RR:TC:MM 960592 DWS
Port Director of Customs
2831 Talleyrand Avenue
Jacksonville, FL 32206
RE: Protest 1803-97-100007; Deep Threaded Steel Screws; Wood
Screws; Self-
Tapping Screws; ANSI Standards; GRIs 3(a) and 6;
7318.12.00; 7318.15.60
Dear Port Director:
The following is our decision regarding Protest 1803-97-100007 concerning your action in classifying and assessing duty
on deep threaded steel screws under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
FACTS:
The merchandise consists of deep threaded steel screws
(styles
8112FP23DTZ-N, 8114FP23DTZ-N, 81RWSDTZ, 878RWSDTP, 101RWSDTP, and
8114RWS23DTZ). All of the screws are sizes 8 [10 threads per
inch (tpi)] or 10 (8 tpi) fasteners, with shanks and/or threads
less than 6 mm in diameter. Styles 8112FP23DTZ-N and
8114FP23DTZ-N have flat Phillips heads, are zinc plated and case
hardened with undersized bodies, and have 4 nibs under the
countersunk head. They are threaded two-thirds of their length.
Styles 81RWSDTZ, 878RWSDTP and 101RWSDTP are steel, have round #2
square socket washer heads, and are fully threaded and case
hardened. Style 81RWSDTZ is zinc coated, and styles 878RWSDTP
and 101RWSDTP are plain finished. Style 8114RWS23DTZ is steel,
has a round #2 square socket washer head, is threaded two-thirds
of its length, has an undersized body, and is zinc coated and
case hardened.
The merchandise was entered on June 7, 1996, under
subheading 7318.15.60, HTSUS, as other screws, having shanks or
threads with a diameter of less than 6 mm. The entry was
liquidated on October 25, 1996, under subheading 7318.12.00,
HTSUS, as other wood screws. The protest was timely filed on
January 21, 1997.
ISSUE:
Whether the deep threaded steel screws are classifiable
under subheading 7318.12.00, HTSUS, as other wood screws, under
subheading 7318.14.10, HTSUS, as self-tapping screws, having
shanks or threads with a diameter of less than 6 mm, or under
subheading 7318.15.60, HTSUS, as other screws, having shanks or
threads with a diameter of less than 6 mm.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI
1 provides that classification is determined according to the
terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.
The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:
7318.12.00: [s]crews, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw
hooks, rivets, cotters,
cotter pins, washers (including spring
washers) and similar articles,
of iron or steel: [t]hreaded articles:
[o]ther wood screws.
The 1996 general, column one rate of duty for goods
classifiable under this
provision is 12.5 percent ad valorem.
7318.14.10: . . . : . . . : [s]elf-tapping screws: [h]aving
shanks or threads with a
diameter of less than 6 mm.
The 1996 general, column one rate of duty for goods
classifiable under this
provision is 6.2 percent ad valorem.
7318.15.60: . . . : . . . : [o]ther screws and bolts,
whether or not with their nuts
or washers: [o]ther: [h]aving shanks or
threads with a diameter of
less than 6 mm.
The 1996 general, column one rate of duty for goods
classifiable under this
provision is 6.2 percent ad valorem.
The protestant claims that the subject screws are not
classifiable as wood screws based upon a passage in the
importer's sales literature, which states as follows:
[d]eep thread-reduced body diameter causing less distortion
of material, greater
pitch angle of threads resist pull out. The increased depth
and wide spacing of
threads minimizes crumbling of material of material: works
extremely well in
particle board and plastics.
The protestant states that deep threaded screws such as the
subject merchandise are developed for use in materials such as
particle board and plastics. He further states that, although
deep threaded screws can be used in wood, wood screws do not work
well in particle board or plastic. The protestant recognizes
that deep threaded screws do not possess a specific American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) designation.
Your office claims that the subject merchandise is
classifiable as wood screws based upon ANSI requirements for wood
screws, and Customs Laboratory Report
#4-96-21077, dated June 26, 1996, stating that a sample of the
merchandise constitutes a wood screw. It is also our
understanding that you claim that the physical description of the
subject screws resembles the characteristics of wood screws based
upon ANSI standards.
We must first determine whether the subject screws are
either wood screws or self-tapping screws. After a review of the
ANSI standards for wood screws (ANSI Designation B18.6.1) and
tapping screws (ANSI Designation B.18.6.4), it appears that the
subject screws most resemble type BP tapping screws. Wood screws
typically have a 45 to 50 degree point (gimlet point). Type BP
tapping screws typically have a thirty degree point, plus or
minus 5 degrees. It is our understanding from literature
provided by the protestant that such a point resembles the
subject screws. With regard to the subject screws, the size 10
screws have 8 tpi and the size 8 screws have 10 tpi. Wood screws
of the same sizes have 13 tpi and 15 tpi, respectively. Particle
board screws, which are classifiable in the HTSUS as self-tapping
screws, have 9 tpi and 11 tpi, respectively. Listed in the
specifications of the subject screws by the protestant is torsion
strength. Although torsion strength is an ANSI design
specification for tapping screws, it is not one for wood screws.
Also, the major diameter tolerances for the size 10 and size 8
screws under consideration is .008 and .007, respectively. The
major diameter tolerance for same size wood screws is .011. The
major diameter tolerance for same size tapping screws is .007.
Based upon the above comparisons, we find that the subject
screws are not described as wood screws under subheading
7318.12.00, HTSUS, but are described as self-tapping screws under
subheading 7318.14.10, HTSUS.
We must now ascertain whether the subject screws are
classifiable under subheading 7318.14.10, HTSUS, or under
subheading 7318.15.60, HTSUS. In part, GRI 3(a) states that:
[t]he heading which provides the most specific description
shall be preferred
to headings providing a more general description. . .
GRI 6 states that:
[f]or legal purposes, 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 and chapter
notes also apply,
unless the context otherwise requires.
It is our position that the designation "self-tapping
screws" is more specific than the designation "other screws", the
"basket" provision for screws which are not classifiable under
the more specific subheading provisions of heading 7318, HTSUS.
Therefore, based upon GRIs 3(a) and 6, the subject screws are
classifiable under subheading 7318.14.10, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
The deep threaded steel screws are classifiable under
subheading 7318.14.10, HTSUS, as self-tapping screws, having
shanks or threads with a diameter of less than 6 mm.
As re-classification of the merchandise as indicated above
will result in the same rate of duty as claimed, you are
instructed to GRANT the protest in full. In accordance with
Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August
4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision,
together with the Customs Form 19, should be mailed by your
office to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of
this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with
the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing of this 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 the public
via the Diskette Subscription Service, Freedom of Information
Act, and other public access channels.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification Appeals
Division