Aceto Chemical Co. v. United States

48 Cust. Ct. 606
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 5, 1962
DocketReap. Dec. 10220; Entry No. 1006152
StatusPublished

This text of 48 Cust. Ct. 606 (Aceto Chemical 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
Aceto Chemical Co. v. United States, 48 Cust. Ct. 606 (cusc 1962).

Opinion

Wilson, Judge:

This is an appeal for reappraisement of the value of a product known as acetoacetanilide, a coal-tar intermediate, ex[607]*607ported from England on April 8, 1960, and entered at the port of New York.

The merchandise was appraised on the basis of American selling price (section 402(e) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956, T.D. 54165), pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 27(c) of the said act, as amended, sufra, at $0.80 per pound. The importer claims that the proper value of the merchandise based upon the above basis of appraisement is $0.7222 per pound. It appears from the record in this case that the appraised value of the merchandise was predicated upon the price or prices at which the product in question was sold by a domestic producer, the Union Carbide Corp., to certain of its purchasers. The price claimed to be the proper value of the imported merchandise represents that at which said product was sold by the Union Carbide Corp. to certain other purchasers from that company, viz, 72.22 cents per pound.

The provisions of the tariff act pertinent to the issue herein are as follows:

[Par. 27(e), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, supra.} The ad valorem rates provided in this paragraph shall be based upon the American selling price of any similar competitive article manufactured or produced in the United States. If there is no similar competitive article manufactured or produced in the United States then the ad valorem rate shall be based upon the United States value.
[Section 402(e), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956.] American Selling Peioe. — For the purposes of this section, the American selling price of any article produced in the United States shall be the price, including the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature and all other expenses incidental to placing the article in condition packed ready for delivery, at which such article is freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale for domestic consumption in the principal market of the United States, in the ordinary course of trade and in the usual wholesale quantities, or the price that the manufacturer, producer, or owner would have received or was willing to receive for such article when sold for domestic consumption in the ordinary course of trade and in the usual wholesale quantities, at the time of exportation of the imported article.
[Section 402(f), Tariff Act of 1930,. as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956.] Definitions. — For the purposes of this section—
(1) The term “freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale” means sold or, in the absence of sales, offered—
(A) to all purchasers at wholesale,
or
(B) in the ordinary course of trade
to one or more selected purchasers at wholesale at a price which fairly reflects the market value of the merchandise,
without restrictions as to the disposition or use of the merchandise by the purchaser, except restrictions as to such disposition or use which (i) are imposed or required by law, (ii) limit the price at which or the territory in which the merchandise may be resold, or (iii) do not substantially affect the value of the merchandise to usual purchasers at wholesale.
[608]*608(2) The term “ordinary course of trade” means the conditions and practices which, for a reasonable time prior to the exportation of the merchandise undergoing appraisement, have been normal in the trade under consideration with respect to merchandise of the same class or hind as the merchandise undergoing appraisement.
(3) The term “purchasers at wholesale” means purchasers who buy in the usual wholesale quantities for industrial use or for resale otherwise than at retail; or, if there are no such purchasers, then all other purchasers for resale who buy in the usual wholesale quantities; or, if there are no purchasers in either of the foregoing categories, then all other purchasers who buy in the usual wholesale quantities.

The parties to the controversy herein stipulated as follows: That New York is the principal market in the United States for the sale of acetoacetanilide (R. 30); that the imported merchandise is a coal-tar product, dutiable under paragraph 27(a) (3) (5) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (as modified) (R. 31) at the rate of Sy2 cents per pound, plus 25 per centum ad valorem (R. 32); that said merchandise is subject to valuation on the basis of American selling price, sufra (R. 39); and that acetoacetanilide is manufactured and sold in the United States by the Union Carbide Corp. It was further stipulated between the parties that a chemical known as acetoacetanilide was, at the time of importation, manufactured by the Food Machinery & Chemical Co. and sold by the latter to the United States Industrial Chemical Division of the National Distillers Corp., which firm, in turn, resold the merchandise in the United States (R. 32-33). It was not conceded by plaintiff’s counsel, however, that the product manufactured by the Food Machinery & Chemical Co. was the same in all respects as the merchandise here imported.

The plaintiff called three witnesses: Arnold Frankel, vice president and treasurer of the plaintiff corporation; Fred J. Rauscher, product manager for the Union Carbide Corp.; and James J. O’Con-nor, Jr., United States customs examiner. Mr. Frankel, in substance, testified that he was familiar with the market practices surrounding the sale of the product acetoacetanilide in the United States; that such product is primarily used in the manufacture of organic pigments (R. 43); that the annual consumption of such chemical in the United States ranges between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 pounds, of which amount from 500,000 to 600,000 pounds are imported (R. 45); that the usual wholesale quantity as sold in New York, the principal market, is 250 pounds. The witness further stated that, to the best of his knowledge, the product sold by his company is substantially the same as that sold by the Union Carbide Corp. (R. 48,54).

The gist of the testimony of plaintiff’s witness Rauscher was as follows: The Union Carbide Corp. and the Food Machinery company are the only domestic producers of the involved product, it further appearing that the former company produces and sells at least [609]*60965 per centum of the total amount of this chemical marketed in the United States; that sales of the involved product were made by the Union Carbide Corp. to various customers at different prices, as shown by a list of sales for the first 4 months of 1960 (plaintiff’s exhibit 5), viz, one purchaser (designated as customer “J”) of a total of 104,000 pounds of the merchandise in 7 different lots paid 80 cents per pound in 6 instances and 81 cents per pound for the other purchase; customer “A” purchased 1,500 pounds during the same period for 73% cents per pound; customer “I” purchased 4,000 pounds at 72% cents per pound; customer “L” purchased 45,750 pounds at 73 cents per pound; and customer “Q,” bought 38,500 pounds at 73% cents per pound.

In explanation of the various purchase prices above indicated, Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
48 Cust. Ct. 606, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aceto-chemical-co-v-united-states-cusc-1962.