7214.30.00 - Other, of free-cutting steel

This HTS category, 7214.30.00, encompasses bars and rods of iron or nonalloy steel that have undergone specific forming processes such as forging, hot rolling, hot drawing, or hot extrusion. Crucially, these items are not further worked beyond these initial shaping methods, though they may have been twisted after the rolling process. This classification specifically applies to those bars and rods of free-cutting steel that do not fall into more specific sub-classifications within heading 7214.

Distinguishing this category from its siblings, 7214.10.00.00 (Forged) and 7214.20.00.00 (Concrete reinforcing bars and rods), is the exclusion of items that are explicitly forged or designated for concrete reinforcement. Heading 7214.30.00.00 therefore captures the residual "other" bars and rods of free-cutting steel that fit the general working and material criteria of the parent heading but are not specifically defined by those sibling subheadings.

Within this category, further distinctions are made based on the presence of lead content. Subcategory 7214.30.00.10 is designated for bars and rods containing by weight 0.1 percent or more of lead. This is a significant distinction as the addition of lead often imparts free-cutting properties, a key characteristic for this classification. The remaining items, classified under 7214.30.00.80, are those free-cutting steel bars and rods that do not meet the lead content threshold for the preceding subcategory, or where the free-cutting property is achieved through other alloying elements or manufacturing processes.