Interesting comments from Rick regarding the UL considerations. Now I get why there will never be an official response.
<off topic rant>
This not the first time we have seen unusual outcomes regarding availability, specification, documentation and other non-operational aspects of equipment from UL. My favorite Festool example of this is the
vac sys.
It is hard for me to understand or believe that tools and equipment that not only meet CE requirements but are in regular use in Europe and other parts of the world somehow become unsafe, unsuitable or unsatisfactory when they are "evaluated" by UL for use in North America. The only explanation I can think of is that the U.S. is a more litigious society and that the UL requirements and process are an attempt to minimize exposure to lawsuits.
I appreciate the concept but I find UL approval less than credible when I look at some of the unbelievably cheap, poorly made, flimsy, flakey, etc. items (many from Asia) that somehow achieve UL approval. To me this indicates some issues with competence and / or integrity in the process.
</off topic rant>
For the CT36 I can see there may be a different power rating in NA compared to Europe due to voltage differences and "the UL requirement for vacuums with external power receptacles" (ref. UL 1017 4.4.1.4 [ISBN 1-55989-191-2] – it is available online but is copyrighted so I will not provide the link here).
Jeff