American Import Co. v. United States

62 Cust. Ct. 486, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3487
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 29, 1969
DocketC.D. 3807
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 62 Cust. Ct. 486 (American Import 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
American Import Co. v. United States, 62 Cust. Ct. 486, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3487 (cusc 1969).

Opinion

Newman, Judge:

The issue presented in these two consolidated protests is the proper tariff classification of certain wooden gunracks imported from Japan. In each of these cases, the gunracks were assessed with duty by the customs officials at the same rate, 16% per centum ad valorem, but under different provisions of the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS). The gunracks in protest 65/9512 were classified as articles not specially provided for, of wood, under item 207.00, TSUS, and those in protest 66/10924 were classified as household utensils not specially provided for, of wood, under item 206.97, TSUS. Plaintiffs claim that the proper classification for the involved gun-racks is under the provision of item 727.35, TSUS, for wood furniture, not specially provided for, other than chairs, dutiable at the rate of 10.5 per centum ad valorem.

The pertinent tariff provisions are quoted below:

[488]*488Classified under:
Schedule 2, part 1, subpart E, Tariff Schedules of the United States:
Household utensils and parts thereof, all the foregoing not specially provided for, of wood:
* * * * * * *
206.97 Other_16%% ad val.
Schedule 2, part 1, subpart F, Tariff Schedules of the United States:
207.00 Articles not specially provided for, of wood- 16%% ad. val.
Claimed under:
Schedule 7, part 4, subpart A, Tariff Schedules of the United States:
Furniture, and parts thereof, not specially provided for:
ij; * # * * # *
Of wood:
Other:
727.35 Furniture other than chairs— 10.5% ad val.
Subpart A headnotes:
1. For the purposes of this subpart, the term “furniture” includes movable articles of utility, designed to be placed on the floor or ground, and used to equip dwellings, offices, restaurants, libraries, schools, churches, hospitals, or other establishments, aircraft, vessels, vehicles, or other means of transport, gardens, patios, parks, or similar outdoor places, even though such articles are designed to be screwed, bolted, or otherwise fixed in place on the floor or ground; and kitchen cabinets and similar cupboards, seats and beds, and sectional bookcases and similar sectional furniture, even though designed to be fixed to the wall or to stand one on the other; * * *
* * ;¡: * * *

Since the tariff provision claimed by plaintiffs is more specific than either of the provisions under which the merchandise was classified by the customs officials, the sole issue for our determination is whether the involved gunracks are “furniture’ within the purview of item 727.35.

The pertinent facts are not in dispute, and may be briefly summarized:

The gunracks in this case are used in the home for the storage and display of guns, and are styled and finished to blend with existing furniture. They include such features as scalloping, smooth finishing, felting for the protection of the piece itself, and walnut or natural coloring. The articles each hold from two to four guns; and with the [489]*489exception of one upright model, they are designed to be hung by hooks on the wall. Thus, the upright model holds four guns, is designed to stand on the floor in the corner of the room, and has a locking device as a safety feature. The wall hung models are represented or illustrated by plaintiffs’ exhibits 1,2, and 3, and the upright floor model by plaintiffs’ exhibit 4. It appears that the gunracks are sold by plaintiffs to the sporting goods trade and to large retail chain stores.

In support of their claim under item 727.35, TSUS, plaintiffs rely upon Hurricane Import Co. et al. v. United States, 55 Cust. Ct. 210, C.D. 2577 (1965), decided under the Tariff Act of 1930, and also the statutory definition of furniture set forth in headnote 1, subpart A, part 4, schedule 7, TSUS, which includes “sectional bookcases and similar sectional furniture.” It is defendant’s position that the gun-racks are not “furniture,” either within the common meaning of that term or within the purview of the headnote, but are sporting goods accessories.

Hence, there is no dispute that the merchandise is dutiable as claimed by plaintiffs if it is furniture, either within the common meaning of the term (as enunciated in past decisions of this court), or within the headnote definition. It is clear that the latter, by use of the word “includes” followed by several enumerations, was merely intended by Congress to extend the meaning to be ascribed to the term “furniture,” and not to restrict its meaning as judicially determined. Cf. United States v. Kimball Dental Mfg. Co., 19 CCPA 353, T.D. 45501 (1932); Carlowitz v. United States, 2 Ct. Cust. Appls. 172, T.D. 31681 (1911). Therefore, if the gunracks are within the common meaning of the term furniture, it becomes unnecessary to consider plaintiffs’ additional contention that they are within the purview of the language “sectional bookcases and similar sectional furniture” in the headnote.

The question of whether wooden gunracks are furniture within the common meaning of the term has previously been resolved in two cases: Hurricane Import Co. et al. v. United States, 55 Cust. Ct. 210, C.D. 2577 (1965); and Hurricane Import Co. et al. v. United States, 62 Cust. Ct. 194, C.D. 3728 (1969). In both decisions the gunracks were held properly dutiable as furniture, rather than as manufactures of wood under paragraph 412 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified.

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Related

Albert E. Price, Inc. v. United States
68 Cust. Ct. 50 (U.S. Customs Court, 1972)
Amthor Imports, Inc. v. United States
68 Cust. Ct. 24 (U.S. Customs Court, 1972)
Sprouse Reitz & Co. v. United States
67 Cust. Ct. 209 (U.S. Customs Court, 1971)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
62 Cust. Ct. 486, 1969 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3487, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-import-co-v-united-states-cusc-1969.