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HQ 960359




November 11, 1997

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC 960359 HMC

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 7220.20.00

Port Director of Customs
1901-K Cross Beam Drive
Charlotte, NC 28217

RE: PRD 1512-96-100255; Steel Shaft; Subheading 8482.99.05; Explanatory Notes 72.15 and 84.82; Other Bars and Rods of Iron or Nonalloy Steel; Inner or Outer Rings or Races for Ball Bearings.

Dear Port Director:

This is our decision on Protest 1512-96-100255, filed against your classification of steel shafts. The entries under protest were liquidated on November 8, 15, and 22, 1996, and this protest timely filed on December 12, 1996. A sample was submitted for examination.

FACTS:

The merchandise under protest consists of steel shafts manufactured in Germany. The shafts are solid circular stainless steel rods machined to antifriction bearing specifications that can be used for linear motion guideways and other applications, such as guide rods, control rods, rollers, pistons, axles, guide pins, tie rods, spindles, guide columns and mandrels. Literature provided by the importer explains that the steel shafts are induction hardened and centerless ground. Complete machining services are available to create keyways, flats, tapped holes, coaxial holes, grooves, etc. The literature provides the customer with design specifications and illustrations of the different adjustments that may be done to the shafts.

The merchandise was entered under a provision for other bars and rods of iron or nonalloy steel, not further worked than cold-formed or cold-finished in subheading 7215.50.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). However, the entries were liquidated under subheading 8482.99.05, HTSUS, as inner or outer rings or races for ball bearings.

The provisions under consideration are as follows:

7215 Other bars and rods of iron or nonalloy steel:

7215.50.00 Other, not further worked than cold-formed or cold-finished...6%

7222 Other bars and rods of stainless steel; angles, shapes and sections of stainless steel:

7222.20.00 Bars and rods, not further worked than cold-formed or cold-finished...8.5%

8482 Ball or roller bearings, and parts thereof: Parts:
8482.99 Other:
Inner or outer rings or races:
8482.99.05 For ball bearings...10.6%

ISSUE:

Whether the stainless steel shaft is classifiable as other bars and rods, not further worked than cold-formed or cold finished under subheadings 7215.50.00 or 7222.20.00, HTSUS, or as inner or outer rings or races for ball bearings under subheading 8482.99.05, HTSUS.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Merchandise is classifiable under the HTSUS in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 states in part that for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes, and provided the headings or notes do not require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6.

Protestant claims that the steel shafts are classifiable as other bars or rods or nonalloy steel, not further worked than cold-formed or cold-finished under subheading 7215.50.00, HTSUS, based on the premise that the merchandise has different uses as imported.

Chapter 72, Note 1(m), HTSUS, states, in part, that the expression "other bars and rods" means

[p]roducts which do not conform to any of the definitions at (ij), (k) or (l) above or to the definition of wire, which have a uniform solid cross section along their whole length in the shape of circles, segments of circles, ovals, rectangles (including squares), triangles or other convex polygons (including "flattened circles" and "modified rectangles", of which two opposite sides are convex arcs, the other two sides being straight, of equal length and parallel).

The Harmonized Commodity Description And Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized system. While not legally binding on the contracting parties, and therefore not dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System and are thus useful in ascertaining the classification of merchandise under the System. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989). EN 72.15 states in part, at page 1088, that heading 7215
covers bars and rods other than those of heading 72.13 or 72.14. The bars and rods of this heading may :

(1) be obtained by cold-forming or cold-finishing, i.e., have been subjected either to a cold pass through one or more dies (cold-drawn bars) or to a grinding or turning process (grinded or sized bars).

(2) have been subjected to working (such as drilling or sizing, or to futher [sic] surface treatments than are allowed for products of heading 72.14, such as plating, coating, or cladding (see Part (IV) (C) of the General Explanatory Note to this Chapter), provided that they do not thereby assume the character of articles or of products falling within other headings;

We believe that the subject steel rods meet the definition of Note 1(m) to Chapter 72 and the ENs. The steel rods in this instance have a solid cross section along their whole length in the shape of a circle. The shafts are machined to antifriction bearing specifications but such work, we believe, does not exclude them from classification within Chapter 72.

We note that the shafts are made of stainless steel and, as such, are better described by heading 7222 that provides for other bars and rods of stainless steel. EN 72.22 states that the provisions of the Explanatory Notes to headings 7214 to 7216 apply, mutatis mutandis, to the products of this heading. The stainless steel shafts are thus classifiable in subheading 7222.20.00, HTSUS, as other bars and rods of stainless steel, not further worked than cold-formed or cold-finished.

Customs classified the steel shafts under subheading 8482.99.05, HTSUS, as other inner or outer rings or races, which are parts for ball bearings. EN 84.82 states that normally bearings consist of two concentric rings (races) enclosing the balls or rollers, and a cage which keeps them in place and ensures that their spacing remains constant. The EN also states that heading 8482 covers parts of ball, roller or needle roller bearings. We believe that the imported shafts are not like any of the items described by the ENs. Furthermore, protestant has provided sufficient evidence showing that the steel shafts are used for many applications other than ball bearings.

We note HQ 958014, dated July 20, 1995, wherein circular steel shafts were classified as inner or outer rings or races for ball bearings under subheading 8482.99.05, HTSUS. The merchandise in that ruling is distinguishable from the merchandise subject of this protest. The merchandise in HQ 958014 did not consist of a solid circular shaft designed to have multiple uses. Furthermore, heading 7222 was not considered in HQ 958014, and we find that it is heading 7222, not heading 8482 that describes the subject steel shafts.

HOLDING:

Under the authority of GRI 1, the steel shafts are provided for in heading 7222, HTSUS. They are classifiable in subheading 7222.20.00, HTSUS, as other bars and rods of iron or nonalloy steel, not further worked than cold-formed or cold-finished.

This protest should be DENIED, except to the extent reclassification of the merchandise as indicated above results in a partial allowance. In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you should mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the 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 to the public via the Diskette Subscription Service, the Freedom of Information Act and other public access channels.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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