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

80 Cust. Ct. 1, 1978 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1051
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 12, 1978
DocketC.D. 4728; Court No. 72-2-00281
StatusPublished

This text of 80 Cust. Ct. 1 (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, 80 Cust. Ct. 1, 1978 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1051 (cusc 1978).

Opinion

Ford, Judge:

Plaintiff instituted this action in an effort to obtain more favorable tariff treatment of certain importations of asbestos mixed with caustic calcined magnesite (magnesium oxide), referred to as part A, and epsom salts (magnesium sulfate), referred to as part B. The merchandise was classified under item 518.51, Tariff Schedules of the United States, as modified by T.D. 68-9, as articles not specially provided for of asbestos and consequently was assessed with duty at the rate of 6% ad valorem or 5% ad valorem, depending upon the date of entry.

The importer contends the merchandise is entitled to entry free of duty under item 518.11, Tariff Schedules of the United States, which provides for various forms of asbestos. Alternatively, it is contended if not free of duty it is dutiable at 0.15^ per pound or 0.1?S per pound, depending upon the date of entry, under item 518.44, Tariff Schedules of the United States, as modified by T.D. 68-9, as other articles in part of asbestos and hydraulic cement.

The pertinent statutory provisions provide as follows:

Subpart F. - Asbestos and Asbestos Products

518.11 Asbestos, not manufactured, asbestos crudes, fibers, and stucco, and asbestos sand and refuse containing not more than 15 percent by weight of foreign matter_ Free

*****

Articles in part of asbestos and hydraulic cement:

***** * *

518. 44 Other_ 0.15(5 or O.lp per lb. [depending upon date of entry]

* * * * * * *

[3]*3518. 51 Articles not specially provided for, of ■ asbestos_ 6% or 5% ad val. [depending upon date of entry]

The record consists of the testimony of three witnesses called on. behalf of plaintiff and four on behalf of defendant. In addition, plaintiff introduced 13 exhibits and defendant offered two exhibits.

The asbestos involved in the imported merchandise was produced by Carey-Canadian Mines, Ltd., hereinafter referred to as Carey-Canadian, by mining and crushing, after which the fibers were separated by a process called aspiration and then screened according to size. Asbestos is sold and priced according to the length of the fibers. The longest fibers are either crude No. 1 or crude No. 2 and are the most expensive. The shorter fibers which are graded under the specifications of the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association range from grades 3 through 7. The asbestos used in the imported product, was grade 7 which Carey-Canadian designated as 7M90. This grade is known as "shorts” rather than crudes and might also be considered! as asbestos sand and refuse. The calcined magnesite and the magnesiumi sulfate were purchased by Carey-Canadian for use with the imported! merchandise.

Universal Fire-Bar, Inc., the United States purchaser, set the specifications for the merchandise involved. This company also designs and builds machinery such as automatic water dispensers, foam generators, pumps, and pole guns with external atomization nozzles which allow the product to be sprayed on a steel surface for use as fireproofing. The purpose is to prevent the steel from losing its structural strength resulting from a fire. The imported product has no use in its dry state. It must be combined with a foaming agent and! water before spraying. The imported product is not used where it-would be exposed to the elements such as rain.

Defendant’s exhibit A, a copy of ASTM publication C 219-66, entitled Standard Definitions of Terms Relating to Hydraulic Cement* defines the term hydraulic cement as “a cement that is capable of setting and hardening under water due to interaction of water and the? constituents of the cement.” Yfitnesses Sztuke, Sporn, Seward*. Pollock, Libel and Redeker all agreed with the foregoing definition.

The term “set” in the definition was generally agreed by the witnesses to mean the ability of the materials to assume a shape*, while the term “hardness” means the ability to resist change or distortion under pressure or force. The test for setting requires the use of a needle such as a “Westvaco.” This is applied to the surface of the material and when the needle no longer leaves an impression* the material is considered set. Hardening, on the other hand, is tested [4]*4in a compression machine which determines the amount of- force necessary to break or fracture the material. Hydraulic cement must have both of these capabilities.

Plaintiff’s exhibit 5, a laboratory report, indicates the samples were submerged in water for 68 hours (tests 2 and 4) and the product in test 2 remained spongy and plastic. Test 4 of said exhibit indicates a certain- amount of granulation when the surface of the sample is rubbed. Notwithstanding the pliability, witness Sztuke considered the imported merchandise to be a borderline hydraulic cement since it “sets under water.”

Plaintiff’s witness Libel described various tests he conducted on portland cement and on samples of combinations of caustic calcined magnesite-and epsom salts and he concluded that both were hydraulic cem'ent.

Tests performed by Mr. Sporn, branch chief at the New York Customs Laboratory, and defendant’s witness Redeker, western regional manager for Industrial Magnesia Corp., on samples of the imported mechandise or the same mixture indicated the samples that were allowed to set and harden in the air became hard and rocklike, while those that were immersed in water immediately after forming a patty did not harden, were easily abraded or remained in a puttylike consistency. In their opinion the imported merchandise was not a hydraulic cement. Mr. Redeker testified that he was a technical adviser for the committee of the ASTM which put out the specifications for the ingredients used in oxysulfate and oxychloride cements. Defendant’s exhibit B, which is ASTM designation C 376-58 and entitled Standard Definitions of Terms Relating to Magnesium 'Oxychloride and Magnesium Oxysulfate Cements, was identified by the witness. The imported merchandise is an oxysulfate cement. According to Mr. Redeker, magnesium oxychloride cement and oxysulfate cement are used for fireproofing and other uses with binders of asbestos and other material. They are not water resistant.

'Hydraulic cement, according to the witness, is a cement which when mixed with water will set and harden under water. Neither oxysulfate nor oxychloride cements are hydraulic cements because they will not suitably set or harden under water. Caustic calcined magnesite, plus epsom salts and water, would not result in a hydraulic cement.

The witness further testified that other cements which are not hydraulic are gypsum cements, plaster of paris and Keene’s cement. The most common hydraulic cement according to witnesses Redeker and Pollock is portland cement, others being portland-pozzolan cement, slag cement, portland blast-furnace slag cement and oil well cement. Magnesium oxysulfate cement is not water resistant and cannot be used in asbestos cement, pipe or products intended to [5]*5carry water in cesspools, in tbe ground, or where water or excessive moisture would be a factor.

The merchandise involved, imported in 63-pound bags, consists of 50 pounds of chrysotile asbestos fibers, grade 7M90 (79% by weight), 7 pounds of part A, caustic calcined magnesite (11% by weight) and 6 pounds of part B, epsom salts (9% by weight). The addition of parts A and B were as binding agents.

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Bluebook (online)
80 Cust. Ct. 1, 1978 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1051, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/a-n-deringer-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1978.