HQ 958820: Protest 3801-94-107760; Welding Wire; Universal Flux; Headings 3810, 7326, 8311; EN 38.10, 83.11

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 958820

                          June 26, 1996

CLA-2 RR:TC:MM 958820  RFA

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 3810.90.20, 8311.10.00


Port Director 
U.S. Customs Service
477 Michigan Avenue 
Detroit, MI  48226 


RE:  Protest 3801-94-107760; Welding Wire; Universal Flux;
     Headings 3810, 7326, 8311; EN 38.10, 83.11


Dear District Director:

     The following is our decision regarding Protest 3801-94-107760, which concerns the classification of welding wire and
universal flux under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS). 

FACTS:

     The subject merchandise consists of a welding wire labeled
as "Weldclad 3TR", and a granular gray-tan powder labeled as
"Weldclad Universal Flux".  The welding wire is composed of an
uncoated wire with a hollow core containing a ferro-alloy powder. 


     The merchandise was entered under subheading 8311.10.00,
HTSUS, as coated electrodes of base metal, for electric arc-welding.  The entry was liquidated on   November 14, 1994, for
the welding wire under subheading 7326.90.90, HTSUS, as other
articles of iron or steel, and for the universal flux under
subheading 3810.10.00, HTSUS, as soldering, brazing or welding
powders and pastes consisting of metal and other materials.  The
protest was timely filed on December 15, 1994. 

     Classification of the granular gray-tan powder under
subheading 3810.90.20, HTSUS, as soldering, brazing or welding
powders and pastes consisting wholly of inorganic substances, is
also under consideration.

     The 1994 subheadings under consideration are as follows:

     3810:     Pickling preparations for metal surfaces; fluxes
               and other auxiliary preparations for soldering,
               brazing or welding; soldering, brazing or welding
               powders and pastes consisting of metal and other
               materials; preparations of a kind used as cores or
               coatings for welding electrodes or rods:

     3810.10.00:    Pickling preparations for metal surfaces;
                    soldering, brazing or welding powders and
                    pastes consisting of metal and other
                    materials. . . . 

          Goods classifiable under this provision had a general,
          column one rate of duty of 5 percent ad valorem. 

     3810.90.20:    Other: [c]onsisting wholly of inorganic
                    substances. . . .

          Goods classifiable under this provision have a general,
          column one rate of duty of free. 

     7326.90.90:    Other articles of iron or steel: [o]ther:
                    [o]ther: [o]ther . . . .

          Goods classifiable under this provision have a general,
          column one rate of duty of 5.7 percent ad valorem.

     8311.10.00:    Wire, rods, tubes, plates, electrodes and
                    similar products of base metal or of metal
                    carbides, coated or cored with flux material,
                    of a kind used for soldering, brazing,
                    welding or deposition of metal or of metal
                    carbides. . . : [c]oated electrodes of base
                    metal, for electric arc-welding. . . . . 

          Goods classifiable under this provision have a general,
          column one rate of duty of free.

ISSUE:

     Whether the welding wire contains flux material?  Whether
the granular powder by itself is classifiable as flux? 

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).  GRI
1 provides that classification shall be determined according to
the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter
notes.

     According to the information provided by the protestant, the
Universal Flux is made of several different inorganic substances
and is provided for under heading 3810, HTSUS.   The Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN)
constitute the official interpretation of the HTSUS.  While not
legally binding or dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on
the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally
indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See
T.D. 89-80, 54 FR 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).  EN 38.10
provides in pertinent part: 

          (2)  Fluxes and other auxiliary preparations for
     soldering, brazing or welding. Fluxes are used to
     facilitate the joining of the metals in the process of
     soldering, brazing or welding, by protecting the metal
     surfaces to be joined and the solder itself from
     oxidation. They have the property of dissolving the
     oxide which forms during the operation. Zinc chloride,
     ammonium chloride, sodium tetraborate, rosin and
     lanolin are the products most commonly used in these
     preparations.

          This group also includes mixtures of aluminum
     granules or powder with various metallic oxides (e.g.,
     iron oxide) used as intense heat-generators
     (alumino-thermic process) in welding operations, etc.

     Samples of the gray-tan powder were submitted to Customs
Laboratory for testing.  Customs Laboratory Report 2-96-21209-001
dated March 18, 1996, supports the claim by the protestant that
the gray-tan powder is a mixture of inorganic compounds which can
be used as a flux.   Therefore, we find that the powder is
properly classifiable under subheading 3810.90.20, HTSUS, as flux
made wholly of inorganic substances.  

     The protestant also states that the Weldclad 3TR is
classifiable under heading 8311, HTSUS, as welding wire for
electric arc welding.  EN 83.11 states that:

     This heading covers wire, rods, tubes, plates,
     electrodes and similar products, of base metal or of
     metal carbides, of a kind used for soldering, brazing,
     welding or deposition of metal or of metal carbides,
     provided they are coated or cored with flux material:
     in the latter case, the outer part is usually composed
     of a tube or sometimes of a spirally wrapped strip.
     Wire, rods, tubes, plates, electrodes, etc., of base
     metal not coated or cored with flux material are
     excluded (Chapters 72 to 76 and 78 to 81).

     The materials used for coating or coring are the flux
     (e.g., zinc chloride, ammonium chloride, borax, quartz,
     resin or lanolin) which would otherwise have to be
     added separately during the soldering, brazing, welding
     or deposition process. The electrodes, etc., may also
     contain the additive metal in powder form. In electric
     welding, the coating may also contain some
     heat-resistant material (asbestos, etc.) to direct the
     electric arc onto the part to be welded.

     For electric arc-welding, coated electrodes or cored
     wire are used. The former consists of a metal core and
     a coating of non-metal material which may be of various
     thicknesses and compositions. Cored wire is a hollow
     product filled with material similar to that used for
     the coating of electrodes. This wire is presented in
     coils or on spools.

     Prepared metal brazing plates are inserted between the
     parts to be joined (usually for iron or steel). They
     consist of a metal strip, wire cloth or grill, coated
     with the flux; they may be specially shaped for use, or
     in strip form suitable for cutting as required.

     The heading also includes wire and rods obtained by
     extruding base metal powder (usually nickel)
     agglomerated with an excipient based on plastics, and
     used for spraying metal onto various materials (e.g.,
     metals or cement).

     Customs Laboratory Report 3-94-31222-001 dated July 19,
1994, supports the claim by the protestant that the Weldclad 3TR
is a wire cored with ferro-alloys.   The ferro-alloy powder is
the flux used in the automatic submerged arc welding process.
Therefore, we find that the Weldclad 3TR is properly classifiable
under subheading 8311.10.00, HTSUS, as coated electrodes of base
metal, for electric arc-welding.

HOLDING:

     The Weldclad 3TR is classifiable under subheading
8311.10.00, HTSUS, which provides for: "[w]ire, rods, tubes,
plates, electrodes and similar products of base metal or of metal
carbides, coated or cored with flux material, of a kind used for
soldering, brazing, welding or deposition of metal or of metal
carbides. . . : [c]oated electrodes of base metal, for electric
arc-welding. . . . ."

     The Universal Flux is classifiable under subheading
3810.90.20, HTSUS, which provides for: "[p]ickling preparations
for metal surfaces; fluxes and other auxiliary preparations for
soldering, brazing or welding; soldering, brazing or welding
powders and pastes consisting of metal and other materials;
preparations of a kind used as cores or coatings for welding
electrodes or rods: [o]ther: [c]onsisting wholly of inorganic
substances. . . ."

     The protest should be GRANTED.  In accordance with Section
3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065, dated August 4,
1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, this decision, together
with the Customs Form 19, should be mailed by your office to the
protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. 
Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision
must be accomplished prior to mailing of 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 the public
via the Diskette Subscription Service, Freedom of Information Act
and other public access channels.

                              Sincerely,



                              John Durant, Director
                              Tariff Classification Appeals
Division