Alvin Naiman Corp. v. United States

54 Cust. Ct. 705, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2422
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJune 10, 1965
DocketReap. Dec. 11008; Entry No. 2318
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 54 Cust. Ct. 705 (Alvin Naiman 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
Alvin Naiman Corp. v. United States, 54 Cust. Ct. 705, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2422 (cusc 1965).

Opinion

Nichols, Judge:

Tbe merchandise involved in this appeal for re-appraisement is 'described on the invoice 'as Dolomite crushed stone, and Dolomite screenings. It was exported from Canada by Niagara Crushed Stone (Humberstone), Ltd., Humberstone, Ontario, to Alvin Naiman Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, on October 16, 1959. The crushed stone was invoiced and entered at $0.75 (Canadian currency) per net ton and the screenings at $0.38 (Canadian currency) per net ton. The stone was appraised at $2.05 (United 'States currency) per net ton and the screenings at $1.67 (’United States currency) per net ton, both less certain charges.

The parties have agreed that export value, as defined in section 402 (b) of 'the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956, is the proper basis of valuation, but plaintiff contends that the following charges should have been deducted:

Stacking at Por t Colborne at $0.05 (Canadian) per ton
Trucking at Port Colborne from quarry to dock — $0.15 (Canadian) per ton

Pertinent provisions of section 402 of the tariff act, as amended, are as follows:

(b) Eor the purposes of this section, the export value of imported merchandise shall be the price, at the time of exportation to the United States of the merchandise undergoing appraisement, at which such or similar merchandise is freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale 'in the principal markets of the country of exportation, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, for exportation to the United States, plus, when not included [707]*707In such, price, the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature and all other expenses incidental to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.
*******
(f) 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, * * ».
(2) The term “ordinary course of trade” means the Conditions and practices which, for a reasonable itime 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 kind as the merchandise undergoing appraisement.

According to a statement attached to the invoice (agreed to be the appraisement) and a stipulation of counsel, the appraiser found value by taking the prices of $2.05 per ton for the stone and $1.67 for the screenings and making certain deductions and calculations therefrom. Plaintiff’s witness, Jack Naiman, testified that those prices represented the price for the material delivered by plaintiff to its customers in Cleveland, which amount was remitted by customers to plaintiff. Those figures were supplied to the appraiser by plaintiff through its customs broker. Appraisement was made as follows:

Total value of the shipment at the above prices_ $20, 504. 68
Stacking, United States docks, 50 per ton_ $521.70
Canada steamship charges of $0.91 per ton (including 65 cents water freight, 1 cent toll charges, 5 cents top wharfage, and 20 cents loading charge)_ 10, 020.86
Customs brokerage and clearance charges_ 39.97
Total nondutiable charges_ 10,582.53
Net duty paid value_ $9,922.15
Divided by 107%% to obtain gross value less duty, which was the appraised value_ $9,229.91

The appraiser did not deduct the charge for stacking at Port Col-borne at 5 cents per ton (Canadian) nor the charge for trucking at Port Colborne from quarry to dock at 15 cents per ton (Canadian).

It appears from the testimony of Jack Naiman, an officer of the plaintiff corporation between 1954 and 1960, that the stockholders of plaintiff and those of Niagara Crushed Stone, Ltd., were the same and that some of the officers of the former were officers of the latter. They [708]*708were so related that dealings between them were not at arms’ length. Neither corporation is now in business, but stone is still being exported from the quarry. The plaintiff has ceased doing business but is still a legal entity. Niagara Crushed Stone, Ltd., became bankrupt and was purchased by Canada Steamship Lines who renamed it Port Col-borne Quarries.

Mr. Naiman testified, that during the period involved here, his duties included placing orders for stone with Niagara Crushed Stone, Ltd., and that he made visits to the quarry on an average of twice a month. The crushed stone before the court was acquired by plaintiff by purchase at 75 cents (Canadian) per net ton, f.o.b. the quarry, and the screenings at 38 cents (Canadian) per net ton. The charges listed on the statement attached to the invoice accrued after the merchandise left the quarry and were for the account of the purchaser. The charge for stacking at Port Colborne was for use of two bulldozers at the dock to push the stone into more compact piles and to push it onto conveyor belts for loading. The charge for trucking was for moving the material from the quarry to the dock. The merchandise was shipped in bulk and no packaging was involved.

The witness stated that whether stone was purchased for home consumption or for export it was loaded on trucks, the trucks were driven onto a scale and weighed, and a charge made according to the type of material. The customer paid the charges accruing after the stone left the quarry. In the case of merchandise being shipped to the United States, the trucks traveled a fraction of a mile from the quarry to the dock site and dumped the load on the dock. The merchandise was weighed again at the dock and those weights were quoted on the invoice.

According to the witness, plaintiff was the only importer of this merchandise in the United States, others buying from plaintiff, but there were Canadian purchasers who purchased ex quarry. The plaintiff’s customers in the United States purchased at an all-inclusive price for the material laid down on the dock in the United States.

An affidavit of Wilma Caldwell, who had been a bookkeeper and accountant in the employ of Niagara Crushed Stone, Ltd., and was subsequently employed by Port Colborne Quarries, Ltd., confirmed that the Stone exported to the United States was shipped in bulk by boat from Port Colborne and that sold locally was transported by truck, and that all sales were made at the office of the company at the quarry site, at a price at the quarry, with the buyer paying all costs accruing after the stone left the quarry, whether sold locally or for exportation to the United States.

Defendant offered in evidence a report of 'Clifton L. Mentzer, customs agent in charge (defendant’s exhibit A), and a report of Customs [709]*709Agent Kenneth. R. Aschim (defendant’s exhibit B).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

C. S. Emery & Co. v. United States
73 Cust. Ct. 84 (U.S. Customs Court, 1974)
Ontario Stone Corp. v. United States
65 Cust. Ct. 753 (U.S. Customs Court, 1970)
Reliance Trading Corp. of Illinois v. United States
63 Cust. Ct. 675 (U.S. Customs Court, 1969)
A. W. Fenton Co. v. United States
61 Cust. Ct. 437 (U.S. Customs Court, 1968)
Niagara Crushed Stone Sales of Ohio, Inc. v. United States
58 Cust. Ct. 909 (U.S. Customs Court, 1967)
Alvin Naiman Corp. v. United States
57 Cust. Ct. 844 (U.S. Customs Court, 1966)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
54 Cust. Ct. 705, 1965 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2422, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alvin-naiman-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1965.