#  HQ 959280 

> DECEMBER 19, 2000
>
> **CLA-2 RR:CR:GC** 959280 JAS
>
> **CATEGORY:** Classification
>
> **TARIFF NO.:** Various
>
> Port Director of Customs
>
> 423 Canal Street
>
> New Orleans, LA 70130
>
> **RE**: Protest 2002-96-100074; Threaded Fasteners
>
> Dear Port Director:
>
> This is our decision on protest 2002-96-1000740, filed against your
> classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
> States (HTSUS), of threaded fasteners. The entries under protest were
> liquidated on February 23, 1996, and this protest timely filed on
> March 29, 1996.
>
> **FACTS**:

The articles at issue are four hundred and nine (409) threaded
fasteners.

They are listed by part number and other identifying characteristics in
Exhibit 1,

consisting of twelve (12) pages, attached to a Memorandum of Law filed
by

counsel for the importer in support of this protest.

The fasteners are all of iron or steel construction and are used in

assembling motor vehicles. They vary in length, are threaded along at
least part of

their shanks and have pilot, chamfered or as-rolled points. Counsel
notes that

most have hex heads (i.e., with six flat sides). Counsel further notes
that many

have washer faces (i.e., large, flat bearing surfaces on the underside
of the heads),

and that some have washers permanently attached. The fasteners were
entered

under a provision for heading 7318, HTSUS, for bolts and bolts and their
nuts or

washers entered or exported in the same shipment. The local import
specialist

determined that the fasteners conformed to a well-regarded industrial
standard for

screws, and liquidated the entries under another provision in heading
7318 for

other screws.

\- 2 -

Counsel for the protestant maintains that the fasteners are within the
common and commercial meaning of the term *bolt* contained both in
standard dictionaries and in more technical lexicons, and that these
sources do not rely on the standards used by Customs in classifying
threaded fasteners. Counsel also maintains the fasteners conform to
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards for
bolts. Since many of the fasteners under protest are manufactured,
bought, sold and referred to in the trade by their metric dimensions,
rather than by inches, the referenced ISO standards are the appropriate
measure of their classification.

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

7318. Screws, bolts...and similar articles; parts thereof:

      15. Other screws and bolts, whether or not with their nuts or

> washers:

20. Bolts and bolts and their nuts or washers

> entered or exported in the same shipment

Other:

60. Having shanks or threads with a diameter

> of less than 6 mm

80. Having shanks or threads with a diameter

> of 6 mm or more

**ISSUE**:

Whether the fasteners under protest are *bolts* or *screws* for tariff
purposes.

**LAW AND ANALYSIS**:

Under General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 1, Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States (HTSUS), goods are to be classified 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.

The HTSUS does not define the terms *bolt* or *screw*. These terms must
therefore be construed in accordance with their common and commercial
meanings which are presumed to be the same. The Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes, which Customs routinely
consults for guidance in

\- 3 -

interpreting the scope of the HTSUS, and standard dictionaries define
the terms in nearly identical fashion. These sources, however, do not
provide guidance from which the terms can be clearly differentiated. In
such cases, the courts consult industrial or commercial standards within
the affected industry, particularly those sanctioned by the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI). [See]{.underline} [THK America v.
United States]{.underline}, Slip Op. 93-207 (Ct. Int'l Trade, decided
November 1, 1993). When there is a recognized fastener standard
available to cover a particular article, Customs will accept that
standard as establishing the fastener's identity. Often, however, many
fasteners are found to be hybrids, that is, they have design
characteristics of different fastener types for which no one fastener
standard exists. This is the case here. Then, Customs relies on American
National Standards Institute/American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ANSI/ASME) Standard B18.2.1, which sets forth the recommended procedure
for differentiating bolts from screws. This 1981 specification was most
recently updated in 1996. Recently, in [Rocknel Fastener, Inc. v. United
States]{.underline}, Slip Op. 00-112 (Ct. Int'l Trade, decided August
29, 2000), the court sanctioned ANSI/ASME Standard B18.2.1 as
"provid\[ing\] a well-recognized, comprehensive basis for the common and
commercial meaning of bolt and screw as understood by the fastener
industry in the United States." The court implicitly rejected the claim
made by counsel in this protest that an international (ISO) standard
should be applied. Standard B18.2.1 specifies four primary criteria and
nine supplementary criteria. The [Rocknel]{.underline} court concluded
that the fasteners at issue in that case possessed at least five of the
nine supplementary design characteristics of a *screw* which identified
them as "externally threaded fasteners capable of being inserted into
holes in assembled parts, of mating with a preformed internal thread,
and of being tightened or released by torquing the head."

The [Glossary of Terms for Mechanical Fasteners]{.underline}, first
published by the American Standards Association in 1962, and sponsored
by the Society of Automotive Engineers and the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, contains the following definitions: *hexagon head*
-- the hexagon head has a flat or [indented]{.underline} top surface,
six flat sides, and a flat bearing surface (Underlining added).
[See]{.underline} p. 10; *chamfer point* - a truncated cone point, the
end of which is approximately flat and perpendicular to the fastener
axis. These points on threaded fasteners generally have point included
angles of 45 to 90 degrees and a point diameter equal to or slightly
less than the minor diameter of the thread. This point is intended to
facilitate entry of fasteners [into]{.underline} holes at assembly
(Underlining added). [See]{.underline} p. 15; *pilot point* - a
cylindrical point having a diameter somewhat smaller than the shank
diameter. It is designed to facilitate the alignment and starting of
such fasteners as [drive screws]{.underline} and groove pins
[into]{.underline} holes at assembly (Underlining added).
[See]{.underline} pp.15, 16.

\- 4 -

In addition, the United States Court of International Trade's
predecessor, the United States Customs Court, sanctioned Customs
longstanding practice of distinguishing cap screws from bolts based on
the presence of a washer face or its equivalent on the underside of the
head. A washer face is an embossed circle on the bearing surface, the
surface underneath the head of the fastener or such a circle with
chamfered corners which would be the equivalent of a washer face.
[See]{.underline} [Heads and Threads, Div. of MSL Industries, Inc. v.
United States]{.underline}, C.D. 3412, C.A.D. 960 (1969).

In [Rocknel]{.underline}, the court's classification as *screws* focused
on the fact that they were capable of being inserted [into]{.underline}
holes and of being torqued [by the head]{.underline}. Applying ANSI/ASME
Standard 18.2.1 to the fasteners listed in Exhibit 1, the following
findings are warranted.

Fastener part #2060635F00 is identified in Exhibit 1 as a stud bolt and
fastener part #52297DE700 is identified as a weld bolt. Customs does not
contest these designations. These fasteners are bolts classifiable in
subheading 7318.15.20, HTSUS.

Fasteners with head types identified in Exhibit 1 as hex flange head,
hex washer w/wlw, hex-washer face, hex wash face w/w, hex-cross recess,
hex-chf, hex-hex socket, hex-chamfer and hex-xrecess w/w, and fasteners
with points identified as chamfer, chfr+thrd, pilot, pilot.chfr, pilot
spc, p/c-pilot, pilot tap and taper - all with either a listed head
type, a listed point or both a listed head type and point - have design
features which suggest they are intended to be torqued by the head and
inserted into holes. These are design features of screws. These
fasteners are classifiable either in subheading 7318.15.60 or in
subheading 7318.15.80, HTSUS, as appropriate.

The design features of the following fasteners are not sufficiently
identified to support classification in subheading 7318.15.20 or to
permit us to independently determine their classification: part
#0112006301 with hex w/spw head type and rounded point, part #0112102871
with hex w/conspw head type and special point, parts #0112106281,
\*06291 and \*06301, each with hex w/spw head type and as rolled point,
part #0112106401 with hex w/wlw head type and as rolled point, part \#
119160M301 with hex special head type and as rolled point, part
#40222J6400 with N/A head type and N/A point, and part #5445931U16 with
hex w/spw&pw head type and paint cln point.

\- 5 -

**HOLDING**:

Under the authority of GRI 1, the fasteners found to be bolts are
classifiable in subheading 7318.15.20, HTSUS. The protest should be
[ALLOWED]{.underline} as to these fasteners.

The fasteners with a head type and point of the kind listed in this
decision, or with either of these design features, which are
characteristic of screws, i.e., are intended to be torqued by the head
and inserted into holes, are classifiable in subheading 7318.15.60 or in
subheading 7318.15.80, HTSUS, as appropriate. The protest should be
[DENIED]{.underline} as to these fasteners.

With respect to the fasteners the design features of which are not
sufficiently identified to support classification in subheading
7318.15.20, counsel for the protestant will be given an opportunity, not
to exceed 60 days from the date of this decision, to present evidence to
satisfy you that because of head design they are prevented from being
turned during assembly, and can only be tightened or released by
torquing a nut. The protest should be [ALLOWED]{.underline} or
[DENIED]{.underline} as to these fasteners as appropriate.

In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive 099 3550-065,
dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you are to
mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant
no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of
the entry or entries in accordance with the

decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision. Sixty days
from the date of the decision the Office of Regulations and Rulings will
make the decision available to Customs personnel, and to the public on
the Customs Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.customs.gov, by means
of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public
distribution.

> Sincerely,
>
> John Durant, Director
>
> Commercial Rulings Division