Essential character under Rule 2(a) required classification of imported forgings as finished boiler feed pump motor components.

Rule 2(a) applies where imported goods, though incomplete, have the essential character of the finished article and require only minor completion. The imported rough machined banding ring forgings were made to detailed specifications for a boiler feed pump motor, had the approximate shape and contour of the finished component, and were usable only for completion into that part. Post-import operations such as splitting, groove cutting, dimension adjustment and surface finishing were treated as fitment work, not substantial manufacture. They were therefore classifiable as the finished component under Heading 84.11(1), and not under the headings adopted by Customs.

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Issues: Whether rough machined banding ring forgings imported for use as component parts of boiler feed pump motors were classifiable under Heading 84.11(1) by application of Interpretative Rule 2(a), on the footing that they had the essential character of the finished article and required only minor fitment operations after import.

Analysis: Rule 2(a) treats a reference to an article as including incomplete or unfinished articles that, as imported, have the essential character of the complete or finished article. The relevant inquiry is whether the imported goods have attained the approximate shape or outline of the finished article, whether they can only be used for completion into that article, and whether their nature, bulk, quantity, weight and value support that conclusion. The cost of post-importation operations was held not to be a reliable or decisive test. On the facts, the imported forgings were made to detailed specifications for a particular machine, had the required shape and contour apart from limited finishing work, and the subsequent operations of splitting, groove cutting, dimension adjustment and surface finishing were treated as fitment operations rather than substantial manufacture.

Conclusion: Rule 2(a) applied and the imported goods were required to be classified as the finished component under Heading 84.11(1), not under the headings adopted by Customs.

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