Customs tariff classification of Incoloy-800 turned on trade meaning, not chromium content, and it was not stainless steel.

Imported Incoloy-800 was held not to fall within "stainless steel" under Item 73.15(2) of the Customs Tariff; the material was treated as a nickel alloy rather than stainless steel after reference to scientific literature, commercial understanding, ASTM standards and its composition. The analysis rejected chromium content as the sole test, noting that stainless steel is a species of alloy steel but not every alloy steel qualifies. It was also held that the later statutory definition of "stainless steel" could not be read back into the earlier unamended entry, because the earlier wording did not justify that approach and the later amendment operated in a different scheme. Strict construction of taxing entries and trade meaning controlled classification.

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Issues: Whether the imported goods, Incoloy-800, were classifiable as "stainless steel" under Item 73.15(2) of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, or as alloy steel not elsewhere specified under Item 73.15(1); and whether the later tariff definition of "stainless steel" could be used as an aid to construe the earlier unamended tariff entry.

Analysis: The classification turned on the meaning of "stainless steel" in the unamended tariff, where the term was not defined. The goods were admittedly an alloy steel, but that by itself did not exclude them from Item 73.15(2), since stainless steel is itself a species of alloy steel. The Court rejected any approach that treated chromium content alone as decisive. It examined scientific treatises, commercial understanding, ASTM standards, and the composition of the imported goods, and found that the material corresponded more closely to a nickel alloy than to stainless steel. The Court also held that the definition introduced in the later amendment could not be read back as parliamentary exposition, because the earlier entry was not ambiguous in the manner required for that doctrine and the later definition operated in a materially different statutory scheme. In interpreting the fiscal entry, the Court applied the settled rule that a taxing provision must be construed strictly and that undefined words may be understood in their commercial or popular sense, but no material showed that Incoloy-800 was treated in trade as stainless steel.

Conclusion: The imported goods were not "stainless steel" within Item 73.15(2) and were not entitled to classification under that heading.

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