Commercial parlance test excludes specialised ceramic thread guides from porcelainware classification under tariff, placing them under residuary entry.

Ceramic thread guides imported for use in textile machinery were held not to be classifiable as porcelainware under Tariff Item 23B. The Tribunal applied the settled commercial or popular meaning test for tariff classification and found that specialised industrial components are not ordinarily understood in trade as porcelainware, even if made of porcelain. Because the goods had a distinct functional identity and were not goods commonly associated with tableware or similar articles, they fell under Tariff Item 68 as articles not elsewhere specified, in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether ceramic thread guides imported for use in textile machinery were classifiable for countervailing duty under Tariff Item 23B as porcelainware, or under Tariff Item 68 as articles not elsewhere specified.

Analysis: The classification turned on the meaning of "porcelainware" in commercial parlance, not on the mere fact that the goods were made of porcelain. Applying the settled test that tariff entries must be understood according to the popular or commercial sense attached to them by persons dealing in such goods, the Tribunal held that specialised industrial articles with a distinct functional identity are not ordinarily understood as porcelainware. The thread guides were specialised components used in textile machinery and did not answer the commercial description of porcelainware of the kind commonly associated with tableware or similar goods.

Conclusion: The goods were not classifiable under Tariff Item 23B and were correctly classifiable under Tariff Item 68 for countervailing duty purposes, in favour of the assessee.

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