Border Brokerage Co. v. United States

65 Cust. Ct. 277, 343 F. Supp. 1396, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3040
United States Customs Court·Decided October 14, 1970·No. C.D. 4089·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

Re, Judge:

The legal question presented in these two protests, consolidated for purposes of trial, pertains to the proper classification, for customs duty purposes, of certain merchandise described on the invoices as plastic planting bullets. The merchandise was imported from Canada in 1966 and 1968. It was classified by the district director as “other articles not specially provided for, of rubber or plastics” under item 774.60 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States, and duty was assessed at 17 per centum ad valorem. Plaintiff contends that the plastic planting bullets should be classified under item 666.00 of the tariff schedules as “agricultural and horticultural implements not specially provided for”, and should therefore enter duty free.

Item 774.60 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States, pursuant to which the merchandise was classified, provides as follows:

Schedule 7, part 12:
“Subpart D.-Articles Not Specially Provided For, of Rubber or Plastics
Articles not specially provided for, of rubber or plastics:
$$$$$$$
774.60 Other_ 17% ad val.”

[280] Plaintiff claims that the merchandise is free of duty pursuant to item 666.00 under schedule 6, part 4, which provides as follows:

“666.00 Machinery for soil preparation and cultivation, agricultural drills and planters, fertilizer spreaders, harvesting and threshing machinery, hay or grass mowers (except lawn mowers), farm wagons and carts, milking machines, on-farm equipment for the handling or drying of agricultural or horticultural products, and agricultural and horticultural implements not specially provided for, and parts of any of the foregoing _ Free”

The record in this case consists of the testimony of two witnesses for the plaintiff, one witness for the defendant, and two exhibits of the imported plastic planting bullets, differing only in their size.

It is well established and beyond question that the classification of the collector is presumed to be correct. F. H. Kaysing v. United States, 49 CCPA 69, 71, C.A.D. 798 (1962); United States v. Colibri Lighters (U.S.A.) Inc, 47 CCPA 106, 109, C.A.D. 739 (1960); McKesson & Robbins, Inc. v. United States, 27 CCPA 157, 158, C.A.D. 77 (1939). Additionally, as stated by the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, “the importer has the burden of proving not only that the classification made by the collector is wrong, but he must further show affirmatively the correctness of his contention.” United States v. Enrique C. Lineiro, 37 CCPA 5, 10, C.A.D. 410 (1949). On the dual burden of plaintiff, see also United States v. H. V. Albrecht et al., 27 CCPA 112, 117, C.A.D. 71 (1939); Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. v. United States, 30 CCPA 150, 157, C.A.D. 227 (1943); W. T. Grant Company v. United States, 38 CCPA 57, 60, C.A.D. 440 (1950).

Since the use of the implement determines its classification, to be reclassified under item 666.00 of the tariff schedules as an agricultural implement, the chief use of the merchandise must be clearly established. United States v. Boker & Co., 6. Ct. Cust. Appls. 243, 245, T.D. 35472 (1915). In the case of A. N. Deringer, Inc. v. United States, 48 Cust. Ct. 138, 139, C.D. 2326 (1962), which involved the proper classification of ladders used for fruit picking, neither plaintiff nor defendant disputed the fact that “the term ‘agricultural implements,’ as used in paragraph 1604 [Tariff Act of 1930] * * * is a designation by use; and that the classification of imported merchandise as agri[281] cultural implemeuts is dependent upon its chief use.” This principle had been enunciated earlier by the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in United States v. S. S. Perry, 25 CCPA 282, 285, T.D. 49395 (1938), wherein the court quoted from the case of United States v. Spreckels Creameries, Inc., 17 CCPA 400, T.D. 43835 (1930), which held: “However, it is well established upon both reason and authority that in customs law the classification of merchandise as an agricultural implement is dependent upon the chief use of such merchandise.” [Emphasis in original.]

Rule 10(e) (i) of the General Interpretative Rules of the Tariff Schedules of the United States provides that:

“a tariff classification controlled by use (other than actual use) is to be determined in accordance with the use in the United States at, or immediately prior to, the date of importation, of articles of that class or kina to which the imported articles belong, and the controlling use is the chief use, i.e., the use which exceeds all other uses (if any) combined.”

Chief use is a question of actual fact which must be established on the basis of positive testimony representative of an adequate cross section of the country. L. Tobert Co., Inc., et al. v. United States, 41 CCPA 161, 164, C.A.D. 544 (1953); Voss Int. Corp. v. United States, 61 Cust. Ct. 123, 127, C.D. 3544, 287 F. Supp. 989 (1968).

Applying these principles to the case at bar, since the plaintiff claims reclassification under a provision for which chief use must be proved, it is incumbent upon the plaintiff to show not only the chief use of the plastic planting bullets, but also that the plastic planting bullets were chiefly used in the manner demonstrated in the United States at or immediately prior to the date of importation. United States v. S.S. Perry, 25 CCPA at 287. If the chief use of the controverted merchandise can also be demonstrated to come within the scope of an agricultural implement, within the meaning of item 666.00 of the tariff schedules, the presumption of the correctness of the district director’s findings will have been overcome.

Two witnesses testified for the plaintiff in an effort to establish both chief use, and the fact that the plastic planting bullets are agricultural implements. Mr. Ian Howard, a Canadian who is an executive of the Canadian manufacturer of the merchandise at bar, personally supervised the manufacture and sale of the merchandise in the United States. Mr. Howard also engaged in the initial production and design of the plastic planting bullets with the cooperation of Mr. John Walters, a director of the University of British Columbia, Haney [282] Research Forest. Mr. Walters has had extensive research experience and presently operates a self-supporting tree farm on a 20-mile forest in Canada. He invented the plastic planting bullets and has observed their use in the United States. Mr. Walters also testified that he has lectured on the use of these containers before agricultural groups.

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Border Brokerage Co. v. United States, 65 Cust. Ct. 277, 343 F. Supp. 1396, 1970 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3040 (cusc 1970).

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