Border Brokerage Co. v. United States

56 Cust. Ct. 510, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1918
United States Customs Court·Decided May 24, 1966·No. C.D. 2689·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

Oliver, Judge:

The protest in this case relates to the importation of certain merchandise invoiced as “Samco Tru Cut Dados.” Each dado, as imported, consists of a circular blade with an integral washer in the center portion and cutting tips welded along the periphery. They were variously referred to in the record as dado cutters, dado heads, and dado saws. The collector constructively segregated them by assessing the blades with duty at 11% per centum ad valorem as parts of machines under paragraph 372 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 54108, and the tips composed of tungsten carbide, at 30 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 352 of said act, as modified by T.D. 51802, as cutting tools of any kind.

[511] Plaintiff contends that the imported dados are dutiable as entireties at 10 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 340 of said act, as modified by T.D. 52739, as circular saws, or as other saws, valued over 5 cents, under the same paragraph, as modified 'by T.D. 52373 and T.D. 52462, and dutiable thereunder at 7% per centum ad valorem, or as cutting blades at 10 per centum ad valorem within paragraph 356 of the act, as modified by T.D. 52739 and T.D. 52820.

The modified provisions involved read as follows:

Paragraph 340 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 52739:

Circular saws, finished or further advanced than tempered and polished-10% ad val.

Paragraph 340 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 52373 and T.D. 52462:

Crosscut saws, finished or further advanced than tempered and polished, hand, back, and all other saws, not specially provided for:

Valued over 5 cents each:

Hacksaw blades___* * *

Other-,---7%'% ad val.

Paragraph 356 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 52739 and T.D. 52820:

Planing-machine knives, tannery and leather knives, tobacco knives, paper and pulp mill knives, shear blades, circular cloth cutters, circular cork cutters, circular cigarette cutters, meat-slicing cutters, and all other cutting knives and blades used in power or hand machines (not including any stock-treating parts, other than mill knives, for pulp or paper machinery)--- 10% ad val.

Paragraph 372 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 54108:

Machines, finished or unfinished, not specially provided for:

Other * * *_11%% ad val.

arts not specially provided for, wholly or in chief value of metal or porcelain, of any article provided for in any item 372 in this Part_ The rate for the article of which they are parts.

Paragraph 352 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 51802:

Cutting tools of any kind containing more than one-tenth of 1 per centum of vanadium, or more than two-tenths of 1 per centum of tungsten, molybdenum, or chromium _30% ad val.

[512] At the trial, besides the testimony of two witnesses, plaintiff introduced the following four exhibits: Exhibit 1 — a representative sample of the imported merchandise; exhibit 2 — a grooved piece of wood in which grooves 1 through 4 were cut with an ordinary wood-cutting circular saw blade and grooves 5 through 8 by the imported article; illustrative exhibit 3- — the circular saw blade used on exhibit 2; and collective exhibit 4 — exhibit 4-A being known as a chamfer saw; 4 — B, a beader saw; and 4^C, a head-turning saw.

Mr. Samuel Sam, a resident of British Columbia, Canada, was called as plaintiff’s first witness and stated that he was associated with the Samco Engineering Co., Ltd., of British Columbia, the manufacturer of the involved merchandise. Mr. Sam identified plaintiff’s exhibit 1 as representative of the imported dados and testified that he is the designer and patent holder. lie further explained that the blades, together with the tips in sheet form, are imported into Canada from the United States. There they are processed and assembled into the finished article. When exported into this country, the tips are attached in the manner represented by exhibit 1.

From a series of questions on both direct and cross-examination, the following information was developed through this witness: The dado heads (the name used in advertising them) are attached to the arbor of a power machine and revolve in the workpiece to cut grooves in wood of varying widths; the grooves may be cut lengthwise or crosswise; the dado cuts rather than chips; the washer in the center of the blade is used to set the particular width of the cut desired; the cutting tips are made of tungsten carbide to provide longer life; the dados were not designed to cut metal, nor are they ordinarily used to divide pieces of wood in half; besides the use of the dado head, groove cutting is performed by a standard dado, a cutting device made up of several blades stacked together — the number of blades depending upon the width required — and a wabble-warbler, a device which apparently employs a series of tapered washers mounted with a circular blade to give an angular tilt for groove making; before the advent of the dados, grooves would often be made with ordinary single blade saws; the normal application of a circular saw blade is to cut through wood.

In summary, it was the opinion of the witness that a dado head is a saw with a special application for cutting grooves.

Plaintiff’s second witness was Mr. M. Leo Sweeney, also of British Columbia, who testified that he was a barrel manufacturer with plants in Vancouver and Seattle. Because of the shape of barrels, his mills or plants use a great many types of saws. He identified plaintiff’s collective exhibit 4 as three saucer saws used in the manufacture of barrel heads. Exhibit 4-C, a head-turning saw, cuts through [513] the barrel head, which is revolving, and makes the under bevel. At the same time, exhibit 4 — A, a chamfer saw, cuts the upper bevel of the barrel head, while exhibit 4-B, a header saw, cuts the bead or V-shaped edge of the barrel head to about % of an inch thick. The bead is made to fit into the groove of a barrel to produce a water-tight effect. The header saw does not cut through the wood, but only along the edge.

On cross-examination, Mr. Sweeney testified that the saucer saws described above were not designed to be put on an arbor for use in sawing through a plank of wood; nor are they used to make grooves in wood. It was his testimony that dados are not used in his plants.

Exhibit 1 contains a circular blade 6 inches in diameter. A metal disc structure (referred to by plaintiff’s witness Sam as the washer), approximately 3 inches in diameter, is located in the center of the blade and protrudes in a tapering fashion from each face of the blade. Markings ranging from 1/4 to 13/16 appear in the ridge of each face of the disc. Along the periphery of the blade there are welded eight, equidistant, cutting surfaces or tips. Four of the cutting edges point in one direction while the other four point in the opposite direction. A hole of approximately % of an inch runs through the center of the washer.

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Border Brokerage Co. v. United States, 56 Cust. Ct. 510, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1918 (cusc 1966).

56 Cust. Ct. 510 (Border Brokerage Co. v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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