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HQ 952743

February 16, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 952743 DWS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8454.90.00

Mr. Ernest de Masi, President
E.D.M. Equipment & Consulting Services, Inc. 2003 Jericho Turnpike
New Hyde Park, NY 11040

RE: Modification of HQ 951930; Copper Molds; Casting Machines; Continuous Casting Process; Ingot Molds; Explanatory Note 84.54(C); Explanatory Note 84.85(D)(4); Explanatory Note 84.80; Explanatory Note 2(II); Section XVI, Notes 2(a) and (b)

Dear Mr. de Masi:

This is in response to your letter of October 1, 1992, requesting reconsideration of HQ 951930, dated July 17, 1992, concerning the classification of copper molds under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The merchandise consists of copper molds. The molds are used in a casting machine which converts molten steel into solidified steel lengths. Using the continuous casting process, molten steel is poured, via a tundish, into the top end of the subject copper mold and, as the cast product exits the mold through the bottom end, the steel is solidified. As the molten steel passes through the mold, it is water cooled. At the end of the casting machine, the extended length of the solidified steel is machined or reheated, and sheared into desired lengths as needed for further processing.

ISSUE:

Whether the copper mold is classifiable as an ingot mold under heading 8454, HTSUS, as a mold for metal (other than an ingot mold) under heading 8480, HTSUS, or as a part of a casting machine under heading 8454, HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's), taken in order. GRI 1 provides that classification is determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

In HQ 951930, the copper mold was held to be classifiable under subheading 8480.49.00, HTSUS, which provides for: "[m]olds for metal or metal carbides: [o]ther types." It was found that the mold was not an ingot mold. Subheading 8454.20.00, HTSUS, provides for: "[i]ngot molds and ladles." In HQ 951930, it was stated that:

[i]n the continuous casting method, the ingot or other primary form stage is bypassed as semifinished products such as blooms and billets are produced directly from molten steel. . .

In The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel, U.S. Steel, 10th Ed. (1985), p. 692, the section entitled "Types of Ingot Molds", describes the two principal types of ingot molds, i.e., big end up, and big end down. Other variations of ingot molds are discussed. However, no reference is made to an "ingot mold" used in continuous casting machines. Further, in the product brochure of the manufacturer of the molds under consideration, the molds are described as "continuous casting moulds", and not as "ingot molds".

Nothing has been brought to our attention to cause us to change our decision. It is our position that goods classifiable as ingot molds under subheading 8485.20.00, HTSUS, are limited to the traditional "static" ingot molds. A "static" ingot mold sits on a "stool", thereby closing the mold at the bottom. Molten steel is poured into the mold and, when the steel solidifies, the mold is stripped or separated from the steel by way of an overhead crane. The steel that has been molded is known as an ingot. The ingot mold produces a large ingot which is further processed to create smaller articles. As explained above, the continuous casting method bypasses the ingot stage by producing semifinished products.

In HQ 951930, in finding that the copper mold was not an ingot mold, under Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Note 84.54, the merchandise was held to be classifiable under heading 8480, HTSUS.

In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes may be utilized. The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive, are to be used to determine the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). In part, Explanatory Note 84.54(C) (p. 1264) states that:

(C) Ingot Moulds

These may be of various shapes, in one piece or two halves, in which the molten metal is provisionally cast into, e.g., ingots, pigs, slabs.

Other moulds (e.g., for casting articles) are generally classified in heading 84.80.

In part, Explanatory Note 84.54(D)(4) (p. 1265) states that:

(4) Continuous casting machines. In these, steel is conveyed from the ladle in a distributor which feeds the different casting flow lines. . .

The moulds to be used with the machines of this group fall usually in heading . . . 84.80.

However, in part, Explanatory Note 84.80 (p. 1319) states that:

[t]his heading . . . covers all moulds (whether or not hinged, and whether used by hand or in presses or moulding machines) which are of a kind used for moulding the following materials into blanks or finished articles . . . (emphasis supplied).

In part, Explanatory Note 2(II) (p. 2) states that:

[t]he term "blank" means an article, not ready for direct use, having the approximate shape or outline of the finished article or part, and which can only be used, other than in exceptional cases, for completion into the finished article or part.

Semi-manufactures not yet having the essential shape of the finished articles (such as is generally the case with bars, discs, tubes, etc.) are not regarded as "blanks".

It is now our position that the subject copper mold is precluded from classification under heading 8480, HTSUS, because it is not used to mold molten steel into "blanks or finished articles". As has been stated, the continuous casting process, in using the copper mold, produces semifinished products.

Section XVI, notes 2(a) and, in part, (b), HTSUS, state that:

(a) Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of chapters 84 and 85 (other than headings 8485 and 8548) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings;

(b) Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading 8479 or 8543) are to be classified with the machines of that kind. . .

Because the copper mold is used solely or principally with a casting machine, and because it is not described elsewhere under chapters 84 or 85, HTSUS, it is our position that the mold is classifiable under subheading 8454.90.00, HTSUS, as a part of a casting machine.

HOLDING:

The copper mold is classifiable under subheading 8454.90.00. HTSUS, which provides for: "casting machines, of a kind used in metallurgy or in metal foundries, and parts thereof: [p]arts." Goods classifiable under this provision receive duty free treatment.

EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS

HQ 951930 is modified, pursuant to section 177.9(d)(1), Customs Regulations [19 CFR 177.9(d)(1)], to reflect the reasoning in this ruling.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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