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U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule

CHAPTER 72

iron and steel

72-1

Notes

1. In this chapter and, in the case of notes (d), (e) and (f) below throughout the tariff schedule, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:
- (a) Pig iron
  Iron-carbon alloys not usefully malleable, containing more than 2 percent by weight of carbon and which may contain by weight one or more other elements within the following limits:
  
  - not more than 10 percent of chromium
  
  - not more than 6 percent of manganese
  
  - not more than 3 percent of phosphorus
  
  - not more than 8 percent of silicon
  
  - a total of not more than 10 percent of other elements.
- (b) Spiegeleisen
  Iron-carbon alloys containing by weight more than 6 percent but not more than 30 percent of manganese and otherwise conforming to the specification at (a) above.
- (c) Ferroalloys
  Alloys in pigs, blocks, lumps or similar primary forms, in forms obtained by continuous casting and also in granular or powder forms, whether or not agglomerated, commonly used as an additive in the manufacture of other alloys or as deoxidants, desulfurizing agents or for similar uses in ferrous metallurgy and generally not usefully malleable, containing by weight 4 percent or more of the element iron and one or more of the following:
  
  - more than 10 percent of chromium
  
  - more than 30 percent of manganese
  
  - more than 3 percent of phosphorus
  
  - more than 8 percent of silicon
  
  - a total of more than 10 percent of other elements, excluding carbon, subject to a maximum content of 10 percent in the case of copper.
- (d) Steel
  Ferrous materials other than those of heading 7203 which (with the exception of certain types produced in the form of castings) are usefully malleable and which contain by weight 2 percent or less of carbon. However, chromium steels may contain higher proportions of carbon.
- (e) Stainless steel
  Alloy steels containing, by weight 1.2 percent or less of carbon and 10.5 percent or more of chromium, with or without other elements.
- (f) Other alloy steel
  Steels not complying with the definition of stainless steel and containing by weight one or more of the following elements in the proportion shown:
  
  - 0.3 percent or more of aluminum
  
  - 0.0008 percent or more of boron
  
  - 0.3 percent or more of chromium
  
  - 0.3 percent or more of cobalt
  
  - 0.4 percent or more of copper
  
  - 0.4 percent or more of lead
  
  - 1.65 percent or more of manganese
  
  - 0.08 percent or more of molybdenum
  
  - 0.3 percent or more of nickel
  
  - 0.06 percent or more of niobium
  
  - 0.6 percent or more of silicon.
  
  - 0.05 percent or more of titanium
  
  - 0.3 percent or more of tungsten (wolfram)
  
  - 0.1 percent or more of vanadium
  
  - 0.05 percent or more of zirconium
  
  - 0.1 percent or more of other elements (except sulfur, phosphorus, carbon and nitrogen), taken separately.
- (g) Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel
  Products roughly cast in the form of ingots without feeder-heads or hot tops, or of pigs, having obvious surface faults and not complying with the chemical composition of pig iron, spiegeleisen or ferroalloys.
- (h) Granules
  Products of which less than 90 percent by weight passes through a sieve with a mesh aperture of 1 mm and of which 90 percent or more by weight passes through a sieve with a mesh aperture of 5 mm.
- (ij) Semifinished products
  Continuous cast products of solid section, whether or not subjected to primary hot-rolling; and
  
  Other products of solid section, which have not been further worked than subjected to primary hot-rolling or roughly shaped by forging, including blanks for angles, shapes or sections.
  
  These products are not presented in coils.
- (k) Flat-rolled products
  Rolled products of solid rectangular (other than square) cross section, which do not conform to the definition at (ij) above in the form of:
  
  - coils of successively superimposed layers, or
  
  - straight lengths, which if of a thickness less than 4.75 mm are of a width measuring at least 10 times the thickness or if of a thickness of 4.75 mm or more are of a width which exceeds 150 mm and measures at least twice the thickness.
  
  Flat-rolled products include those with patterns in relief derived directly from rolling (for example, grooves, ribs, checkers, tears, buttons, lozenges) and those which have been perforated, corrugated or polished, provided that they do not thereby assume the character of articles or products of other headings.
  
  Flat-rolled products of a shape other than rectangular or square, of any size, are to be classified as products of a width of 600 mm or more, provided that they do not assume the character of articles or products of other headings.
- (l) Bars and rods, hot-rolled, in irregularly wound coils
  Hot-rolled products in irregularly wound coils, which have a solid cross section in the shape of circles, segments of circles, ovals, rectangles (including squares), triangles or other convex polygons (including "flattened circles" and "modified rectangles", of which two opposite sides are convex arcs, the other two sides being straight, of equal length and parallel). These products may have indentations, ribs, grooves or other deformations produced during the rolling process (reinforcing bars and rods).
- (m) Other bars and rods
  Products which do not conform to any of the definitions at (ij), (k) or (l) above or to the definition of wire, which have a uniform solid cross section along their whole length in the shape of circles, segments of circles, ovals, rectangles (including squares), triangles or other convex polygons (including "flattened circles" and "modified rectangles", of which two opposite sides are convex arcs, the other two sides being straight, of equal length and parallel). These products may:
  
  - have indentations, ribs, grooves or other deformations produced during the rolling process (reinforcing bars and rods);
  
  - be twisted after rolling.
- (n) Angles, shapes and sections
  Products having a uniform solid cross section along their whole length which do not conform to any of the definitions at (ij), (k), (l) or (m) above or to the definition of wire.
  
  Chapter 72 does not include products of heading 7301 or 7302.
- (o) Wire
  Cold-formed products in coils, of any uniform solid cross section along their whole length, which do not conform to the definition of flat-rolled products.
- (p) Hollow drill bars and rods
  Hollow bars and rods of any cross section, suitable for drills, of which the greatest external dimension of the cross section exceeds 15 mm but does not exceed 52 mm, and of which the greatest internal dimension does not exceed one half of the greatest external dimension. Hollow bars and rods of iron or steel not conforming to this definition are to be classified in heading 7304.
2. Ferrous metals clad with another ferrous metal are to be classified as products of the ferrous metal predominating by weight.
3. Iron or steel products obtained by electrolytic deposition, by pressure casting or by sintering are to be classified according to their form, their composition and their appearance, in the headings of this chapter appropriate to similar hot-rolled products.

Subheading Notes

1. In this chapter the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:
- (a) Alloy pig iron
  Pig iron containing, by weight, one or more of the following elements in the specified proportions:
  
  - more than 0.2 percent of chromium
  
  - more than 0.3 percent of copper
  
  - more than 0.3 percent of nickel
  
  - more than 0.1 percent of any of the following elements: aluminum, molybdenum, titanium, tungsten (wolfram), vanadium.
- (b) Nonalloy free-cutting steel
  Nonalloy steel containing by weight one or more of the following elements in the specified proportions:
  
  - 0.08 percent or more of sulfur
  
  - 0.1 percent or more of lead
  
  - more than 0.05 percent of selenium
  
  - more than 0.01 percent of tellurium
  
  - more than 0.05 percent of bismuth.
- (c) Silicon electrical steel
  Alloy steels containing by weight at least 0.6 percent but not more than 6 percent of silicon and not more than 0.08 percent of carbon. They may also contain by weight not more than 1 percent of aluminum but no other element in a proportion that would give the steel the characteristics of another alloy steel.
- (d) High-speed steel
  Alloy steels containing, with or without other elements, at least two of the three elements molybdenum, tungsten and vanadium with a combined content by weight of 7 percent or more, 0.6 percent or more of carbon and 3 to 6 percent of chromium.
- (e) Silico-manganese steel
  Alloy steels containing by weight:
  
  - not more than 0.7 percent of carbon,
  
  - 0.5 percent or more but not more than 1.9 percent of manganese, and
  
  - 0.6 percent or more but not more than 2.3 percent of silicon, but no other element in a proportion that would give the steel the characteristics of another alloy steel.
2. For the classification of ferroalloys in the subheadings of heading 7202 the following rule should be observed:
A ferroalloy is considered as binary and classified under the relevant subheading (if it exists) if only one of the alloy elements exceeds the minimum percentage laid down in chapter note 1(c); by analogy, it is considered respectively as ternary or quaternary if two or three alloy elements exceed the minimum percentage.

For the application of this rule, the unspecified "other elements" referred to in chapter note 1(c) must each exceed 10 percent by weight.

Additional U.S. Notes

1. For the purposes of the tariff schedule the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:
- (a) High-strength steel
  Flat-rolled products of a thickness of less than 3 mm and having a minimum yield point of 275 MPa or of a thickness of 3 mm or more and having a minimum yield point of 355 MPa.
- (b) Universal mill plate
  Flat-rolled products rolled on four faces or in a closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 mm but not exceeding 1,250 mm and of thickness of not less than 4 mm, not in coils and without patterns in relief.
- (c) Concrete reinforcing bars and rods
  Hot-rolled bars and rods containing indentations, ribs, grooves or other deformations produced during the rolling process or twisted after rolling.
- (d) Razor blade steel
  Flat-rolled products of stainless steel not over 0.25 mm in thickness and not over 23 mm in width, and containing by weight not over 14.7 percent of chromium, certified at the time of entry to be used in the manufacture of razor blades.
- (e) Tool steel
  Alloy steels which contain the following combinations of elements in the quantity by weight respectively indicated:
  - (i) more than 1.2 percent carbon and more than 10.5 percent chromium; or
  - (ii) not less than 0.3 percent carbon and 1.25 percent or more but less than 10.5 percent chromium; or
  - (iii) not less than 0.85 percent carbon and 1 percent to 1.8 percent, inclusive, manganese; or
  - (iv) 0.9 percent to 1.2 percent, inclusive, chromium and 0.9 percent to 1.4 percent, inclusive, molybdenum; or
  - (v) not less than 0.5 percent carbon and not less than 3.5 percent molybdenum; or
  - (vi) not less than 0.5 percent carbon and not less than 5.5 percent tungsten.
- (f) Chipper knife steel
  Alloy tool steels which contain, in addition to iron, each of the following elements by weight in the amount specified:
  - (i) not less than 0.48 nor more than 0.55 percent of carbon;
  - (ii) not less than 0.2 nor more than 0.5 percent of manganese;
  - (iii) not less than 0.75 nor more than 1.05 percent of silicon;
  - (iv) not less than 7.25 nor more than 8.75 percent of chromium;
  - (v) not less than 1.25 nor more than 1.75 percent of molybdenum;
  - (vi) none, or not more than 1.75 percent of tungsten; and
  - (vii) not less than 0.2 nor more than 0.55 percent of vanadium.
- (g) Heat-resisting steel
  Alloy steels containing by weight less than 0.3 percent of carbon and 4 percent or more but less than 10.5 percent of chromium.
- (h) Ball-bearing steel
  Alloy tool steels which contain, in addition to iron, each of the following elements by weight in the amount specified:
  - (i) not less than 0.95 nor more than 1.13 percent of carbon;
  - (ii) not less than 0.22 nor more than 0.48 percent of manganese;
  - (iii) none, or not more than 0.03 percent of sulfur;
  - (iv) none, or not more than 0.03 percent of phosphorus;
  - (v) not less than 0.18 nor more than 0.37 percent of silicon;
  - (vi) not less than 1.25 nor more than 1.65 percent of chromium;
  - (vii) none, or not more than 0.28 percent of nickel;
  - (viii) none, or not more than 0.38 percent of copper; and
  - (ix) none, or not more than 0.09 percent of molybdenum.
2. For the purposes of this chapter, unless the context provides otherwise, the term "further worked" refers to products subjected to any of the following surface treatments: polishing and burnishing; artificial oxidation; chemical surface treatments such as phosphatizing, oxalating and borating; coating with metal; coating with nonmetallic substances (e.g., enameling, varnishing, lacquering, painting, coating with plastics materials); or cladding.
3. No allowance or reduction of duties for partial damage or loss in consequence of discoloration or rust occurring before entry shall be made upon iron or steel or upon any article of iron or steel.

Statistical Notes

1. For the purposes of the tariff schedule, the expression high-nickel alloy steel refers to alloy steel containing by weight 24 percent or more of nickel, with or without other elements.
2. For the purposes of subheading 7204.10, waste and scrap of cast iron includes but is not necessarily limited to: cupola cast (ISRI number 252); charging box cast (ISRI number 253); heavy breakable cast (ISRI number 254); hammer blocks or bases (ISRI number 255); burnt iron (ISRI number 256); mixed cast (ISRI number 257); stove plate, clean cast iron stove (ISRI number 258); clean auto cast (ISRI numbers 259, 262 and 263); motor blocks (ISRI number 260); drop broken machinery cast (ISRI number 261); malleable (ISRI number 264); ingot molds and stools (ISRI numbers 265 and 266); and railroad ferrous scrap consisting of cast iron No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, cast iron brake shoes and No. 1 wheels.
3. For the purposes of subheading 7204.41 or 7204.49 the expression:
- (a) No. 1 heavy melting includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
  No. 1 heavy melting steel (ISRI numbers 200, 201 and 202); bundled No. 1 steel (ISRI number 217); cast steel (ISRI number 233); springs and crankshafts (ISRI number 244); ship scrap; and railroad ferrous scrap consisting of cast steel No. 1 and No. 2, railroad No. 1 melting steel, spring steel, destroyed steel cars, destroyed steel car sides and box car roofs (note: other types of railroad ferrous scrap are included in some of the grades listed below);
- (b) No. 2 heavy melting includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
  No. 2 heavy melting steel (ISRI numbers 203, 204, 205 and 206); bundled No. 2 steel (ISRI number 218); foundry steel (ISRI numbers 242 and 243); and hard steel cut 76 cm and under (ISRI number 248);
- (c) No. 1 bundles includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
  No. 1 busheling (ISRI number 207); new black sheet clippings (ISRI number 207A); No. 1 bundles (ISRI number 208); electric furnace bundles (ISRI number 235); silicon-bearing steel busheling, clippings, and bundles (ISRI numbers 239, 240 and 250); No. 1 railroad ferrous sheet scrap; and car clips;
- (d) No. 2 bundles includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
  No. 2 bundles (ISRI number 209); No. 3 bundles (ISRI number 214); incinerator bundles (ISRI number 215); terne plate bundles (ISRI number 216); and auto slabs (ISRI numbers 224 and 225);
- (e) Borings, shovelings and turnings includes, but it not necessarily limited to:
  Machine shop turnings, shoveling turnings and iron borings (ISRI numbers 219, 220, 221, 222 and 223); briquetted iron borings (ISRI number 226); briquetted steel turnings (ISRI number 227); alloy free turnings (ISRI numbers 245, 246 and 247); heavy turnings (ISRI number 251); chemical borings, No. 1 and No. 2 (ISRI numbers 267 and 271); malleable borings (ISRI number 270); steel shavings; and railroad ferrous scrap consisting of No. 1 turnings and No. 2 turnings, drillings and/or borings;
- (f) Shredded scrap includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
  Shredded clippings (ISRI number 212); and shredded automobile scrap (ISRI numbers 210 and 211);
- (g) Cut plate and structural includes but is not necessarily limited to:
  Billet, bloom and forge crops (ISRI number 229); bar crops, punchings and plate scrap (ISRI numbers 230 and 234); plate and structural (ISRI numbers 231, 232, 236, 237 and 238); chargeable ingots and ingot butts (ISRI number 241); and chargeable slab crops (ISRI number 249).
4.
- (a) “Advanced” high strength steel refers to flat-rolled products of a thickness of less than 3 mm that meet the definition of high-strength steel in Additional U.S. Note 1(a) to chapter 72 and have a minimum tensile strength of 590 MPa or more but less than 980 MPa. “Ultra” high-strength steel refers to flat-rolled products of a thickness of less than 3 mm that meet the definition of high-strength steel in Additional U.S. Note 1(a) to chapter 72 and have a minimum tensile strength of 980 MPa or more.
- (b) "Other” high-strength steel refers to flat-rolled products of a thickness of less than 3 mm that meet the definition of high-strength steel in Additional U.S. Note 1(a) to chapter 72 and have a minimum tensile strength of less than 590 MPa.
5. Tire cord-quality steel wire rod
Rod measuring 5.0 mm or more but not more than 6.0 mm in cross-sectional diameter, with an average partial decarburization of no more than 70 micrometers in depth (maximum 200 micrometers); having no non-deformable inclusions with a thickness (measured perpendicular to the rolling direction) greater than 20 micrometers; and, containing by weight the following elements in proportions:

– 0.68 percent or more carbon,

– less than 0.01 percent of aluminum,

– 0.040 percent or less, in aggregate, of phosphorus and sulfur,

– 0.008 percent or less of nitrogen, and

– not more than 0.55 percent, in the aggregate, of copper, nickel and chromium.
6. Cold Heading Quality (CHQ)
Rod suitable for cold heading, forging, or thread rolling, and meeting standard ASTM F2282.
7. Welding quality wire rod
Rod measuring less than 10 mm in diameter having less than 0.2 percent carbon, less than 0.04 percent sulfur, and less than 0.04 percent phosphorus, suitable for drawing or rolling to final size for use as:
- (i) an uncoated or plated or copper coated solid welding wire or rod;
- (ii) the core wire or core rod for covered shielded metal arc (“SMAW”) welding electrode, or
- (iii) the formed jacket of a flux cored welding electrode
that is suitable for consumption in the electric arc welding process.
8. Spring round wire
For the purposes of statistical reporting number 7223.00.1005, the term “spring round wire” means wire suitable for the manufacture of springs and meeting ASTM standard A313.