Tariff classification of cold-formed steel shapes confirmed under Heading 7216.20; off-cuts also treated as shapes, not strips or skelp.

Cold formed or cold finished angles, shapes and sections not further worked upon were classified under Heading 7216.20, following the controlling Larger Bench principle and rejecting the Revenue's contrary headings. Off-cuts generated during manufacture were also not treated as strips or skelp; applying the Supreme Court's guidance, they were classified consistently as shapes under the same tariff heading. The article applies a single classification principle to both the finished products and the generated pieces, confirming that the manufacturing process and character of the goods governed tariff treatment under Heading 7216.20.

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Issues: (i) Whether angles, shapes and sections manufactured by the assessee were classifiable under Heading 7216.20 or under other headings proposed by the Revenue; (ii) Whether the small pieces generated during manufacture were classifiable as waste and scrap under Heading 72.04 or as strips or skelp under Headings 7208.39 and 7208.40.

Issue (i): Whether angles, shapes and sections manufactured by the assessee were classifiable under Heading 7216.20 or under other headings proposed by the Revenue.

Analysis: The classification issue was treated as settled by the Larger Bench decision governing cold formed or cold finished angles, shapes and sections not further worked upon. The goods manufactured by the assessee were stated to be produced by cold finished process and not further worked upon. On that basis, the applicable classification was the heading corresponding to angles, shapes and sections under the tariff entry accepted by the Larger Bench.

Conclusion: The goods were held classifiable under Heading 7216.20 and the Revenue's appeals on this issue were rejected.

Issue (ii): Whether the small pieces generated during manufacture were classifiable as waste and scrap under Heading 72.04 or as strips or skelp under Headings 7208.39 and 7208.40.

Analysis: The off-cuts generated in the course of converting coils into sections were considered in the light of the controlling Supreme Court ruling that such off-cuts are not to be treated as steel sheets and are classifiable as shapes and angles under the relevant tariff heading. Applying that principle, the generated pieces could not be classified as strips or skelp. They were treated consistently with the classification of shapes falling under the same tariff heading.

Conclusion: The off-cuts were held classifiable as shapes under Heading 7216.20 and the assessee's appeals were disposed of accordingly.

Final Conclusion: The common classification principle was applied in favour of treating both the manufactured angles, shapes and sections and the generated off-cuts under the tariff heading for shapes and sections, resulting in rejection of the Revenue's challenge and acceptance of the assessee's position on classification.

Ratio Decidendi: Cold formed or cold finished angles, shapes and sections not further worked upon are classifiable under the tariff heading for such products, and off-cuts arising from their manufacture are not to be classified as strips or skelp but under the same shapes-and-sections heading.

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