B. A. McKenzie & Co. v. United States

5 Cust. Ct. 247, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2144
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedDecember 12, 1940
DocketC. D. 409
StatusPublished

This text of 5 Cust. Ct. 247 (B. A. McKenzie & 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
B. A. McKenzie & Co. v. United States, 5 Cust. Ct. 247, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2144 (cusc 1940).

Opinion

Dallingee, 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 described in the invoice as “best quality band saw strip.” Duty was levied thereon at the rate of, 25 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 313 of the Tariff Act of 1930 for [248]*248“bands and strips of iron or steel, whether in long or short lengths, not specially provided for”, plus Ko of 1 cent per pound under the provision in paragraph 315 of said act for such iron or steel strips when tempered, plus 8 per centum ad valorem, and 3 cents per pound on the chromium content in excess of %o of 1 per centum, under the provisions of paragraph 305 of said act.

It is claimed that said articles are properly dutiable at the rate of 12 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 340 of said act for “steel band saws, finished or further advanced than tempered and polished,” as amended by the trade agreement with Sweden (T. D. 47785, 68 Treas. Dec. 19 at p. 28).

At the first hearing in this case held at Tacoma, Wash., on July 31, 1939, before Keefe, Judge, the plaintiffs offered in evidence the testimony of Phil J. DeLorme, owner of the Northwestern Saw Works at Aberdeen, Wash. He testified that his company manufactured saws from band-saw strips; that the merchandise in the instant case was imported by his company; that at the time of its importation it measured 60.3 feet in length, 16% inches in width, and .115 inches in thickness, and that after importation the merchandise in question was manufactured into a band saw.

The witness then identified a piece of one of the imported strips, which piece measured 16% inches in length, and which was admitted in evidence as exhibit 1.

The witness further testified that after importation teeth are cut along one edge by means of a power punch; that thereafter the length of the merchandise is cut according to order; that the article is then hammered flat and expanded at those points where it is short; that the teeth are then shortened and ground; that in its imported condition the merchandise was tempered and polished; that prior to importation the edges of the material had been ground in order to make it uniform, the process being known as “backing”, and that he had never used merchandise like exhibit 1 for any other purpose than the manufacture of band saws.

On cross-examination the witness testified as follows:

By Mr. Weil.
X Q. What is a saw? — A. I don’t quite get you.
X Q. What is a saw? — A. You will have to put it a little plainer—
X Q. What business are you in? — A. I am in the saw business.
X Q. I am asking you, what is a saw? — A. Can’t you put that a little plainer to me?
X Q. I will try to. You say you have manufactured saws? — A, Yes, sir.
X Q. And you have seen them in operation? — A. Yes, sir.
X Q. What does a saw do? What is the function of a saw? — A. Well, it cuts lumber, of course.
X Q. Has it teeth? — A. Right.
X Q. Has the merchandise in the condition as imported, teeth? — A. No.
[249]*249X Q. Could you cut merchandise with the merchandise in the condition as imported? — A. No.
XQ. Would you say the merchandise, in the condition as imported, was a steel band saw?
Mr. Tuttle. Objected to. He has already answered.
Judge Keefe. He has already answered.
Mr. Weil. That is all.

At the second hearing, held at Seattle, Wash., on November 13, 1939, before Cline, Judge, the Government offered in evidence the testimony of Roy El win Smith, an employee of the Vance Scales Co. He testified that his company manufactured and repaired saws; that the imported merchandise comes tempered and polished, and that it is then cut to length and toothed, after which it is benched, backed, ground, and swedged on the cutting teeth.

The witness was then shown exhibit 1 which he identified as band-saw steel. He testified that such material varies in length up to 65 feet, but that he was unable to tell whether exhibit 1 was backed because the piece was too small.

On cross-examination the witness testified that material like exhibit 1 is always known as band-saw steel; that when it is received the first thing done to it is to cut teeth therein with a punch which punches out the steel; that the next step is to cut the material to the right length after which the two ends are welded together; that a band saw must be backed before it can be used to cut large logs, and that it was impossible from an examination of exhibit 1 to ascertain whether the edges had been backed.

On redirect-examination the witness testified that the process of grinding edges of material like exhibit 1 to make them smooth advances the material beyond tempering and polishing.

At the third hearing held at Tacoma on March 31, 1940, before Dallinger, Judge, the plaintiffs offered in evidence the testimony of the same Roy Elwin Smith who had previously appeared for the Government. He testified that in his opinion exhibit 1 had been ground on its two edges, and that when he testified at a previous hearing that he could not tell whether or not exhibit 1 had been backed because of its small size, he had reference to an entirely different process of backing.

On cross-examination the witness testified that the word “back” has a different meaning when used in the mill from that used by steel manufacturers, and that exhibit 1 in mill terminology was backed.

The plaintiffs then recalled the witness Phil J. DeLorme who testified that by backing he meant grinding the back of the material in order to make it perfectly uniform, and that he did not agree with the testimony of the witness Smith to the effect that backing consists of putting a crown on the back of the saw approximately or %4 of an [250]*250iuch for every 5 feet of length. On being shown two pieces of steel which were admitted as collective illustrative exhibit A, the witness stated that in his opinion the grinding of the edges constituted backing.

On cross-examination the witness testified that from the instant merchandise his company made a 54-foot saw, the additional 9 inches being treated as scrap.

. The plaintiffs' then offered in evidence the testimony of James E.

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Bluebook (online)
5 Cust. Ct. 247, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/b-a-mckenzie-co-v-united-states-cusc-1940.