HQ 0087408 - Finned Copper Tube; Pipe; Gilled; Ridged; Grooved; Hollow Profiles - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 087408

September 26, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 087408 CMS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 7407.10.10

Mr. Richard Carbonaro
Aspen Forwarders & Custom
House Brokers, Inc.
130 Church Street
New York, New York 10007

RE: Finned Copper Tube; Pipe; Gilled; Ridged; Grooved; Hollow Profiles

Dear Mr. Carbonaro,

Your request dated May 25, 1990, on behalf of Wieland America, Ltd., for a classification ruling on certain finned tube has been forwarded by the Regional Commissioner of Customs, New York to Customs Headquarters for a reply. Our ruling follows:

FACTS:

The product brochure submitted with the ruling request describes the merchandise as "GEWA-H Finned Tubes". The tubular articles are made of 100% copper and have a continuous roll-formed ridge spiraling circumferentially along the external length of the tube. The ridges, or "fins", increase the surface area of the tubes and improve the tubes' thermal transfer quality. The tubes have various heating and cooling applications including use in power plant cooling towers, gas- fired and condensing boilers, chemical engineering gas heaters and automotive engine oil and air coolers.

The tubes are manufactured in lengths up to 12 meters. The product brochure states that the tubes are offered in various fin sizes, ranging in fin height from 10mm to 15mm, fin pitch from 2.2mm to 5.1mm, and mean fin thickness from approximately .40mm to .65mm.

ISSUE:

Is the merchandise classified as copper profiles in Heading 7407, or as copper tubes and pipes in Heading 7411?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Chapter 74 Note 1(h) defines "[t]ubes and pipes" in pertinent part as follows:

(h) Tubes and pipes

Hollow products, coiled or not, which have a uniform cross section...and which have a uniform wall thickness. (emphasis added)

The tubes under consideration have a uniform cross section. However, they do not conform to the Chapter 74 Note 1(h) definition of tubes or pipes because they do not have a "uniform wall thickness". The wall thickness for a section of the tube from which a fin protrudes is substantially larger than the wall thickness where there is no fin. Additionally, the sections of the tube outer surface between the fins are in the shape of a shallow "U", resulting in a further non-uniform wall thickness.

The finned tubes meet the definition of copper profiles defined in Chapter 74 Note 1 (e) which provides in pertinent part:

(e) Profiles

Rolled, extruded, drawn, forged or formed products, coiled or not, of a uniform cross section along their whole length, which do not conform to any of the definitions of bars, rods, wire, plates, sheets, strip, foil, tubes or pipes.

Further support for the classification of the finned tubes as copper profiles is found in the Explanatory Notes to Heading 7407. The Explanatory Notes, p. 1046 provide that Heading 7407 "...covers hollow profiles including finned or gilled tubes and pipes obtained by extrusion." The tubes under consideration are finned tubes. The American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) specifications, B359, p. 574, paragraph 3.1.1.3, defines "tube,
heat exchanger with integral fins" as follows:
a tube having a series of metallic ribs on the outside or inside surface either parallel to the longitudinal axis or circumferentially extended from the tube to increase the effective surface area for heat transfer applications...

The reference to finned tubes in the Explanatory Notes to Heading 7407 is illustrative, not restrictive, and finned tube is not excluded from Heading 7407 merely because it might not be obtained by extrusion. The type of finned tube which is not classified in Heading 7407, as illustrated by the Explanatory Notes, p. 1046, is tube "...to which fins or gills have been attached, e.g., by welding..." (emphasis added). The fins on the tubes under consideration are roll-formed. The tubes are not similar to tubes to which the fins have been attached, e.g., by welding.

The GEWA-H Finned Tubes are classified as copper profiles of refined copper, in 7407.10.10, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

The GEWA-H Finned Tubes are classified as copper profiles of refined copper, in 7407.10.10, HTSUSA.

Sincerely,

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