Site fabrication of steel sections was not manufacture because the resulting structurals were not distinct marketable goods.

Fabrication of columns, beams, trusses, purlins and similar structurals by cutting, drilling, punching, welding and assembling duty-paid steel sections at site did not amount to manufacture. The Tribunal held that such steel sections remained the same articles after being adapted to site requirements and did not become distinct, marketable commodities merely because they were used in a particular building or structure. The demand based on classification under Heading 7308 therefore could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether fabrication of columns, beams, trusses, purlins and similar structurals by cutting, drilling, punching, welding and assembling duty-paid steel sections at site amounts to manufacture and results in excisable goods classifiable under Heading 7308.

Analysis: The Tribunal applied the principle that steel sections such as angles, channels, beams and sheets, when merely cut, drilled, punched or welded to suit a particular site requirement, do not cease to remain those very steel articles. The resulting structurals do not become independent marketable commodities merely because they are adapted for use in a particular building or structure. Reliance was placed on the earlier view that such items are not goods known to the market as distinct articles of commerce, and on the later affirmation of that view by the Supreme Court.

Conclusion: The fabrication process did not amount to manufacture of excisable goods, and the demand based on classification under Heading 7308 could not be sustained.

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