A. Lietz Co. v. United States

58 Cust. Ct. 427, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2381
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMay 22, 1967
DocketC.D. 3007
StatusPublished

This text of 58 Cust. Ct. 427 (A. Lietz Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A. Lietz Co. v. United States, 58 Cust. Ct. 427, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2381 (cusc 1967).

Opinion

Rao, Chief Judge:

The court is here called upon to determine the proper classification for customs duty purposes of certain pedometers imported from West Germany through the port of San Francisco.

At the time of importation, the customs authorities imposed duty thereon at the rate of 75 cents each and 32y2 per centum ad valorem pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 368 (a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Supplementary Trade Agreement with Switzerland, 90 Treas. Dec. 174, T.D. 53832, which read as follows&emdash;

Mechanisms, devices, or instruments intended or suitable for measuring the flowage of electricity, * * *:

* # * sH ❖ H* *

[428]*428Other * * *—
Over $2.25 but not over $5-75(6 each and 321/2% ad val.

Disagreeing with such action, plaintiffs are now before this court by way of a protest timely filed and contend that the imported articles should properly have been classified as machines, not specially provided for, in paragraph 372 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by Presidential Proclamation ISTo. 3513, 98 Treas. Dec. 51, T.D. 55816, and subjected to duty at the rate of only 10*4 per centum ad valorem.

At the time of trial, the court granted plaintiffs’ motion to amend their protest by adding an alternative claim for classification of the merchandise as mathematical instruments in paragraph 360 of the tariff act, as modified. Inasmuch as the latter claim was not supported by testimonial evidence and was not pressed at the time of briefing, it is deemed to have been abandoned and will be dismissed.

A pedometer identical to those in issue was received in evidence 'as plaintiffs’ exhibit 1.

Robert E. Hartman, merchandise manager for The A. Leitz Co., which company appears as the importer of record in the entry papers and is one of the parties plaintiff, was called to testify on behalf of plaintiffs. He stated he had used an instrument like exhibit 1 five or six times and had seen it used by others. Describing its use, the witness explained that the instrument is attached to a person’s belt or placed in his pocket and as the person walks he jogs up and down. The jogging of the person’s heel or foot hitting the pavement causes a pendulum in the mechanism to move back and forth. The movement of the pendulum approximates a normal or standard stride of 28 inches. The pendulum works against a double pull which acts as a counting mechanism of the steps taken by the user. The steps are registered on the face of the pendulum in yards. And if a person walks a sufficient number of yards, the instrument will indicate the distance in miles from 1 to 10, and on still another dial on the face of the instrument will even measure distances up to 100 miles.

Upon his attention being directed to his company’s catalog listing of pedometers such as those at bar, the witness stated he agreed with the legend under said listing to the effect that such a pedometer “automatically registers distance covered by walker or runner” but that he did so “With qualifications as to the accuracy of the measurement.” Hartman added that the instrument is “an excellent quality pedometer” and that it should work properly and adequately to register the distance covered by a walker or runner. In view of the witness’ testimony that the instrument is not geared for precise accuracy, he was asked the purpose of the instrument. His reply was—

[429]*429If you go on a hike you’d be interested in the distance that you went. The fact that you went 10 miles or lO^ miles would be somewhat immaterial, but you would be interested in knowing that you went somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 miles. That is principally the use of the instrument.

Plaintiffs, in their brief, rely principally on the case of United States v. United Geophysical Company, 38 CCPA 137, C.A.D. 451, in support of their contention that the pedometers at bar do not come within the provisions of paragraph 368(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as classified. The merchandise involved in the United Geophysical case, supra, consisted of surface-warning equipment. Its primary function was to aid in the detection of surface craft within a relatively small range, depending upon the size of the detected vessel, and to give information about its range and bearing. Classification of said merchandise as a mechanism, device, or instrument intended or suitable for measuring distance in paragraph 368 of the Tariff Act of 1930 was overruled and plaintiff’s claim for classification within the provisions of paragraph 353 of said tariff act was sustained.

In the decision of the appellate court, the following statements appear—

From an analysis of the evidence, we find the involved radar does not give accurate or exact information, but provides the kind described as “fairly accurate.” * * *
From the evidence in the record, we believe the primary function of the subject device is to detect objects, rather than to measure distances, although at the same time we are fully aware of the importance of the latter function, no matter how inaccurately it may operate in this respect. However, we do not feel that the admitted errors to which it is susceptible in estimating or measuring distances will permit us to bring it within that degree of accuracy which we feel is required by the articles enumerated in paragraph 368, supra. * * * [Italics quoted.]

The main reason for overruling the classification of the merchandise as distance measuring devices in the United Geophysical case, supra, was the fact that the primary function of the radar equipment involved was “to detect objects” rather than to measure distances.

A case more in point with the issue before the court is that of U.S.D. Importing Co. et al. v. United States, 44 Cust. Ct. 80, C.D. 2156. In that case, certain depth gauges used in “Scuba” diving were classified and held to be instruments intended or suitable for measuring distance in paragraph 368(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified.

After quoting from the United Geophysical case, supra, the paragraph relating to the primary function of the device there in issue, the court hi the U.S.D. case stated as follows — -

It is at once obvious that the foregoing provides no exact formula for ascertaining the degree of accuracy necessarily required of devices [430]*430covered by the provisions of paragraph 368(a).

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Related

U.S.D. Importing Co. v. United States
44 Cust. Ct. 80 (U.S. Customs Court, 1960)
Harry Wilson Sales Agency v. United States
56 Cust. Ct. 195 (U.S. Customs Court, 1966)

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Bluebook (online)
58 Cust. Ct. 427, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/a-lietz-co-v-united-states-cusc-1967.