Tariff classification of reed wires turns on whether cold-rolled, trimmed and polished product qualifies as strip, not wire.

Reed wires made by cold rolling, trimming and polishing purchased wires were treated as strips under Tariff Item 25(12), because the processed product emerged in final form as a cold-rolled rectangular product with trimmed edges within the tariff definition of strip. The earlier view classifying it as wire was held inapplicable after the 1983 amendment, which separately defined strips and wires. On that basis, the product was classified as strip rather than wire, and the departmental appeal succeeded.

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Issues: Whether reed wires manufactured by cold rolling, trimming and polishing of purchased wires are correctly classifiable as strips under Tariff Item 25(12) of the Schedule to the erstwhile Central Excise Tariff.

Analysis: The product underwent rolling between two rollers at normal temperature to produce dents of required thickness, followed by trimming of edges, filing and polishing, and emerged in its final form from the machine. The definition of strip under Tariff Item 25 covered hot or cold rolled products of rectangular cross-section with trimmed or sheared edges supplied in actual form. The earlier classification order treating the product as a wire was held to be inapplicable after the 1983 amendment that separately defined strips and wires.

Conclusion: The product is correctly classifiable as a strip under Tariff Item 25(12), not as wire, and the departmental appeal succeeds.

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