HQ 962201

    November 9, 1998

CLA-2:RR:CR:GC 962201AML

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 7318.19.00

Mr. Michael Heugel
FASTENAL Company
2001 Theurer Boulevard
Winona, Minnesota 55987

Re: Reconsideration of PC B83642; Hollow Wall Anchor; New York Rulings D80467 and
825578

Dear Mr. Heugel:

This is further in regard to pre-entry classification ruling PC B83642, issued to you by the Customs Area Service Port, Champlain, New York, on April 11, 1997. In that ruling, a hollow wall anchor, item # 1.197, was classified under subheading 7318.15.2090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), as bolts and bolts and their nuts or washers entered or exported in the same shipment, other. Photocopies were forwarded for our examination. We have reviewed the classification of the item and determined that it is incorrect. This ruling sets forth the correct classification.

FACTS:

The item is a hollow wall fastener made of base metal and is sometimes called a “Molly” bolt. It is composed of a machine screw within a separate, T-shaped anchor with an internally threaded, hollow, roughly barrel-shaped stem design. The item is sold as a set, i.e., the screw and anchor are sold together and intended to be so used. The hollow, roughly barrel-shaped stem is comprised of a single metal cylinder, with solid metal circumferences at the top T and the bottom of the cylinder. Three tines are separated by slits on the cylinder, with each tine being slightly bent outward. Two teeth, or pointed prongs, are crafted on the underside of the T, such that the teeth embed in the wall and prevent the anchor from rotating as the anchor is tightened.
Tightening the screw causes the bottom of the cylinder to be drawn in towards the T, simultaneously bending the tines outward and compressing inward, creating and securing the anchor in place.

ISSUE:
Whether the item should be classified under subheading 7318.15.20, HTSUS, as a bolt; subheading 7318.15.50, HTSUS, as a stud; subheading 7318.15.60, HTSUS, as a screw; or 7318.19.00, HTSUS, as an other threaded article?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of imported merchandise for rate of duty and statistical purposes is accomplished pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Classification under the HTSUS is guided by the General Rules of Interpretation of the Harmonized System (GRI's). GRI 1, HTSUS, 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[.]” The applicable heading and subheadings under consideration are as follows:

7318         Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks,
rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers (including
spring washers) and similar articles, of iron or
steel:
Threaded articles:
7318.15        Other screws and bolts, whether or
not with their nuts or washers:

7318.15.20                    Bolts and bolts and their nuts or washers                             entered or exported in the same shipment

*    *    *

7318.15.50                    Studs.

7318.15.60                    Other.

*    *    *

7318.19.00         Other.

Pursuant to GRI 6, classification is to be made by applying the GRI’s in sequence to determine classification within a heading. Resort then must be made to the remaining GRI’s.

When interpreting and implementing the HTSUS, the Explanatory Notes (EN's) of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System may be utilized. The EN's, while neither legally binding nor dispositive, provide a guiding commentary on the scope of each heading, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. See, T.D. 89-90, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).

In the absence of a recognized industry standard, Customs traditionally classifies fasteners in accordance with their primary design characteristics. This classification criteria is reinforced by an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) specification which establishes a recommended procedure for determining the identity of externally threaded fasteners. See HQ 951362, dated June 24, 1992. ANSI describes bolts and screws as follows:

[a] bolt is an externally threaded fastener designed for insertion through holes in assembled parts, and is normally intended to be tightened or released by torquing a nut.

A screw is an externally threaded fastener capable of being inserted into holes in assembled parts, of mating with a preformed internal thread or forming its own thread, and of being tightened or released by torquing the head.

A bolt is designed for assembly with a nut. A screw has features in its design which makes it capable of being used in a tapped or other preformed hole in the work. Because of the basic design, it is possible to use certain types of screws in combination with a nut. Any externally threaded fastener which has a majority of the design characteristics which assist its proper use in a tapped or other preformed hole is a screw, regardless of how it is used in its service application.
ANSI/ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) B 18.2.1 (1981).

A stud, on the other hand, is a type of bolt, but is distinguished from a bolt by its intended service application. Studs are normally short rods or pins threaded on one or both ends, sometimes with heads on one end to allow them to be fixed in place resulting in a protuberance to which other articles may be suspended or attached by a nut or other means. While not necessarily encompassing the entire universe of fasteners that may be studs, Customs regards as studs articles that are within this definition, as cited in Fastening Devices, Inc. v. United States, 40 Cust. Ct. 345, C.D. 2004 (1958). See also, in regard to fasteners under consideration, EN 73.18 and S.I. Stud, Inc. v. United States, 17 CIT 661, aff’d, 24 F.3rd 1394 (1994); and Hafele America Co., Ltd. v. United States, 870 F. Supp. 352, 18 CIT 1096 (1994)(in which the Court of International Trade adopted the ANSI definition of “screws” for classification purposes.)

The subject item does not meet the above definition of a bolt because it is not designed to be tightened or loosened by torquing a nut, or even to be used with a nut. It cannot be classified as a screw because it does not mate with a preformed internal thread or form its own thread. Nor does the item qualify as a stud, since it is incapable of housing or supporting another object designed to be fastened to it. The device, by its function, is designed to be permanently affixed to a hollow wall. Despite having characteristics of the three primary types of fasteners, it also bears characteristics which preclude its classification eo nomine within any of those subheadings. The device is classifiable under the provision for threaded articles in heading 7318, HTSUS, in that it is similar to the articles described in the heading and it is a threaded article. Accordingly, since it is not classifiable under any of the specific provisions for threaded articles in heading 7318, HTSUS, under GRI 1 it is classifiable in subheading 7318.19.00, HTSUS.

This determination is supported by the trade publication “Assembly,” Hitchcock Publishing, 1990, p.13, which suggests classification of “Molly” bolts in subheading 7318.19.00, HTSUS, because of its idiosyncratic features.

This determination is further supported by New York Rulings (NYs) D80467 and 825578, dated August 7, 1998, and November 12, 1987, respectively, which classified similar “molly type hollow wall anchors” under subheading 7318.90, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

The Hollow Wall Anchor (Item # 1.197) is classified under the subheading 7318.19.00, HTSUS, as an other threaded article. The column 1, general rate of duty is 5.7%, ad valorem.

Pre-entry classification Ruling PC B83642 is modified as set forth in this ruling.


Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division