Advance Solvents & Chemical Corp. v. United States

16 Cust. Ct. 98, 1946 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 21
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMarch 27, 1946
DocketC. D. 992
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 16 Cust. Ct. 98 (Advance Solvents & Chemical Corp. 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
Advance Solvents & Chemical Corp. v. United States, 16 Cust. Ct. 98, 1946 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 21 (cusc 1946).

Opinion

Olivee, Presiding Judge:

This suit involves a cellulose compound imported from Germany under the trade name “Tylose.” It was [99]*99classified under paragraph 31 (b) (1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, which reads:1

Pab. 31.
* * * * * * *
(b) All compounds of cellulose (except cellulose acetate, but including pyrox-ylin and other cellulose esters and ethers), and all compounds, combinations, or mixtures of which any such compound is the component material of chief value:
(1) In blocks, sheets, rods, tubes, powder, flakes, briquets, or other forms, whether or not colloided, not made into finished or partly finished articles, 40 cents per pound * * *

Plaintiff claims it properly dutiable as glue (par. 41), or under the provision for “synthetic gums and resins” (par. 11), or as a dextrine substitute (par. 84). The paragraphs under which claim is made, so far as pertinent, read as follows:

Pab. 41. * * * gelatin, glue, glue size, and fish glue, not specially provided for * * * casein glue * * *
Pab. 11. * * * synthetic gums and resins not specially provided for, 4 cents per pound and 30 per centum ad valorem; * * *
Pab. 84. * * * dextrine, not otherwise provided for, burnt starch or British gum, dextrine substitutes, and soluble or chemically treated starch, 2 cents per pound.

On motion of plaintiff’s counsel, the record in General Dyestuff Corp. v. United States (protest 21454-K) was incorporated herein. That case, involving identical merchandise, was tried, submitted, and briefed, but was subsequently abandoned by plaintiff before decision was rendered. Claims for classification as glue or as synthetic gums or resins were made in that case but no claim was made therein for classification as a dextrine substitute. Counsel for both parties, as well as amici curiae, requested that the briefs filed in the incorporated case be considered herein, since the testimony in the present case and the briefs subsequently filed relate only to the claim for classification as a dextrine substitute.

In the incorporated case it was stipulated that Tylose is an ether of cellulose produced by the chemical process of methylating natural cellulose. As to this stipulation, counsel for plaintiff stated: “That may sound like stipulating away my case. I agree that this is a methylate of cellulose. I believe that the other two claims are more specific.” Counsel further stated in the present case that Tylose and products essentially similar thereto are referred to variously as Tylose, celloresin, methyl cellulose, and methocel.

The merchandise' in issue (represented by exhibit 1 in the incorporated record) is a dry, white, fibrous substance. It is not used in its imported form but is put in solutions of varying strength after importation.

In the incorporated case four witnesses testified for the plaintiff [100]*100and seven for the defendant. They were all well-qualified chemists with wide experience, both commercially and in the laboratory.

The testimony of plaintiff’s witnesses was directed to proving that Tylose was a glue because of its adhesive properties; that it can be and frequently has been used as an adhesive; that it is a synthetic gum because it is water-soluble, or dispersible in water, causing a viscous solution; that it has the physical characteristics of a gum and can be and is used for many purposes for which certain natural gums are used. One witness concluded that Tylose was a gum, another that it was a glue, while two other witnesses stated that it was both a gum and a glue. It is not claimed, nor is it borne out by the record, that Tylose is bought or sold either as a synthetic gum or as a glue.

The testimony of defendant’s witnesses was directed to differentiating Tylose or methyl cellulose from a glue or a synthetic gum. It endeavored to show that Tylose, while possessing some of the qualities of a gum, is not a synthetic gum, and, although admittedly possessing adhesive qualities, is not glue, contending that glue, as that term is used in paragraph 41, is confined to animal glue, and that all materials having adhesive qualities are not for that reason alone glue.

Defendant also sought to establish that the terms “glue” and “synthetic gum” both covered a much broader field than cellulose ether, and all of its witnesses agreed that Tylose was neither a glue nor a synthetic gum.

The Government further contends that the provision for cellulose compounds controls over the provision for glue and the provision for synthetic gums since the tariff history shows an intent to have paragraph 31 all-embracing in the cellulose field.

In our opinion, the usual rule that the more specific provision controls applies here. This is borne out by reference to the changes in the language of paragraph 31 of the Tariff Act of 1930 from the corresponding paragraph (31) in the act of 1922, which contained a proviso “That all such articles * * * whether or not more specifically provided for elsewhere, shall be dutiable under this paragraph.” This proviso was construed as referring only to articles made of cellulose compounds, as provided for in the second clause of the paragraph, and not to cellulose compounds or materials referred to in the first part of the paragraph. Metz v. United States, 46 Treas. Dec. 361, T.D. 40479 (G.A. 8891).

The act of 1930 (par. 31) does not contain this proviso and it was held that celluloid needles, being provided for in the needle paragraph (343), were dutiable thereunder and not classifiable as articles of cellulose. Blankenstyn & Hennings v. United States, 61 Treas. Dec. 865, T. D. 45606.

The first part of paragraph 31 in the act of 1922 providing for cellulose compounds contained the words “by whatever name known,” which do not appear in the corresponding provision (par. 31) of the [101]*101act of 1930. The phrase “by whatever name known” is equivalent to an eo nomine provision. Kotzin Bros. et al. v. United States, 14 Ct. Cust. Appls. 99, T. D. 41589. This change of language would indicate a change of intent on the part of Congress.

The contention of defendant that the legislative history indicates an intent on the part of Congress “to bring all cellulose products into the cellulose paragraph” is, in our opinion, without merit. In fact, the legislative history seems to run counter to the Government’s statement as to “an unusual anxiety on the part of Congress to get into paragraphs 30, 31, and 32 the whole cellulose family.”

As to the plaintiff’s contention that the provisions for glue and synthetic gum are use provisions and that, therefore, either of these designations is more specific than the provision by composition for cellulose ether, it has been held that a designation according to a specific use prevails over a competing description of general character without special limitation as to use or other qualification. Drakenfeld v. United States, 9 Ct. Cust. Appls. 124, T. D. 37979, and 2 ibid. 512, T. D. 32248.

It has been stated as a ride of construction that a designation by use will prevail over an eo nomine designation, and United States v. Snow’s United States Sample Express Co., 8 Ct. Cust. Appls.

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Bluebook (online)
16 Cust. Ct. 98, 1946 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 21, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/advance-solvents-chemical-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1946.