Semi-finished drill blanks were held outside tool classification and placed under the residuary tariff entry.

Drill blanks that remained semi-finished and required further processing before becoming usable tools were not classifiable as tools under Tariff Item 51A(iii). Goods that have not yet acquired the shape, character, or commercial identity of the final article cannot be classified by intended end use alone. The residuary Tariff Item 68 applied because the blanks were unfinished and incapable of direct use as tools. On that basis, the assessee's classification position prevailed and the departmental classification was set aside.

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Issues: Whether drill blanks were classifiable as tools under Tariff Item 51A(iii) or under the residuary Tariff Item 68.

Analysis: The goods were only semi-finished blanks requiring further processing before they could function as tools. Items that have not yet attained the shape, character, or commercial identity of tools cannot be classified as tools merely because they are intended for that eventual use. The settled approach applied in the earlier Tribunal decision relied on by the assessee supported classification under the residuary entry where the goods remained unfinished and incapable of direct use as tools.

Conclusion: The goods were not classifiable under Tariff Item 51A(iii) and were correctly classifiable under Tariff Item 68.

Final Conclusion: The assessee succeeded on the classification dispute and the departmental classification was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Semi-finished goods that require further processing before they acquire the character and use of the final article are not classifiable as that final article and may fall under the residuary entry.

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