CLA-2:CO:R:C:M 956698 JAS
Ms. Sandra R. Anderson
Okura & Co. (America), Inc.
1600 Golf Road, Suite 1000
Rolling Meadows, ILL 60008
RE: Checkered Plates of Stainless Steel, Hot Rolled Floor
Plates, Floor Plates of Stainless Steel With Raised
Checkered Pattern; ASTM A-793; Flat-Rolled Products,
Heading 7219, Not Further Worked Than Hot-Rolled;
Chapter 72, Note 1(k)
Dear Ms. Anderson:
In your letter of June 29, 1994, you inquire as to the
tariff classification of stainless steel floor plates with raised
checkered pattern, from Japan.
FACTS:
The merchandise is rolled floor plates of stainless steel
with raised patterns, imported in sizes 96 in. x 36 in. x 1/8
in., 96 in. x 48 in. x 1/8 in., and 120 in. x 48 in. x 1/8 in.
The merchandise conforms to American Society for Testing and
Materials (ASTM) Designation A-793 (1985), a specification for
stainless steel floor plates for use in galley spaces, washrooms,
engine rooms, machinery spaces, for ladder treads, gun platforms
and deck treads.
You maintain that since the raised pattern is stamped into
the plate after rolling it is classifiable in subheading
7219.90.00, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS), as other flat-rolled products of stainless steel, of a
width of 600mm or more.
The provisions under consideration are as follows:
7219 Flat-rolled products of stainless steel, of a
width of 600 mm or more:
- 2 -
Not further worked than hot-rolled, not in
coils:
7219.23.00 Of a thickness of 3 mm or more but less than
4.75 mm...10.1 percent
Not further worked than cold-rolled (cold-
reduced):
7219.90.00 Other...5.9 percent
ISSUE:
Whether stainless steel floor plates with raised patterns
are considered not further worked than hot-rolled.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (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.
For tariff purposes, the term Flat-rolled products means
rolled products of solid rectangular (other than square) cross
section, which do not conform to the definition of semifinished
products of note (ij) in the form, among others, of straight
lengths. Flat-rolled products include those with patterns in
relief derived directly from rolling (for example, grooves, ribs,
checkers, tears, buttons, lozenges) and those which have been
perforated, corrugated or polished, provided that they do not
thereby assume the character of articles or products of other
headings. Flat-rolled products of a shape other than rectangular
or square, of any size, are to be classified as products of a
width of 600 mm or more, provided that they do not assume the
character of articles or products of other headings. Chapter 72,
Note 1(k), HTSUS.
The cited legal note is not instructive on the "not further
worked" issue. Moreover, the cited ASTM designation specifies
the camber or dimensions of the raised patterned figures but does
not specify the manner in which the figures are imparted to the
plate. However, rolled floor plates are flat, hot-rolled,
finished steel products which are hot-finished in the final pass
or passes between one or more pairs of rolls. One roll of each
pair has a pattern cut into it so that one surface of the plate
passing between the rolls is forced into the depressions on the
pattern roll to form a raised figure at regular intervals on the
surface of the plate. Individual floor-plate patterns are - 3 -
produced exclusively by each manufacturer, the patterns differing
in both dimensions and appearance. The Making, Shaping and
Treating of Steel, United States Steel, 10th. ed. (1985), at p.
861. It appears from traditional plate mill technology,
therefore, that where patterns are desired, they are imparted
during the hot rolling. We are not aware of any plate-making
procedure in which patterns are imparted after hot-rolling.
Therefore, the floor plates in issue are considered not further
worked than hot-rolled.
HOLDING:
Under the authority of GRI 1, the hot-rolled floor plates
with raised patterns, as described, are provided for as flat-
rolled products of stainless steel of heading 7219. They are
classifiable in subheading 7219.23.00, HTSUS, as flat-rolled
products of stainless steel, not further worked than hot-rolled,
not in coils, of a thickness of 3 mm or more but less than 4.75
mm.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division