Product classification under iron and steel tariff entries turns on manufacturing process and finished condition of the goods.

Classification of the assessee's iron and steel product depended on the manufacturing process and the condition of the goods at clearance. The goods were found to have undergone rolling, cutting, heating, forging, heat treatment and tempering, and to have been cleared as a fully finished product without further processing. On that factual basis, the product was treated as falling under Tariff Item 73.08 rather than Tariff Item 72.08. The concurrent factual findings of the adjudicating authority and the Tribunal were not shown to be perverse, so there was no basis for appellate interference and the classification was sustained.

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Issues: Whether the appellant's product was classifiable under Tariff Item No. 72.08 as pieces roughly shaped by rolling or forging of iron or steel, or under Tariff Item No. 73.08 as other articles of iron and steel.

Analysis: The classification turned on the nature of the manufacturing process and the condition of the goods at the time of clearance. The findings recorded by the adjudicating authority and affirmed by the Tribunal showed that the product underwent rolling, cutting, heating, forging, heat treatment and tempering, and was cleared as a fully finished product without further processing. As the classification was founded on a factual determination, and the Tribunal was the authority on facts, no basis for interference was made out.

Conclusion: The product was not shown to be misclassified, and the finding that it fell under Tariff Item No. 73.08 was upheld.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed and the classification adopted against the assessee was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where classification depends on factual findings regarding the manufacturing process and the finished condition of the goods, such concurrent findings of fact will not ordinarily be interfered with in appeal.

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