Clicker Die Steel, Coils, Steel for Cutting Dies; Nonalloy Strip Steel Cold Rolled to Non-Rectangular, Tapered Cross Section; Steel, Cold Rolled With Cutting Bevels on One or Both Edges; Flat Wire, Subheading 7217.21.10; Other Wire, Subheading 7217.21.50; Chapter 72, Notes (k), (n), (o); HQ 045719, HQ 081491, HQ 085295, NY 889448 Dear Mr. Fee:
Active· CBP ruling HQ 955297· Issued 1994-05-19
Ruling text
HQ 955297
MAY 19, 1994
CLA-2:CO:R:C:M 955297 JAS
CATEGORY: Classification
TARIFF NO.: 7217.21.50
Mr. Jonathan M. Fee, Esq.
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz & Silverman
1201 West Peachtree St., N.E., Suite 4860
Atlanta, GA. 30309
RE: Clicker Die Steel, Coils, Steel for Cutting Dies; Nonalloy
Strip Steel Cold Rolled to Non-Rectangular, Tapered Cross
Section; Steel, Cold Rolled With Cutting Bevels on One or
Both Edges; Flat Wire, Subheading 7217.21.10; Other Wire,
Subheading 7217.21.50; Chapter 72, Notes (k), (n), (o);
HQ 045719, HQ 081491, HQ 085295, NY 889448
Dear Mr. Fee:
In letters dated October 13, 1993, to the Regional
Commissioner of Customs, New York, and February 24, 1994, to the
Director, Office of Regulations and Rulings, Headquarters, on
behalf of Viking Products, Inc., you inquire as to the tariff
classification of certain clicker die steel from Austria. At
your request, a meeting was held in our offices on February 24,
1994, where additional arguments were presented and samples
provided.
In NY 889448 to you, dated September 13, 1993, the Area
Director of Customs, New York Seaport, held that depending on
cross-sectional configuration clicker die steel imported in
material lengths or cut lengths was classified in the appropriate
provision in heading 7215 for other bars and rods, or in heading
7216 as angles, shapes and sections. This request is limited to
clicker die steel imported in coils of successively superimposed
layers.
FACTS:
The merchandise is clicker die steel imported in coils,
containing 0.48 percent, by weight, of carbon. Designated by
codes BETR, BD, PZA, BET and BDQ, this steel is only used to make
dies for a stamping or clicker machine to cut cloth, leather,
textiles and other soft materials into specific shapes. Clicker
die steel is made by cold-rolling hot-rolled, nonalloy strip - 2 -
steel to desired thicknesses. This process involves profile
rolling which gives the product a non-rectangular cross-section
in the shape of convex or concave polygons. The steel is then
hardened and tempered, the surface decarbonized, and a cutting
bevel ground on one or both edges to form the sharp cutting edges
necessary for clicker dies. These edges, which may at times be
serrated to cut textiles, are then heat treated a second time for
additional hardness. The steel is said to be unique in that it
has sufficient softness for bending to the desired die shape, yet
enough hardness on the edge(s) to maintain sharpness during
prolonged use. After importation, the customer cuts the steel to
length, bends it to the desired shape, then welds the two ends
together to complete the finished die.
You initially proposed classification in heading 7216,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), because,
in your opinion, the product conforms to the Chapter 72 legal
note defining Angles, shapes and sections, and heading 72.16
Explanatory Notes contemplate a broad range of further working
beyond manufacture and finishing. Alternatively, you maintain
that the provision for flat wire of nonalloy steel, in subheading
7217.21.10, HTSUS, is appropriate. This is because the width of
even the narrowest product exceeds its thickness by at least 4.75
times; therefore, the deviations from perfect straightness are
insignificant, the product is nearly horizontal, and is therefore
"flat" for tariff purposes. Finally, as a second alternative you
maintain that because this steel is used only for the manufacture
of clicker dies, it is provided for in heading 7208, either as an
unfinished die for drawing or extruding metal, or as part of such
dies.
The provisions under consideration are as follows:
7216 Angles, shapes and sections of iron or
nonalloy steel:
7216.90.00 Other...4.4 percent
* * * * *
7217 Wire of iron or nonalloy steel:
Containing by weight 0.25 percent or more
but less than 0.6 percent of carbon:
Not plated or coated, whether or not
polished:
7217.21.10 Flat wire...3.2 percent
7217.21.50 Other...5.5 percent - 3 -
* * * * *
8207 Interchangeable tools for handtools,
including dies for drawing or extruding
metal; base metal parts thereof:
8207.30 Tools for pressing, stamping or punching, and
parts thereof:
8207.30.60 Not suitable for cutting metal, and parts
thereof...3.7 percent
ISSUE:
Whether clicker die steel in coils is within the legal note
defining Wire; if so, whether it is flat wire for tariff
purposes.
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. Under Rule 6,
the classification of goods in subheadings of the same heading
shall be according to the terms of those subheadings and any
related subheading notes and, by appropriate substitution of
terms, according to Rules 1 through 5, on the understanding that
only subheadings at the same level are comparable.
The Harmonized Commodity Description And Coding System
Explanatory Notes (ENs) constitute the Customs Cooperation
Council's 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 notes should always be
consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23,
1989).
Initially, clicker die steel in coils, as described, is not
a flat-rolled product because it does not have a solid
rectangular cross section. Chapter 72, Note 1(k), HTSUS. This
note in part authorizes patterns in relief derived directly from
rolling (for example, grooves, ribs, checkers, tears, buttons,
lozenges) as an exception from this cross sectional requirement.
There is no argument made, or independent evidence that the
profile rolling of this steel into shapes with polygonal cross - 4 -
sections are such authorized patterns in relief. To qualify as
angles, shapes and sections, a product must have a uniform cross
section along its whole length and must not conform to the
definition for wire, among other things. Chapter 72, Note 1(n),
HTSUS. Finally, cold-formed products, in coils, of any uniform
solid cross section along their whole length, qualify as wire if
they do not conform to the legal note defining flat-rolled.
Chapter 72, Note 1(o), HTSUS.
Reading the cited notes together, the merchandise in issue
cannot be classified in heading 7216 if it is provided for as
wire, in heading 7217. In this regard, relevant ENs at p. 1004,
state that wire is produced by subjecting hot-rolled bars and
rods to any cold-forming process, usually drawing or rolling.
The notes state further that wire may be worked (e.g. crimped)
and remain in heading 72.17, provided it does not thereby assume
the character of articles or products of other headings. We do
not agree with your claim that clicker die steel cannot be
classified in the wire provisions because the heading 72.17 ENs
do not expressly list heat treating as an authorized step in wire
production. Because the cited ENs are silent on the issue of
heat treating, they are simply inconclusive in that regard. It
is clear that because of the mechanical stresses inherent in many
cold working operations, it is often necessary in producing wire
to anneal or otherwise heat treat wire rod or steel strip to
restore ductility and to permit additional cold working. HQ
081491, dated November 8, 1989, HQ 085295, dated November 20,
1989.
Within heading 7217, both the provision for flat wire and
the provision for other wire describe the clicker die steel in
issue. Pursuant to GRI 3(a), HTSUS, the provision for flat wire,
in subheading 7217.21.10, if it applies, would be the most
specific provision from among the provisions under consideration.
The term "flat" is not defined in any section or chapter note, or
in any Explanatory Note. It is therefore appropriate to consider
the common meaning of the term, as derived from dictionaries and
other lexicons. Because the term "flat" is more or less
uniformly defined in most dictionaries, we will examine the
following Webster's Third New International Dictionary definition
of the term cited in HQ 045791, dated July 27, 1976, a ruling
which considered a provision for flat wire in the Tariff
Schedules of the United States (TSUS):
"...having or marked by a continuous surface
that is horizontal or nearly so without
significant curvature or inclination and
noteworthy elevations or depressions."
The criteria you suggest for determining the flatness of the
clicker die steel in issue, i.e., that (visually) the samples are
more flat than they are polygonal or round, by measuring width to - 5 -
thickness ratios, or capability of tipping or rolling when placed
on a horizontal surface, are not objective and cannot be
uniformly applied. For this reason, it is Customs position to
regard slight deviations from straightness which result from
imprecise manufacturing techniques as insignificant. However, it
logically follows that tapers, bevels, and other deviations from
straightness that are designed into the steel, are to be regarded
as significant and noteworthy because they were intended. For
this reason, we do not consider the described clicker die steel
in issue to be flat for tariff purposes.
As to the heading 8207 classification, it is inaccurate to
claim under GRI 2(a) that the merchandise, as imported, has the
essential character of a cutting tool or part because the cutting
of cloth, leather and paper is "exactly what clicker die steel is
made to do." In fact, it is the clicker dies and not the steel
in coiled form, that are the tools encompassed by heading 8207.
You cite Doherty-Barrow of Texas, Inc. v. United States, 3 CIT
228 (1982), for the proposition that the coiled clicker die steel
qualifies as unfinished clicker dies because the steel is
dedicated solely to the manufacture of clicker dies and the
character and identity of the merchandise is fixed with
certainty. We disagree with your assessment of Doherty-Barrow
for several reasons. First, it is a case decided under the TSUS
and the concept of essential character is not discussed. Second,
the coiled steel strip in that case was to be cut to standard
lengths of either 9ft. 6in. or 11ft. 6in. There is no compelling
argument that the identity of individual cutting dies is
established in the coiled steel under consideration, particularly
where these dies vary so much in their configurations.
HOLDING:
Clicker die steel imported in coils of successively
superimposed layers is provided for as wire of iron or nonalloy
steel. Under the authority of GR1 3(a), applied at the
subheading level through GRI 6, the merchandise is classified as
other wire of iron or nonalloy steel, in subheading 7217.21.50,
HTSUS.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division
Source: rulings.cbp.gov — ruling 955297, retrieved 2026-10-12T05:28:42Z, republished verbatim. This digest is informational; only CBP issues binding rulings.