CLA-2 RR:TC:MM 959571 JAS
Port Director of Customs
P.O. Box 619050
Fort Worth Airport
Dallas, TX 75261
RE: PRD 5501-95-100536; C50L HUCKBOLT Fastener; Pin-and-Collar F astener; Cylindrical Shaped Fastener of Carbon Steel With Round Head and Annular Grooves, Non-Threaded Collar of Zinc Plated Steel; Rivets, Subheading 7318.23.00; Other Non-Threaded Articles, Subheading 7318.29.00; Tubular or Bifurcated Rivets, Subheading 8308.20.60; Remington Rand, Inc. v. U.S., Avdel Corp. v. U.S.
Dear Port Director:
This is our decision on Protest 5501-95-100536, filed
against your classification of a pin-and-collar fastener called
the HUCKBOLT. The entries under protest were liquidated on
September 22, 1995, and this protest timely filed on December 20,
1995. Samples and a brief from counsel for the protestant, dated
December 19, 1995, were forwarded to us with the protest file.
FACTS:
The merchandise under protest is the C50L HUCKBOLT and
consists of a steel pin and collar. The pin is of carbon steel,
3 1/2 inches long, with a rounded head on one end and flat on the
other end. The shank has a series of annular grooves along its
entire length and is indented or recessed around the
circumference at the midpoint. The collar is 3/4 inch in
diameter, unthreaded, of zinc plated, low carbon steel. The
shank of the steel pin is inserted through holes in the pieces to
be fastened and the collar slipped on. A hydraulic fastening
tool completes the joining by swaging or upsetting the collar
into the end of the pin, presumably snapping off the bottom
portion of the pin below the recess. - 2 -
The HUCKBOLT was entered under subheading 7318.23.00,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), a
provision for rivets, of iron or steel. Counsel for the
protestant maintains this fastener conforms to a description for
rivets found in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding
System Explanatory Notes for heading 83.18, i.e., they are non-threaded, usually cylindrical articles with round heads used for
the permanent assembly of metal parts. Counsel cites two
decisions from the United States Customs Court decided under
tariff nomenclatures that predated the HTSUS, purporting to
establish as relevant characteristics of a rivet that an article
serve to hold other articles or materials together through the
presence of a head formed on each end. Your office determined
that the pin functioned in the manner of a fastener. However,
because the pattern was rolled into the shank in the form of
annular grooves, rather than in the axial plane, as with real
threads, you classified the pin as a non-threaded fastener in
subheading 7318.29.00, HTSUS, and the collar as an article of
iron or steel in subheading 7326.90.85, HTSUS.
The 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:
Non-threaded articles
7318.23.00 Rivets...0.2 cents/kg
7318.29.00 Other...4.5 percent ad valorem
* * * *
7326 Other articles of iron or steel:
7326.90 Other:
Other:
7326.90.85 Other...4.6 percent ad valorem
ISSUE:
Whether the HUCKBOLT is a rivet for tariff purposes.
- 3 -
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (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.
The Harmonized Commodity Description And Coding System
Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of
the Harmonized System. While not legally binding on the
contracting parties, and therefore not dispositive, the ENs
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 ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80. 54 Fed. Reg.
35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989).
The description in the ENS which counsel cites, i.e., that
rivets are non-threaded, usually cylindrical articles with round
heads used for the permanent assembly of metal parts, is
inconclusive in establishing the tariff status of the HUCKBOLT.
Moreover, in the first case counsel cites, Remington Rand, Inc.
v. United States, 20 Cust. Ct. 1, C.D. 1075 (1947), the issue was
whether articles that were headless on both ends could
nevertheless be rivets under the Tariff Act of 1930. This
decision is not dispositive here as the HUCKBOLT is dramatically
different in terms of design and function. The second case,
Avdel Corp. v. United States, 73 Cust. Ct. 200, C.D. 4575 (1974),
turned on whether the presence of a mandrel or pin could preclude
a threaded fastener from being a rivet under the HTSUS
predecessor tariff code, the Tariff Schedules of the United
States (TSUS). In that case, the withdrawal of the mandrel
caused the shell or body of the fastener to collapse, thus
forming a second head on the other side of the materials or
articles being joined. This case, too, is factually
distinguishable. Both cases, however, based their decisions on
the common or commercial meanings of the term rivet as gleaned
from dictionaries and authoritative technical sources. Common
among the cited definitions is the fact that the joining function
is completed by hammering or otherwise deforming one end into a
head. Cited as an authoritative technical source in Avdel was
the Glossary of Terms for Mechanical Fasteners, published by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers. That publication - 4 -
defines rivet as "A headed metal fastener used to join parts by
inserting the shank through aligned holes in each piece and
forming a head on the headless end by upsetting." The HUCKBOLT
does not function in this manner. Rivets tend to be self-contained articles which do not require additional components
such as collars to perform their intended service application.
For these reasons, the HUCKBOLT is not a rivet for tariff
purposes. However, it is a 2-piece, non-threaded fastener.
Because of its function and design, it is similar to the articles
named in the text of heading 7318.
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRI 1, the C50L HUCKBOLT is provided
for in heading 7318. It is classifiable in subheading
7318.29.00, HTSUS.
The protest should be DENIED. In accordance with Section
3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4,
1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you should mail this
decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no
later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any
reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the
decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision.
Sixty days from the date of the decision the Office of
Regulations and Rulings will take steps to make the decision
available to Customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in
ACS and to the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, the
Freedom of Information Act and other public access channels.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification
Appeals Division