Bruce Duncan Co. v. United States

52 Cust. Ct. 179, 1964 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1292
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Bruce Duncan Co. v. United States. Read the opinion of the Court — 47 Cust. Ct. 358
United States Customs Court·Decided May 18, 1964·No. C.D. 2458·Published

Opinion

Ford, Judge:

This protest is lodged against the decision of the collector of customs at Los Angeles in assessing duty at the rate of 27% per centum ad valorem and 25 cents per pound on certain spun rayon men’s sport shirts, with raised design, under the provisions of paragraph 1311 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 91 Treas. Dec. 150, T.D. 54108.

It is the position of plaintiffs herein that said shirts are ornamented or are in part of insertings, the rate for either of which is 42% per centum ad valorem under the provisions of paragraph 1529(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by said sixth protocol, supra.

The pertinent portions of the statutes involved herein are as follows: Paragraph 1311 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 54108, supm:

Clothing and articles of wearing apparel of every description, manufactured wholly or in part, wholly or in chief value of rayon or other synthetic textile, and not specially provided for_254 per lb. and 27%% ad val.
Paragraph 1529(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by T.D. 54108, supra:
Articles (including fabrics), ornamented:
*******
Provided for in subdivision [9] of paragraph 1529(a) :
Wearing apparel (except gloves and mittens wholly or in chief value of wool)_42%% ad val.
Articles (including fabrics) whoily or in part of any product provided for in paragraph 1529 (a), Tariff Act of 1930
*******
Provided for in subdivision [17] of paragraph 1529(a) :
Wholly or in part of all-overs, edgings, flouncings, flutings, fringes, galloons, gimps, insertings, neck puffings, ornaments, quillings, ruehings, trimmings, or tuekings, if not in part of lace and not ornamented (except gloves and mittens)-42%% ad val.

United States Import Duties (1952) gives the following definition under the provisions of paragraph 1529 (a) :

Wherever the word “ornamented” is used in this subparagraph with a reference to this note, it means “embroidered (whether or not the embroidery is on a scalloped edge), tamboured, appliqued, ornamented with beads, bugles, or spangles, or from which threads have been omitted, drawn, punched, or cut, and with threads introduced after weaving to finish or ornament the openwork, not including one row of straight hemstitching adjoining the hem.”

Mr. Charles Barenfeld, president of Don Juan, Jr., Inc., manufacturer and importer of ladies’, men’s, and boys’ sportswear for the past 14 years, produced a sample of one of the involved shirts, which was [181]*181.received in evidence as plaintiffs’ exhibit 1. The witness testified that he is familiar with the merchandise, having designed it; that he has the shirts made in Japan,- and then has his design of a ship, or a gull, etc., handscreened over the right part of the shirt; that he then has the design raised by placing a piece of cotton or rayon thereon and backing it up, forming a quilting; that the quilting is then stitched on by the use of a Bonaaz machine, which he stated, in his opinion, was an embroidery machine; that he owns Bonaaz machines and has used them for embroidery for the past 6 or 7 years; that without this stitching, the quilting would not be secured to the garment.

Consideration will first be given to the claim of plaintiffs that said shirts are ornamented, i.e., in part of embroidery. The question as to what constitutes embroidery has been litigated on many occasions. In the case of United States v. Florea & Co., Inc., 25 CCPA 292, T.D. 49396, the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, in considering whether certain gloves containing ornamental superimposed designs were embroidered articles, made the following statements:

In arriving at the meaning of the term “embroidery” in tariff statutes the courts have laid down many different definitions thereof. In some instances such as in Kayser & Co. (Inc.) et al. v. Pevny; United States Impleaded, 13 Ct. Cust. Appls. 479, T.D. 41368, the definition in Webster’s New International Dictionary is quoted as follows: “needlework used to enrich textile fabrics, leather, etc.” This is a very broad definition and omits a number of limitations which are found in definitions elsewhere relied upon. It is interesting to note that in the Kayser & Co. (Inc.) et al. case, supra, this court also quoted a definition from United States v. Field & Co., 10 Ct. Cust. Appls. 188, T.D. 38550, as follows: “To constitute an embroidery there must be, by needlework processes, an ornamental addition superimposed upon a previously completed fabric or article.”
From all the authorities examined, the definition of the term “embroidery,” when used in a tariff act, ordinarily requires that for a thing to be embroidered there must be an ornamental, superimposed stitching which is the result of needlework. Some of the definitions require that the stitching must be superimposed upon a previously completed fabric or article and this consideration is of special importance when the stitching finishes or helps to finish the article and has a direct bearing upon the intended purpose of the stitching. * * *

In. Henri Bendel, Inc. v. United States, 25 Cust. Ct. 6, C.D. 1254, various definitions of embroidery were set forth as follows:

* * * In United States v. Waentig, 168 Fed. 570, the Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York stated:
* * * The fundamental idea of embroidery seems to be that it is needlework done upon a previously completed fabric, as distinguished from tapestry or lacework, in which the design is a part of the original fabric, and the idea that it shall be ornamental also seems to be essential to the definition.
Webster’s New International Dictionary, 1949, defines “chain stitch” as follows:
a. An ornamental stitch like the links of a chain, used in crocheting, sewing, and embroidery; also, work so made; chainwork.
[182]*182In the New International Encyclopaedia, under the caption “The Process of Embroidery,” it is stated:
The tools of the embroiderer are the simplest, consisting of needles to draw the different hinds and sizes of thread through the work, a frame in which to hold the material * * *, and scissors to cut the thread. A stitch is the thread left on the surface of the cloth after each ply of the needle. The most common forms of canvas stitch, with the needle passing through the interstices of warp and weft of the canvas, are cross stitch, tent stitch, Gobelin stitch, Irish stitch, plait stitch. Crewel stitch is a diagonal stitch used in outlining. Some of the other principal stitches are chain or tambour, herringbone * * * buttonhole, feather, rope, of which the French knot is a complicated form, satin, long and short, darning, and running stitch. [Italics quoted.]

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Bruce Duncan Co. v. United States, 52 Cust. Ct. 179, 1964 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1292 (cusc 1964).

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Related

United States v. Field & Co.
10 Ct. Cust. 183 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1920)
United States v. Grass Bros.
13 Ct. Cust. 33 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1925)
Kayser & Co. v. United States
13 Ct. Cust. 474 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1926)
Kayser & Co. v. Pevny
13 Ct. Cust. 479 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1926)
Henri Bendel, Inc. v. United States
25 Cust. Ct. 6 (U.S. Customs Court, 1950)
United States v. Waentig
168 F. 570 (U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York, 1909)