American Ecla Corp. v. United States

9 Cust. Ct. 153, 1942 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 773
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedSeptember 4, 1942
DocketC. D. 680
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 9 Cust. Ct. 153 (American Ecla 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
American Ecla Corp. v. United States, 9 Cust. Ct. 153, 1942 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 773 (cusc 1942).

Opinion

Dallinger, Judge:

These are suits against the United States, arising at the port of New York, brought to recover certain customs duties alleged to have been improperly exacted on particular importations consisting of machines and parts thereof. The parts contained in cases numbered 1, 3, 4, and 5 on the invoice accompanying [154]*154entry 810237 covered by protest 25177-K were assessed with duty at tbe rate of 45 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 397 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as manufactures of metal not specially provided for. The balance of the merchandise was assessed with duty at the rate of 40 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 372 as textile machinery or parts thereof, or at the rate of 25 per centum ad valorem under said paragraph 372 as textile machinery or parts thereof, as-that provision was modified by the trade agreement with the United Kingdom promulgated in T. D. 49753, 74 Treas. Dec. 253.

It is claimed that all of said merchandise is properly dutiable at-, the rate of 20 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 372 as modified by said trade agreement which covers—

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Textile machinery, finished or unfinished, not specially provided for, for textile manufacturing or processing prior to the making of fabrics or woven, knit, crocheted, or felt articles not made from fabrics (except worsted combs, bleaching, printing, dyeing, or finishing machinery, and machinery for making synthetic textile filaments, bands, strips, or sheets).

Alternatively, it is alleged that said merchandise is properly dutiable at the rate of 27K per centum ad valorem under said paragraph 372 as.machines or parts thereof not specially provided for. There is a further claim that the machine described as a vulcanizer on the invoice is properly dutiable at the rate of 20 per centum ad valorem under said paragraph 372 as modified by said trade agreement as an insulating machine. This case was originally decided by us on December 26, 1941, in the case of American Ecla Corp. v. United States, C. D. 574, and is again before us as the result of a rehearing granted the-plaintiff on January 29, 1942.

At the hearing, held at New York City on June 9, 1941, the plaintiff offered in evidence the testimony of a single witness, Charles W. Pestalozzi, vice president of the plaintiff-corporation, who testified that the business of said corporation was the processing of knit goods;that the process in question consisted of spraying two fabrics assembled together with so-called latex for the purpose of making the'resultant fabric elastic. The witness then described the process in question as follows:

We enter these knit goods into a large machine on an endless belt and spray a. formula containing a certain amount of latex to those knit fabrics. Subsequently, we assemble-two pieces of fabric together in a calender, after which this assembled cloth enters the vulcanizer, and subsequently to that the cloth is -mounted on a stretching machine which has the purpose of eliminating what we call the shrinking side. In other words, when the fabrics are finally shipped they can be-stretched and always will come back to the same width.

The witness then proceeded to testify in part as follows:

Q. Then what is done to the cloth after it has been prestretched? — A. After that, it is measured, finished, trimmed, packed, and shipped.
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[155]*155Q. I now show you the invoice covered by Entry 789462, the subject of Protest 24007-K, and ask you whether or not you are familiar with the merchandise enumerated on that invoice? — A. Yes, sir.
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Q. Will you please state what the merchandise contained in Cases 1 to 19 was? — A. They were parts of a large machine which we built. They contained, first of all, chains which constitute what we term an endless belt on to which the fabric is mounted. They contained tanks for the latex solution; they contained covers with pressure gauge for those tanks.
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They contained some special tubes leading from the tanks to the spray guti equipment. They contained what we call an aspirator, which is a vent, an exhaust vent
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Q. In cases 20 and 21, what was that merchandise? — A. That is the vul-canizer machine.
Q. That is the machine which vulcanizes the fabric after it has been calendered and before the stretching process? — A. Yes.
Q. Those parts contained in Cases 1 to 19 are necessary parts to the operation, of that first machine? — A. Yes.
Q. Would the machine operate ■without any of the parts? — A. No.
Q. I now show you the invoice accompanying Entry 810237 covered by Protest 25177-K. Are you familiar with the merchandise on that entry assessed at 40 per cent ad valorem and 45 per cent ad valorem? — A. Yes.
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Q. What is the merchandise contained in Case 1, assessed at 40 per cent ad valorem? — A. "That is the stretching machine.
Q. The prestretching machine? — A. The prestretching machine.
Q. Which comes after the vulcanization and before the finishing process?— A. Yes.
Q. Also in Case 1, what is the merchandise assessed for duty at 45 per cent ad valorem? — A. The merchandise assessed at 45 per cent is part of the spray gun equipment.
Q. Is that part of the first machine? — A. Yes.
Q. Those are parts of the same machine as the merchandise that was covered by the previous entry, Entry 789462? — A. It is not attached to the machine, itself, but it is part of the process performed by the first machine.
Q. Will you please explain that further? — A. The spray gun equipment is brought to the first machine.
Q. Is it attached to the machine in any manner? — A. During the operation, it is.
Q. How is it attached? — A. By two arms which are fitted to the first machine.
Q. Will the first machine operate without the gun in position?' — -A. No.
Q. Are there ports or cavities in the machine for the fitting of the gun?— A. Yes.
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Q. In Case 3, what was the .merchandise that was contained therein and assessed for duty at 45 per cent ad valorem? — A. This is also a part, a definite part, of the first machine. They are supports for the endless chain.
Q. How about the merchandise in Cases 4 and 5; what is that? — A. Those are the covers for the tanks containing the solution.
Q. What use is made of the tanks containing the solution? — A. The tanks are attached to the spray gun equipment.
[156]*156Q, And that in turn is attached directly to the machine?- — A. Yes.
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Bluebook (online)
9 Cust. Ct. 153, 1942 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 773, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-ecla-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1942.