HQ 083795: Classification of Red Cedar "Short Boards"

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                                      HQ 083795


                                    May 26, 1989


          CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 083795 JLJ, 836257

          CATEGORY: Classification

          TARIFF NO.: 4418.50.0040

          Mr. Dennis L. Holman, Manager
          Norman G. Jensen, Inc.
          P.O. Box 1450
          Blaine, Washington 98230

          RE:  Classification of Red Cedar "Short Boards"

          Dear Mr. Holman:

               You requested a tariff classification ruling for a red cedar
          board imported from Canada for your client, Teal Cedar Products
          of British Columbia, Canada.  You submitted a sample along with
          your letter.

          FACTS:

               Similar merchandise has been ruled on previously by Customs
          Headquarters in Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 082694 of
          April 11, 1989 (copy enclosed).  HRL 082694 held that certain
          Western red cedar "short boards" were classified as unfinished
          shakes and shingles under the provision for shingles and shakes,
          of red cedar, in subheading 4418.50.0040, Harmonized Tariff
          Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).

               You refer to the instant merchandise as "a red cedar board
          that has been tapered to form the core of a shingle."  In a
          conversation with our New York office, you explained that, after
          importation into the United States, the boards are sawn in half
          across the thickness to produce two complete shingles with no
          change in width nor in length.

               The instant sample is a tapered red cedar board measuring
          18-1/4 inches long by approximately 10-11/16 inches wide.  It is
          7/8 inch (22 millimeters) thick at the butt end (i.e., thick end)
          and 9/32 inch (7 millimeters) thick at the tip (i.e., thin end).

















                                         -2-


          ISSUE:

               Are the instant red cedar boards classified as unfinished
          shakes and shingles?

          LAW AND ANALYSIS:

               There is a specific eo nomine provision for shingles and
          shakes of red cedar in subheading 4418.50.0040, HTSUSA, under
          Heading 4418, which specifically provides for shingles and
          shakes.

               The Explanatory Notes for Heading 4418, HTSUSA, define a
          "shingle" as follows:

               A shingle is wood sawn lengthwise which is generally thicker
               than 5 millimeters at one end (the butt) but thinner than 5
               millimeters at the other end (the tip).  It may have its
               edges resawn to be parallel; its butt may be resawn to be at
               right angles to its edges or to form a curve or other shape.
               One of its faces may be sanded from the butt to the tip or
               grooved along its length.

               The instant merchandise fits within this definition, except
          that its tip is 7 millimeters, not thinner than 5 millimeters.
          You argue that the instant merchandise has a tip which is too
          thick to fit within the definition set forth above.  We note that
          the Explanatory Notes state that a shingle's tip is
          "generally...thinner than 5 millimeters...."  This means that,
          while a shingle's tip is usually thinner than 5 millimeters, it
          need not always be thinner than 5 millimeters.  We further note
          that, once the instant merchandise is sawn in half in the United
          States to make the finished shingle, the tip of the final product
          will measure only 3-1/2 millimeters, which does fall within the
          dimensions set forth in the Explanatory Notes.

               You cite various other headings as possible classifications
          for these boards, but only Heading 4418 covers shingles and
          shakes.

               General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 2(a), HTSUSA, states
          that:

                    Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken
                    to include a reference to that article incomplete or
                    unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete
                    or unfinished article has the essential character of
                    the complete or finished article.***













                                         -3-


               Given the end use of the instant merchandise and the fact
          that it is one cutting operation away from being two shingles, we
          find that the precedent set in HRL 082694 applies to this
          merchandise also, i.e., that the instant red cedar boards have
          the essential character of shingles.  GRI 2(a) mandates that they
          be classified as unfinished shingles in subheading 4418.50.0040,
          HTSUSA, dutiable at the current rate of 20 percent ad valorem
          under HTSUSA subheading 9903.44.24.

          HOLDING:

               The instant red cedar boards are unfinished shingles and
          shakes.  They are classified in subheading 4418.50.0040, HTSUSA.

                                         Sincerely,




                                         John Durant, Director
                                         Commercial Rulings Division

          Enclosure






































          6cc: A.D., NY Seaport (NIS-230)
          1cc: P.D., Lynden, Wash.
          1cc: D.D., Seattle
          1cc: P.D., Sumas, Wash.
          JLJohnson:tj:05/23/89
          Jones Library
          name: 083795JLJ