CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 962055 HMC
Mr. Bernard D. Liberati
Morris Friedman & Co.
325 Chestnut Street, Ste. 415
Philadelphia, PA 19106-3883
RE: Shoulder Wheel Bolt; Other Screws and Bolts; NY C84099, Affirmed
Dear Mr. Liberati:
This is in response to your letter to the Customs National Commodity Specialist Division, New York, dated July 6, 1998, on behalf of PM Fasteners, Inc., requesting reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (NY) C84099, dated February 17, 1998. In NY C84099, Customs classified a shoulder wheel bolt, part #497, under subheading 7318.15.80 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), as other screws and bolts, whether or not with their nuts or washers, having shanks or threads with a diameter of 6 mm or more. Your letter was referred to this office for reply. We regret the delay.
FACTS:
The merchandise consists of fasteners, identified as low carbon steel, zinc finished shoulder wheel bolts. The dimensions are 3/8"-16" x 5/8" for the threaded portion, 1/2" diameter x 1 3/4" for the threaded shoulder, 2-3/8" length, hex head 3/4" across the flats, 3/16" thick with its corners chamfered at the top of the head. A drawing included with the request shows a fastener that has a long unthreaded cylindrical shoulder and shorter threaded shank. The head is a hexagon head with a flat bearing surface under the head. The fastener is described as a shoulder wheel bolt, to be used with a nut in the manufacture of wheel barrows.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
7318 Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers (including spring washers) and similar articles, of iron or steel:
Threaded articles:
7318.15 Other screws and bolts, whether or not with their nuts or washers:
7318.15.20 Bolts and bolts and their nuts or washers entered or exported in the same shipment
Other
7318.15.80 Having shanks or threads with a diameter of 6 mm or more
ISSUE:
Whether the fasteners in question are screws or bolts for tariff purposes.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the HTSUS in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 states in part that for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6. GRI 6 states that the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section, chapter and subchapter notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.
There is no dispute that the fastener is described by heading 7318, HTSUS. You argue that they are classifiable as bolts under subheading 7318.15.20 because they are not chamfered as a screw to be used without a nut. In NY C84099 the fastener was classified as a screw under subheading 7318.15.80.
The Harmonized Commodity Description And Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN’s) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally binding on the contracting parties, and therefore not dispositive, the EN’s provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System and are thus useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise under the System. Customs believes the EN’s should always be consulted. See T.D. 89 80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989). EN 73.18, at page 1116, states that
(A) SCREWS, BOLTS AND NUTS
Bolts and nuts (including bolt ends), screw studs and other screws for metal, whether or not threaded or tapped, screws for wood and coach screws are threaded (in the finished state) and are used to assemble or fasten goods so that they can readily be disassembled without damage.
Bolts and screws for metal are cylindrical in shape, with a close and only slightly inclined thread; they are rarely pointed, and may have slotted heads or heads adapted for tightening with a spanner or they may be recessed. A bolt is designed to engage in a nut, whereas screws for metal are more usually screwed into a hole tapped in the material to be fastened and are therefore generally threaded throughout their length whereas bolts usually have a part of the shank unthreaded.
The heading includes all types of fastening bolts and metal screws regardless of shape and use, including U bolts, bolt ends (i.e., cylindrical rods threaded at one end), screw studs (i.e., short rods threaded at both ends), and screw studding (i.e., rods threaded throughout).
Neither the Section nor the Chapter Notes provide a definition for bolts or screws. Citing the Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, 2105 (1993), and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)’s Standard B18.2.1 (1981), the Court of International Trade has held that for an item to be classified as a screw it should fulfill its primary purpose upon having its head torqued, and that purpose should be one recognized for a screw. See Hafele America Co., LTD v. United States, 18 C.I.T. 1096, 870 F. Supp. 352, 355 (1994). In Hafele America Co., LTD, the Court found that because the merchandise, a small metal rod, did not accomplish its primary purpose upon having its head torqued, it was not a screw. The merchandise had the primary purpose of joining and locking two boards together at an angle. The joint created by the mating of the merchandise and the cam was tightened and locked by torquing the cam, not by torquing the head of the merchandise. The Court reasoned that putting emphasis on the physical parameters of the merchandise was not sufficient. Similarly, citing other decisions, the Court provided that a “bolt” is a broad term with dozens of permutations of form and application. See Hafele America Co., LTD v. United States, 18 C.I.T. 1096, 870 F. Supp. at 355 (1994).
Customs has relied on the ANSI’s Standard B18.2.1, which provides specifications for identification of bolts and screws. It states that a “bolt” is an externally threaded fastener designed for insertion through holes in assembled parts, and is normally intended to be tightened or released by torquing a nut. It explains that a “screw” is an externally threaded fastener capable of being inserted into holes in assembled parts, of mating with a preformed internal thread or forming its own thread, and of being tightened or released by torquing the head. After these definitions, an explanatory paragraph states that
a bolt is designed for assembly with a nut. A screw has features in its design which makes it capable of being used in a tapped or other preformed hole in the work. Because of basic design, it is possible to use certain types of screws in combination with a nut. Any externally threaded fastener which has a majority of the design characteristics which assist its proper use in a tapped or other preformed hole is a screw, regardless of how it is used in its sevice application.
Standard B18.2.1 also provides primary and supplementary criteria for identifying an externally threaded fastener as a bolt or as a screw. See HQ 956811, dated April 10, 1995, and HQ 951362, dated June 24, 1992, which used the standard to classify similar shoulder bolts.
We disagree with your contention that, since the subject fasteners are used with a nut, they are classifiable as bolts. It is Customs position that the fact that the fasteners at issue here utilize nuts does not make them, ipso facto, bolts. As stated by Standard B18.2.1, it is possible to use certain types of screws in combination with a nut. See HQ 956811, citing Standard B18.2.1.
We find instead that the fasteners in this case closely conform to the definition of screws advanced by the Court and the ENs. The evidence presented shows that the merchandise’s primary purpose of manufacturing wheel barrows is achieved upon having its hexagonal head torqued. No evidence was provided that this fastener is tightened or released by torquing a nut. We further find that the drawings and dimensions provided show a fastener that falls within the parameters specified in the supplementary criteria of the ANSI standards. Therefore, it is Customs view that the fasteners in this instance are screws of subheading 7318.15.80, HTSUS. Accordingly, NY C84099 is affirmed.
HOLDING:
The shoulder wheel bolt is classifiable under subheading 7318.15.80, HTSUS, as “Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers (including spring washers) and similar articles, of iron or steel: Threaded articles: Other screws and bolts, whether or not with their nuts or washers: Other: Having shanks or threads with a diameter of 6 mm or more.
EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:
NY C84099, dated February 17, 1998, is affirmed.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division