CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 088995 JMH
District Director
U.S. Customs Service
Patrick V. McNamara Building
Suite 200
477 Michigan Ave.
Detroit, MI 48266
RE: Protest and Request for Further Review 3801-0-003572, dated
November 28, 1990; stainless steel; hot rolling; hot
extrusion; extruded; GRI 6
Dear Sir:
This is in response to Protest and Request for Further
Review 3801-0-003572, dated November 28, 1990, which concerns
certain stainless steel sections. Our decision follows.
FACTS:
The articles in question are hot extruded stainless steel
"H" sections imported in random or material lengths. The
sections are produced by hot extruding. Hot extruding involves
pushing a hot piece of steel through a die. It is not a hot
rolling operation.
The protestant believes that the sections are properly
classified in subheading 7222.40.30, Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States Annotated ("HTSUSA"), as "Other bars and
rods of stainless steel; angles, shapes and sections of
stainless steel...Angles shapes and sections...Hot-rolled, not
drilled, not punched and not otherwise advanced..." Your office
classified the sections in subheading 7222.40.60, HTSUSA, as
"Other bars and rods of stainless steel; angles, shapes and
sections of stainless steel...Angles shapes and
sections...Other..."
ISSUE:
Whether the stainless steel "H" sections are classified in
subheading 7222.40.30, as "Other bars and rods of stainless
steel; angles, shapes and sections of stainless steel...Angles
shapes and sections...Hot-rolled, not drilled, not punched and
--2--
not otherwise advanced...", or in subheading 7222.40.60, as
"Other bars and rods of stainless steel; angles, shapes and
sections of stainless steel...Angles shapes and sections...
Other..."
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is
governed by the General Rules of Interpretation ("GRIs"). GRI
1, HTSUSA, 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...according ..to the following provisions." There is no
dispute regarding which heading is applicable in this instance.
Heading 7222, HTSUSA, which describes "Other bars and rods of
stainless steel; angles, shapes and sections of stainless
steel..." is agreed by both your office and the protestant to be
the applicable heading. The issue involves the applicable
subheading.
GRI 6, HTSUSA, one of "the following provisions" referred to
in GRI 1, requires that GRIs are to be utilized for the
determination of the appropriate subheading as they are for the
proper heading. Therefore, the products to be classified must
meet the terms of the subheadings, in accordance with GRI 1.
The subheadings in contention are subheadings 7222.40.30 and
7222.40.60. These headings describe the following:
7222.40.30 ...Angles shapes and sections...Hot-
rolled, not drilled, not punched and not
otherwise advanced...
* * *
7222.40.60 ...Angles shapes and sections...Other...
In order to be classified in subheading 7222.40.30, the
terms of the subheading require that the sections be hot rolled.
The "H" sections in question are not hot rolled. Hot rolling
involves the metal product being shaped through the use of
rotating rolls. Explanatory Note Chapter 72(IV)(A)(1),
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System ("HCDCS"),
states "[h]or rolling means rolling at a temperature between the
point of rapid recrystallisation and that of the beginning of
fusion." (original emphasis) HCDCS, Vol. 3, p. 980.
Extrusion is the shaping of metal by the forcing of the metal
through a die to produce a continuously formed piece in the shape
of a desired product. See Webster's II New Riverside University
Dictionary, p. 458 (1984), and McGraw-Hill Dictionary of
Scientific and Technical Terms.
--3--
The "H" sections in question are not formed by hot rolling.
but are formed by extrusion. Extrusion is a different process
from hot rolling. Since the subject stainless steel sections
are not hot-rolled, they do not meet the terms of subheading
7222.40.30. The stainless steel "H" sections meet the terms of
subheading 7222.40.60. Therefore, the proper classification for
the sections is subheading 7222.40.60, as "Other bars and rods of
stainless steel; angles, shapes and sections of stainless
steel...Angles, shapes and sectionS... Other..."
HOLDING:
The stainless steel "H" sections are not hot rolled, and
thus, do not meet the terms of subheading 7222.40.30 as required
by GRI 6 and GRI 1. The proper classification for the sections
is subheading 7222.40.60, as "Other bars and rods of stainless
steel; angles, shapes and sections of stainless steel...Angles,
shapes and sections... Other..."
The protest should be denied in full. A copy of this
decision should be attached to the Form 19 Notice of Action for
the protest.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division