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HQ 082694


April 11 1989

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 082694 JLJ 830383

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

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.

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.

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

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