Afram Bros. v. United States

49 Cust. Ct. 53, 1962 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1311
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedSeptember 25, 1962
DocketC.D. 2360
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 49 Cust. Ct. 53 (Afram Bros. 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
Afram Bros. v. United States, 49 Cust. Ct. 53, 1962 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1311 (cusc 1962).

Opinion

LawreNce, Judge:

Plaintiff has invoked the jurisdiction of this court, pursuant to the terms of section 514 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1514), and claims that an importation invoiced as “scrap secondary aluminum ingots for remelting only” is entitled to entry free of duty, pursuant to the provisions of Public Law 869.

[54]*54The report of the collector of customs transmitting the protest to the court states that the merchandise was classified in liquidation as “Aluminum Ingots scrap” in paragraph 374 of said act (19 U.S.C. § 1001, par. 374), and duty was imposed thereon at the rate of iy2 cents per pound. The collector’s assessment was apparently pursuant to paragraph 374, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 82 Treas. Dec. 305, T.D. 51802.

The pertinent text of the statutes is here set forth.

Public Law 869, 81st Congress, 2d session (64 Stat. 1093), as extended by Public Law 535 of the 82d Congress, 2d session (66 Stat. 626) :

Sec. 1. (a) No duties or import taxes shall be levied, collected, or payable under the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, or under section 3426 of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to metal scrap, or relaying and rerolling rails.
(b) The word “scrap”, as used in this Act, shall mean all ferrous and nonferrous materials and articles, of which ferrous or nonferrous metal is the component material of chief value, which are second-hand or waste or refuse, or are obsolete, defective or damaged, and which are fit only to be remanufactured.
See. 2. Articles of which metal is the component material of chief value, other than ores or concentrates or crude metal, imported to be used in remanu-faeture by melting, shall be accorded entry free of duty and import tax, upon submission of proof, under such regulations and within such time as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, that they have been used in remanufacture by melting: Provided, however, That nothing contained in the provisions of this section shall be construed to limit or restrict the exemption granted by section 1 of this Act.

Paragraph 374 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, supra,:

Aluminum, aluminum scrap, and alloys (except those provided for in paragraph 302, Tariff Act of 1930) in which aluminum is the component material of chief value:
* $ * * * * Scrap_lYst per lb.

Plaintiff’s claim for free entry of the imported commodity is set forth in its protest as follows:

We claim this merchandise should be free of duty as it was Scrap Alummmn for remelting purposes only under Public Law 869 of the 81st Congress as amended and extended. [Emphasis added.]

It is not clear from the language of the protest whether plaintiff is relying upon the provisions of section 1 (a) and (b) or section 2.

Section 1(a), so far as pertinent here, grants freedom from duty to “metal scrap.”

Section 1 (b) defines the word “scrap” to mean materials and articles in chief value of ferrous and nonferrous metal “which are secondhand or waste or refuse, or are obsolete, defective or damaged, and which are fit only to be remanufactured.”

[55]*55Section 2 grants free entry to “Articles of which metal is the component material of chief value, * * * imported to be used in remanu-facture by melting, * * *.”

At the outset of the trial, plaintiff made the following statement— “We contend it [the importation] should come under Public Law 869 which allows free entry of scrap.” Immediately thereafter, defendant requested plaintiff to “make his claim more definite and certain and advise us under what section he is claiming under 869. It appears to be Section 2, but it hasn’t been specified. Mr. ShiNKEN : Yes, Section 2.”

While section 2 permits the free entry of articles in chief value of metal, imported to be used in remanufacture by melting, it makes no reference to “scrap.” Moreover, in order to secure the benefits granted by section 2, it is necessary that proof be submitted pursuant to “such regulations and within such time as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe” that said articles “have been used in remanu-facture by melting.”

Considerable testimony was introduced in an effort to support a claim under either section 1 or section 2.

We shall consider first the possible application of said section 2.

Our disposition of the case makes it unnecessary for us to give a detailed review of all the testimony.

It is quite obvious that the importation consists of “Articles of which metal is the component material of chief value, other than ores or concentrates or crude metal,” and there is opinion evidence that the merchandise was “imported to be used in remanufacture by melting” and was fit only for such use. However, the record does not satisfy us that proof has been submitted pursuant to “such regulations and within such time as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe” that the merchandise has “been used in remanufacture by melting.”

It is clear from its context that section 2, from which we have been quoting, is in its nature the grant of a privilege. It is different from the ordinary free list of the tariff act, in that section 2 is a conditionally free provision and, hence, should be strictly construed. MacNichol Packing Co. et al. v. United States, 14 Ct. Cust. Appls. 400, T.D. 42050. In that case, the court had under consideration section 318 of the Tariff Act of 1922, which provided for the remission of duty on salt for American fisheries under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe. After reviewing several earlier cases cited by it, the court observed—

From these authorities, the rule is deduced that where the Congress has offered some special grace or exemption to an importer, under regulations to be promulgated, the importer must strictly comply with such regulations, so long as they be reasonable and do not seek to alter, add to, or detract from the statute itself. And this rule is one that recommends itself to our reason. If this importer is to have some special privilege which is not extended to importers [56]*56of salt for other purposes, then he can not complain if he is required, as a part of said privilege, to comply with such regulations as have been here made, regulations which plainly only have in mind an annual accounting between the importer and the Government.

Furthermore, the regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to “remanufacture by melting” indicate that proof of that fact is a sine qua non to classification pursuant to section 2.

The pertinent text of regulations prescribed by the Secretary covering section 2, which will be referred to, infra, unlike the general regulations which the Secretary is authorized to prescribe pursuant to section 624 of the tariff act, are mandatory.

In United Metal Goods Mfg. Company v. United States, 46 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 120, C.A.D.

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Bluebook (online)
49 Cust. Ct. 53, 1962 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/afram-bros-v-united-states-cusc-1962.