American Smelting & Refining Co. v. United States

9 Cust. Ct. 101, 1942 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 763
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJuly 22, 1942
DocketC. D. 670
StatusPublished

This text of 9 Cust. Ct. 101 (American Smelting & Refining 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 Smelting & Refining Co. v. United States, 9 Cust. Ct. 101, 1942 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 763 (cusc 1942).

Opinion

Dallinger, Judge:

This is a suit against the United States,' arising at the port of Tacoma, brought to recover certain customs duties alleged to have been improperly exacted on a particular importation invoiced as "brass residues.” It was classified by the collector as entitled to free entry under the following paragraph of the Tariff Act of 1930:

Par. 1634. Brass, old brass, clippings from brass or Dutch metal, all the foregoing, fit only for remanufacture.

However, the collector did impose a tax of 4 cents per pound on the copper contained therein under section 601 (c) (7) of the Revenue Act of 1932, the pertinent provision of which reads:

Copper-bearing ores and concentrates and articles provided for in paragraph 316, 380, 381, 387, 1620, 1634, 1657, 1658, or 1659 of the tariff act of 1930, 4 cents per pound on the copper contained therein.

It is claimed that said merchandise is properly classifiable under paragraph 1664 of said tariff act, and therefore not subject to any [102]*102copper tax under tbe Revenue Act of 1932. Said paragraph 1684 reads:

Metallic mineral substances in a crude state, such, as drosses, shimmings, residues, brass foundry ash, and flue dust, not specially provided for.

At the hearing in this case held at Tacoma, Wash., on November 14, 1941, the plaintiff offered in evidence the testimony of three witnesses. The first, John A. Rea, Jr., customs storekeeper at the customs bonded warehouse at Tacoma Smelters, identified a representative sample of the merchandise at bar labeled “Lot 1397,” which was admitted in evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit 1.

The second plaintiff’s witness, Albert H. Mellish, a qualified chemist, testified that as chief chemist he had supervision of all the assays and chemical analyses made in the laboratory at the Tacoma Smelters; that some of the material from “Lot 1397” herein imported by the American Smelting & Refining Co. was analyzed under his supervision; and that said analysis shows that a ton of material contained the following:

Percent. Percent.
Copper_55.93 Nickel_.33
Zinc_ 14.87 Antimony_.40
Lead_ 4.04 Silver_.01
Arsenic_ .59 Gold_.0003

The witness then proceeded to testify in part as follows:

Q. I will ask you to examine Exhibit 1 please, both with the naked eye, and with the use of this magnifying glass, and please describe what you have seen both by the use of the naked eye, and by the use of the magnifying glass. — A. I have seen rounded particles and particles of very irregular shape. I also find very small particles of what appears to be sand, and some particles of wire. I believe I see a nail here, I am not sure, or a piece of a nail.
* * Hi * . * * * *
Q. You referred to rounded particles and particles of irregular shapes. What were those particles, what is their identity? — A. The rounded particles appear to be metal, also the large particles of irregular shape.
Q. Have you seen brass being cast? — A. Yes, I have.
Q. Are you familiar with the product, if such a product does exist, which is obtained as sweepings from a brass foundry? — A. I have seen material on the floor of a brass foundry.
Q. Will you tell us what the material as represented by Exhibit 1 is, in your opinion Mr. Mellish?
* # % Ht * * *
The Witness. My opinion is that is the residue from a brass foundry.
Hi * * * * * • *
By Mr. Tuttle:
Q. Is that material in your opinion old brass? — A. No.
Q. Is it clippings from brass or Dutch metal? — ■A. No.
Q. Is it any of these substances, brass, old brass, clippings from brass or Dutch metal, fit only for remanufacture? — A. No, I would say it is a brass foundry residue or a foundry residue.
[103]*103■Q. Is the material as represented by Exhibit 1, a metallic mineral substance?— A. Yes, sir.

On cross-examination the witness testified in part as follows:

X Q. Isn’t it a fact that the ratio between lead and zinc is rather high in this material, that is 4 percent as compared to 14 percent? — A. Not necessarily.
X Q. Would you mind explaining the percentage of nickel in this material, Exhibit 1? — -A. It probably came from the same source. There is a possibility, an extreme probability, of there being scrap in that charge and there are some alloys which carry nickel included and those alloys are subsequently put into the charge of a brass foundry. Accordingly, there will be nickel and all the rest of the by-products in that material.
% ífc Hi }{c Hi # H1
X Q. Well how do you account" for the presence of gold and silver in a charge for brass? — A. I believe that I covered that in my previous testimony to the effect that the copper that is used in a brass foundry is not always electrolytically refined, that is 99.9 percent copper. In some cases they use copper that is electrolytically refined, but in the other cases it is very possible to have a small amount of gold and silver in it and the same is true of other metals, * * *.
X Q. Is it likely that a charge will have all of the elements contained in this material, Exhibit 1; that is gold, silver, nickel, antimony, all at once in a single charge? — A. In a scrap that goes to a foundry, you are liable to find anything.
X Q. What is the basis of your knowledge? You say you never manufactured brass, and you cannot recall a single brass foundry that you visited in the United States? — A. That is true.
X Q. Well what is the basis of your statement with respect to these various substances? — A. Technical literature, perhaps.
Hi Hi Hi 5}i ^ # ‡
Judge D allingee. Mr. Witness, regardless of whether yoY ever worked in a brass foundry, but from looking at that material with both the naked eye, and with the magnifying glass, would you say from its appearance and the presence of old nails, pieces of wood, and the fact it adhered to your hand, would you still say, •regardless of whether you worked in a brass foundry, that it is brass foundry ash?
The Witness. I say it is foundry residue.

On redirect examination the witness testified in part as follows:

R Q. In connection with your work as chief chemist for the American Smelting and Refining Company, and your studies in metallurgy, have you become familiar with the processes by which brass is manufactured, .the various processes? — A. Yes.
Mr. Ttjttle.

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

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 Cust. Ct. 101, 1942 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 763, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-smelting-refining-co-v-united-states-cusc-1942.