A. N. Deringer, Inc. v. United States

40 Cust. Ct. 810
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMay 6, 1958
DocketReap. Dec. 9145; Entry No. A-4897
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 40 Cust. Ct. 810 (A. N. Deringer, Inc. 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. N. Deringer, Inc. v. United States, 40 Cust. Ct. 810 (cusc 1958).

Opinion

Rao, Judge:

The instant appeal for reappraisement has had a somewhat protracted history. It is before me now by virtue of an order dated December 7, 1956, 37 Oust. Ot. 591, Reap. Dec. 8708, restoring the case to the calendar “for the sole purpose of permitting the intro[811]*811duction of evidence by both parties with respect to the addition for profit called for by paragraph (4) of the cost of production statute, section 402 (f) of the Tariff Act of 1930.” Said section 402 (f) reads as follows:

(f) Cost of Production. — For the purpose of this title the cost of production of imported merchandise shall be the sum of—

(1) The cost of materials of, and of fabrication, manipulation, or other process employed in manufacturing or producing such or similar merchandise, at a time preceding the date of exportation of the particular merchandise under consideration which would ordinarily permit the manufacture or production of the particular merchandise under consideration in the usual course of business;
(2) The usual general expenses (not less than 10 per centum of such cost) in the case of such or similar merchandise;
(3) The cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature, and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the particular merchandise under consideration in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States; and
(4) An addition for profit (not less than 8 per centum of the sum of the amounts found under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision) equal to the profit which ordinarily is added, in the case of merchandise of the same general character as the particular merchandise under consideration, by manufacturers or producers in the country of manufacture or production who are engaged in the production or manufacture of merchandise of the same class or kind.

Specifically, the'element found wanting in the memorandum accompanying said order was the profit ordinarily added by manufacturers of merchandise of the same general character, it having been shown by the record that although the subject merchandise was a patented product, to wit, certain flushwood doors, of a peculiar construction as regards ventilation, there were other manufacturers of doors in Canada, the country of exportation.

The only evidence introduced before me, upon this rehearing, relates to this element. Both by affidavit of the sales manager of Canada Flushwood Door, Ltd., the manufacturer and exporter of the instant merchandise, and by stipulation of the parties, it has been established that the profit ordinarily added by other manufacturer's of doors in Canada, at or about the date of exportation involved herein, did not exceed that added by said Canada Flushwood Door, Ltd.

Counsel for the Government acceded to said stipulation without, however, waiving the contention that foreign value, as defined in section 402 (c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Administrative Act of 1938, and as represented by the appraised values, constitutes the proper basis of appraisement to be adopted in this case. It is urged by the defendant that all issues previously [812]*812raised in these proceedings remain undetermined, notwithstanding the limited purpose of the order of restoration.

Citing the case of United States v. Elliot, Greene & Co., 28 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 177, C. A. D. 141, counsel for plaintiff argue that the memorandum of Judge Mollison accompanying said order, and holding that foreign, export, and United States values have been effectively negated, “not having been appealed from, has become final as far as it goes.”

It must be remembered, however, that the case of United States v. Elliot, Greene & Co., supra, involved an interlocutory judgment of the appellate division, not that of a single judge, and the ruling of the cited case has been expressly limited to deliberations of the former in the case of Cox & Fahner (Steel Union-Sheet Piling, Inc.) et al. v. United States, 31 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 141, C. A. D. 264, wherein it was stated:

It will be observed that the sole duty of the single judge under section 501, swpra, is to “determine the value of the merchandise.” That is the only decision of the single judge contemplated by the section from which an application for review may be filed. The order of the single judge restoring the cases to the docket for the purpose of enabling appellants to introduce evidence of cost of production was merely an interlocutory order, and the decision made therein was that the case should be reopened for the purpose stated.
A decision reopening a reappraisement proceeding for the introduction of further evidence is not subject to review. United States v. International Graphite & Electrode Corp., 25 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 74, T. D. 49066.
The case last cited is on all fours with the case at bar, except that there the case was reopened for all purposes, while in the instant case the reopening was only for the purpose of permitting appellants to prove the cost of production of the merchandise.
However, we do not think there is any difference in principle between the two cases. The ground of decision in both cases is in effect the same, viz, that the order complained of was interlocutory in character and not a final decision. In the case at bar we .have no doubt that when a final decision is made by the trial judge he may review the entire record and consider all questions raised thereby, and an application for review of all such questions may be taken by either party.

Accordingly, it is my right and duty to re-examine all of the issues raised in this action. In doing so, however, I am mindful of the fact that none of the evidence relating thereto was adduced before me, and that two of my esteemed colleagues, who have heard the relevant testimony have, after careful deliberation, determined the effect thereof.

In a decision reported as A. N. Deringer, Inc. v. United States, 34 Cust. Ct. 452, Reap. Dec. 8390, Chief Judge Oliver, before whom the case was originally submitted, found from the record as then made:

[813]*813* * * that the “Unik No. 90” doors in question are patented articles of special construction; that they are manufactured exclusively by the Canadian exporter of the shipment in question; that the Canadian manufacturer and exporter restricts itself in the disposition of the merchandise in the foreign market for home consumption by selling only to wholesalers and lumber dealers at different prices, depending on the status of the purchaser; and that the manufacturer also limits its sales to the United States to selected distributors, who are restricted in their disposition of the merchandise in this country under a requirement to sell, within allotted territories, only to lumber dealers for resale.

For tlie reason, however, that the Canadian manufacturer’s sales manager testified, on cross-examination, that customers of his company were not in any way restricted in their dominion over the purchased merchandise, nor subject to any limitations in their disposition thereof, Chief Judge Oliver was of opinion, on the authority of the cases of United States v. H. W.

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Bluebook (online)
40 Cust. Ct. 810, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/a-n-deringer-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1958.