometers, recording or not, and any combination of these instruments; parts and accessories thereof: Other instruments: Other: Barometers, not combined with other instruments”. The rate of duty will be 1 percent ad valorem.
This merchandise may be subject to the requirements of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which are administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Information on the TSCA can be obtained by contacting the EPA at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Mail Code 70480, Washington, D.C., by telephone at (202) 554-1404, or by visiting their website at www.epa.gov.
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 https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
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 Patricia O’Donnell at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division