HQ 082694
April 11 1989
CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 082694 JLJ 830383
TARIFF No.: 4418.50.0040
Mr. Kevin R. Redl
Secretary/Treasurer
Anglo-American Cedar Products Ltd.
33286 S. Railway Avenue
Mission, British Columbia V2V 4M6
Canada
RE: Classification of Red Cedar "Short Boards"
Dear Mr. Redl:
You requested a tariff classification ruling for Western red
cedar "short boards" imported from Canada. You submitted samples
of a "short board," an 18 inch shingle and an 18 inch
"Certigroove Shake" along with your request.
FACTS:
The product at issue is Western red cedar "short boards."
The boards are 5/8 to 1-1/4 inches thick, 18 inches or 24 inches
in length, and in random widths. In a conversation with our New
York office you stated that the short boards are manufactured on
a vertical circular saw, the same equipment used to manufacture
shingles. The short boards are made from Western red cedar logs
or blocks normally used to make shakes and shingles.
The instant short boards will be used exclusively to make
shingles. The short boards are one step away from being complete
shingles. In the United States, the boards will be sawn
diagonally across the thickness to produce two shingles per board
(or, in some cases, four shingles). You stated that some of the
shingles are further manufactured into the machine grooved shakes
known as "Certigroove Shakes." We note that our best information
indicates that, in the normal course of manufacturing shingles,
short boards are not produced. The shingles are sawn directly
from cedar logs or blocks.
-2-
ISSUE:
Are the instant short boards classified as unfinished shakes
or shingles?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Annotated (HTSUSA) replaced the Tariff Schedule of the United
States (TSUS) on January 1, 1989. Under General Rule of
Interpretation 2(a), HTSUSA, "Any reference in a heading to an
article shall be taken to include a reference to that article
incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the
incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of
the complete or finished article...." Under predecessors to this
rule, it has been held that where a provision contains no
qualifying words or phrases to indicate whether or not a
completely finished article is to be classified thereunder, it
includes an article which has been advanced to the point where
its use as the article provided for is made clear, or its utility
for any other purpose has been destroyed. Waltham Watch Co. v.
United States, (Jaeger Watch Co. Inc., Party in Interest), 25
CCPA 330, T.D. 49425 (1938); Oxford University Press, N.Y., Inc.
v. United States, 20 Cust. Ct. 78, C.D. 1088 (1948); Norge
Division Borg-Warner Corp. v. United States, 44 Cust. Ct. 121,
C.D. 2164 (1960); F.W. Myers & Co., Inc. v. United States, 57
CCPA 87, C.A.D. 982 (1970).
A thing may be classified for tariff purposes under an eo
nomine provision for the article if that thing has been so far
processed toward its ultimate completed form as to be dedicated
to the making of that article or that class of articles or has
been so far advanced beyond the stage of materials as to be
dedicated to and commercially fit only for use as the particular
article. American Import Co. v. United States, 26 CCPA 72, T.D.
49612 (1938); Finn Bros., Inc. v. United States, 59 CCPA 72,
C.A.D. 1042 (1972); John V. Carr & Son, Inc. v. United States, 72
Cust. Ct. 19, C.D. 4500 (1974); Avins Industrial Products Co. v.
United States, 62 CCPA 83, C.A.D. 1150 (1975).
In Doherty-Barrow of Texas, Inc. v. United States, 3 CIT
228, Slip Op. 82-47 (1982), it was held that steel strip so
advanced as to be dedicated for use in making steel cotton bale
ties, incapable of other commercial or practical use, and
requiring only to be cut to length, was classified as bale ties
made from strip rather than as strip of iron or steel, since the
individual character and identity of the merchandise had been
fixed with certainty.
-3-
The instant short boards have been so advanced as to be
dedicated for use in making shakes or shingles. They are
incapable of other commercial use and are used only to make
shakes or shingles. They require only diagonal sawing to make
shingles. The short boards meet the requirements of unfinished
shingles and shakes.
The short boards are classified as incomplete or unfinished
articles which have the essential character of the finished
shingles. The HTSUSA subheading applicable to the short boards
is 4418.50.0040, which provides for shingles and shakes, of red
cedar, dutiable at the rate of 20 percent ad valorem under HTSUSA
subheading 9903.44.10.
HOLDING:
The short boards are unfinished shingles and shakes. They
are classified in subheading 4418.50.0040, HTSUSA.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division
6cc: A.D. N.Y. (NIS-230)
1cc: John Durant
JLJohnson:tj:typed 08/24/88