HQ 0952940 - Decision on Application for Further Review of Protest No. 3604-92-100001; wood worked along the edges excluded from heading 4409, HTSUSA; proper classification, heading 4418, HTSUSA. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 952940

March 24, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 952940 jb

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF: 4418.90.4090

District Director
209 Federal Building
Duluth, Minnesota 55802

RE: Decision on Application for Further Review of Protest No. 3604-92-100001; wood worked along the edges excluded from heading 4409, HTSUSA; proper classification, heading 4418, HTSUSA.

Dear Sir:

This is a decision on application for further review of a protest timely filed on behalf of Edward Hines Lumber Co., Inc, on February 21, 1992, against your decision regarding the classification of solid oak floor boards. The date of liquidation for the merchandise was January 3, 1992.

FACTS:

The subject merchandise consists of solid oak boards, 1/2 inch thick, 2-1/4 inches or 3-1/4 inches wide, and 21-1/4 inches or 31-1/4 inches long. A number of these boards are packed together and sold as flooring. The boards are tongued and grooved along the edges as well as along the ends. In addition, the top surface is routed lengthwise.

The merchandise was originally entered in subheading 4409.20.2560, HTSUSA, which provides for nonconiferous wood flooring. Customs classified the merchandise in heading 4418.90.4090, HTSUSA, which provides for other builders' joinery and carpentry of wood.

ISSUE:

Is the merchandise properly classifiable in heading 4409, HTSUSA, or heading 4418, HTSUSA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), taken in order. GRI 1 requires that classification be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes. Where goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, the remaining GRI will be applied, in the order of their appearance.

The hierarchal arrangement of the headings and subheadings of the Schedule mandates that in order to classify an article at the six, eight or ten digit levels, the criteria at the four digit level must first be satisfied.

Heading 4409, HTSUSA, provides for:

WOOD (INCLUDING STRIPS AND FRIEZES FOR PARQUET FLOORING, NOT ASSEMBLED) CONTINUOUSLY SHAPED (TONGUED, GROOVED, REBATED, CHAMFERED, V-JOINTED, BEADED, MOLDED, ROUNDED OR THE LIKE) ALONG ANY OF ITS EDGES OR FACES, WHETHER OR NOT PLANED, SANDED OR FINGER-JOINTED. (Emphasis added).

The heading thus specifically provides for wood which is continuously worked (shaped) along any of the edges or faces; it is silent on wood which is worked along the ends. Wood which is worked along the ends is beyond the scope of this heading.

The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (EN), are the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level. The EN to heading 4409, HTSUSA, state in part:

The heading also excludes:

(b) Wood which has been mortised or tenoned, dovetailed or similarly worked at the ends and wood assembled into panels being builders' carpentry or joinery (e.g., parquet flooring panels made up from parquet flooring blocks, strips, etc., whether or not on a support of one or more layers of wood) (heading 44.18). (Emphasis added)

As per both the terms of heading 4409, HTSUSA, and the EN to that same heading, the protested floor boards, which are tongued and grooved at the edges and the ends, are clearly not provided for, and specifically precluded from inclusion in heading 4409, HTSUSA.

Heading 4418, HTSUSA, provides for builders' joinery and carpentry of wood, including cellular wood panels, assembled parquet panels; shingles and shakes. As this heading provides more accurately for the merchandise at issue, the merchandise was correctly classified by the import specialist in heading 4418.

HOLDING:

The merchandise described as solid oak floor boards tongued and grooved on the edges and ends was properly classified in subheading 4418.90.4090, HTSUSA, which provides for other builders' joinery and carpentry of wood.

You are instructed to deny the protest in full. A copy of this decision should be appended to the Form 19 Notice of Action and furnished to the protestant.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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