HQ 083368: Request for further review of protest No. 1704-6-00297concerning the classification of clicker die steel in coils

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 083368

                          June 11, 1990


CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 083368 TLS

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 609.84

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
1-3 East Bay Street
Savannah, Georgia  31401

RE: Request for further review of protest No. 1704-6-00297
concerning the classification of clicker die steel in coils

Dear Sir:

     Application for further review of protest 1704-6-00297
covering certain entries involving the classification of clicker
die steel under the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS)
has been referred to this office.  Our reply is discussed in
detail below.

FACTS:

     The merchandise at issue is described as clicker die steel
or die steel in coils.  It is composed of carbon steel and is
intended to be used in cutting blades or dies for cutting soft
materials.  The die steel is 0.080 to 0.157 inches thick
(approximately 2.03 to 3.988 mm) and 0.730 to 2.0 inches (approx.
18.54 to 50.8 mm) in width with a beveled edge.

     The clicker die steel is produced by taking a hot rolled
steel coil and cold rolling it to the desired thickness.  It is
then slit to the required width and the beveled edge is rolled or
stamped into the cross section of the cutting blade.  The coil is
then hardened in a furnace.  After being hardened, the beveled
edge is sharpened and the cutting edge is hardened.  The coils
are then strapped, wrapped, and packaged. 

ISSUE:

     Under which of the following TSUS items is the clicker die
steel properly classifiable:

     609.14, TSUS, covering plates, sheets, and strip, all the
foregoing, of iron or steel, cut, pressed, or stamped to
nonrectangular shape; other than alloy iron or steel;

     609.84, TSUS, covering angles, shapes, and sections, all the
foregoing, of iron or steel, hot rolled, forged, extruded, or
drawn, or cold formed or cold finished, whether or not drilled,
punched, or otherwise advanced; sheet piling of iron or steel;
other than alloy iron or steel.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     The importer argues that the die steel coil is a strip
classifiable under TSUS item 609.14.  A strip is defined under
TSUS Schedule 6, Part 2, Subpart B, headnote 3(h), as "a flat
rolled product whether or not corrugated or crimped, in coils or
cut to length, under 0.1875 inch in thickness, and if cold
rolled, over 0.50 inch but not over 12 inches in width...."  The
subject article cannot be considered a flat rolled product
because the beveled edge is rolled into the surface of the
product, thus working it beyond what is considered flat rolled. 
We refer to two Customs Court cases to illustrate our point.

     In Sandvik Steel, Inc. v. United States, 75 Cust. Ct. 68,
C.D. 4609 (1975), the court held that shoe die knife steel was
properly classifiable as a shape because it had been advanced
beyond a strip.  It was held in another case that a product is
classifiable as an angle, shape, or section when it is advanced
to the point where it is dedicated for a particular use. 
Pistorino & Co. v. United States, 69 Cust. Ct. 48, C.D. 4373
(1972).  In the present case, the steel has been rolled and
worked to the point that when it is ultimately completed it will
be used as a blade for cutting soft materials.  It has been
beveled on one edge and the edge has been sharpened and hardened
with that particular use in mind.  Furthermore, this merchandise
cannot be classified as a strip cut, pressed, or stamped to non-
rectangular shape because during its manufacture it has never
been a strip which is then cut, pressed, or stamped.  In fact, it
is a rolled shape which has not been cut, pressed, or stamped. 
Therefore, we find the clicker die steel to be properly
classifiable as a shape of other than alloy iron or steel under
item 609.84, TSUS.

HOLDING:

     The clicker die steel is classified under item 609.84, TSUS,
as a shape, cold formed and advanced, of other than alloy iron or
steel.  The above-referenced protest should be denied.  A copy of
this decision should be attached to the form 19, Notice of
Action.

                              Sincerely,


                              John Durant, Director