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

61 Cust. Ct. 66, 287 F. Supp. 1016, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2250
United States Customs Court·Decided August 8, 1968·No. C.D. 3530·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

Maletz, Judge:

This case involves the proper classification of four shipments of certain wedge-shaped wooden articles that were imported from Canada in 1965 and 1966 and described on the invoices as “horsefeathers.” They were classified by the government under item 207.00 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States as articles of wood, not specially provided for, and assessed with duty at the rate of 16% percent ad valorem. Plaintiff claims that the imports are properly [68] classifiable under item 202.03 of the tariff schedules as rough spruce lumber dutiable at the rate of 35 cents per thousand feet, board measure.1

The pertinent provisions of the Tariff Schedules of the United States are quoted below:

Assessed under:
Schedule 2, part 1, subpart F
Subpart F headnotes:
1. This subpart covers all products of wood which are not provided for elsewhere in the tariff schedules.
Rates of Duty-
Item Articles 1
207.00 Articles not specially provided for, of
wood_ 16%% ad val.
Claimed under:
Schedule 2, part 1, subpart B
Subpart B headnotes:
1. This subpart covers lumber, wood siding, wood flooring, wood moldings, and certain wood carvings and ornaments, including such products when they have been drilled or treated.
2. 'For the purposes of this part, the following terms have the meanings hereby assigned to them:
(a) Lumber: A product of a sawmill or sawmill and planing mill derived from a log by lengthwise sawing which, in its original sawed condition, has at least 2 approximately parallel flat longitudinal sawed surfaces, and which may be rough, dressed, or worked, as set forth below:
(i) rough lumber is lumber just as it comes from the saw, whether in the original sawed size or edged, resawn, crosscut, or trimmed to smaller sizes;
(ii) dressed lumber is lumber which has been dressed or surfaced by planing on at least one edge or face; and
(iii) worked lumber is lumber which has been matched (provided with a tongued-and-grooved [69] joint at the edges or ends), shiplapped (provided with a rabbeted or lapped joint at the edges), or patterned (shaped at the edges or on the faces to a patterned or molded form) on a matching machine, sticker, or molder.
í{í # i't: t¡i >;j iji
3. Lumber, including certain flooring provided for in this subpart, is dutiable on the basis of “broad measure” for which the unit of measurement is the board foot. For the purposes of this subpart, a board foot is the quantity of lumber contained in, or derived (by drying, dressing, or working, or any combination of these processes) from, a piece of rough green lumber 1 inch in thickness, 12 inches in width, and 1 foot in length, or the equivalent of such piece in other dimensions.
‡ ‡ $
Rates of Duty
Item Articles 1
Lumber, rough, dressed, or worked (including softwood flooring classifiable as lumber, but not including siding, molding, and hardwood flooring):
Softwood:
202.03 Spruce (Picea spp.) 35</5 per 1000 ft., board measure

A single witness — presented by plaintiff — testified at trial. He was Robert St. Laurent, the secretary-treasurer and assistant general manager of the Luceville company — the manufacturer-exporter of the merchandise in question. The witness, the record showed, was familiar with the company’s operations, its methods of production, and the merchandise described on the invoices as “horsefeathers.” His testimony established the following. The first step in the production of horsefeathers is the sawing of spruce logs lengthwise into boards (or planks) of various thicknesses (e.g., %", 1", 1%", 1SÁ", etc.), and crosscutting them into various lengths. A sample in evidence (plaintiff’s exhibit 1) representing this stage of the process is a 'board that is almost 1" thick (and 3" wide); its longitudinal sawed surfaces are flat and approximately parallel.2

The boards (such as exhibit 1) are stored in the yard to dry and then resawn longitudinally through their centers to a thickness of about a half inch. A sample in evidence (plaintiff’s exhibit 2) shows [70] that this 'board — the product of this second step — also has approximately parallel flat longitudinal sawed surfaces.

The third and final stage in the production of horsefeathers consists of a further (or second) longitudinal or lengthwise resawing. At this stage, 'however, the device that feeds the boards into the saw is tilted so as to produce a beveled cut, i.e., a cut at an angle that divides each board into two wedge-shaped articles known as horse-feathers — samples of which are in evidence (plaintiff’s exhibit 3). When a sample horsefeather is observed from either end, the cross section viewed is that of a right triangle. In other words the upper and lower surfaces are not parallel, there being instead a gradual tapering or tendency of the two surfaces to meet.

The record shows that horsefeathers are less advanced than (i) lumber which has been dressed or surfaced by planing; (ii) lumber which has been matched (i.e., provided with a tongued and grooved joint at the edge or ends); (iii) lumber that has been shiplapped (i.e., provided with a rabbeted or lapped joint at the edges); and (iv) lumber that has been patterned (i.e., shaped at the edges or on the faces to a patterned or molded form).

As to usage, horsefeathers are employed as a backing on the side or roof of a building in order to make the surfaces flat or level prior to the installation of resurfacing materials such as asphalt shingles or clapboard. When so used, the horsefeathers may require still further cutting to obtain the desired lengths. They do not require a finished surface because they are covered up in use.

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A. N. Deringer, Inc. v. United States, 61 Cust. Ct. 66, 287 F. Supp. 1016, 1968 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2250 (cusc 1968).

61 Cust. Ct. 66 (A. N. Deringer, Inc. v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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