C. J. Tower & Sons of Buffalo, Inc. v. United States

58 Cust. Ct. 834, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2361
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMay 31, 1967
DocketA.R.D. 223; Entry No. 21341
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 58 Cust. Ct. 834 (C. J. Tower & Sons of Buffalo, Inc. 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
C. J. Tower & Sons of Buffalo, Inc. v. United States, 58 Cust. Ct. 834, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2361 (cusc 1967).

Opinion

Watson, Judge:

This is an application for review of the decision and judgment of a judge sitting in reappraisement (Reap. Dec. 11058) affirming the appraisement of a certain concrete mixer, described on the invoice as a spindle mixer, which was exported on April 30,1960, by Koehring-Waterous, Ltd., Brantford, Ontario, to C. S. Johnson Co., Champaign, Ill. Entry of the merchandise was made by appellant, a customs broker. The mixer in question was invoiced and entered at $8,690 (Canadian currency). The C. S. Johnson Co. is a division of Koehring-Waterous Corp. of Milwaukee, Wis., which owns the exporter corporation herein.

The merchandise was appraised at $16,468 each, less 7}4 an<^ 1 Per_ cent, less sales tax included (at list; less 7% percent level), packed, on the basis of “constructed value,” as defined in section 402(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956 (the merchandise not appearing on the final list, T.D. 54521, R. 3).

Appellant contended below and contends here that the proper dutiable value of the imported merchandise is represented by the entered unit price of $8,690 each on the basis of export value; or alternatively, that the proper basis of value should be “constructed value” and also at the invoiced and entered value.

The basis of appellant’s contention below, as it is here, is that the difference between the entered and appraised values was due to certain selling costs and other expenses which were incurred in selling these mixers in Canada, but which were not incurred in selling the imported merchandise to C. S. Johnson Co. in the United States.

The court below held that the claimed value was not shown to be one which fairly reflects the market value of the merchandise to support appellant’s claim for export value and also that appellant failed to prove its alternative claim for “constructed value” since the requirements of constructed value have not been met. C. J. Tower & Sons of Buffalo, Inc. v. United States, 55 Cust. Ct. 586, Reap. Dec. 11058. Motion for rehearing was denied in C. J. Tower & Sons of Buffalo, Inc. v. United States, 55 Cust. Ct. 598, Reap. Dec. 11063. Specifically, there was in this case, testimony that “the differential in price in Canadian sales ($16,000) from export sales to the United States ($8,690) was due to the cost of advertising, installation of the machine into a concrete batching plant, and warranty for 6 months or 1,500 [836]*836hours of operation, whichever occurs sooner, in the case of the Canadian sales. These expenses were not incurred in the case of the sales to their affiliate C. S. Johnson Co. in the United States.” The court held, however, that “there is no evidence by plantiff of the specific amounts of costs incurred by the exporter for the factors which plaintiff states account for the differential * * *” [emphasis ours]; and, therefore, concluded “that plaintiff has failed to prove an export value for the imported merchandise.” The trial court also held for the same reason that appellant had failed “to establish cost of production of domestic merchandise in the country of exportation” and, therefore, “cannot possibly succeed on an alternative claim that the constructed value is represented by the invoice prices.”

The pertinent statutes herein involved are as follows:

[Sec. 402] (b) ExpoRt Value. — For the purposes of this section, the export value of imported merchandise shall be the price, at the time of exportation to the United States of the merchandise undergoing appraisement, at which such or similar merchandise is freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale in the principal markets of the country of exportation, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, for exportation to the United States, plus, when not included in such price, the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature and all other expenses incidental to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.
[Sec. 402] (d) Consteucted Valué. — For purposes of this section, the constructed .value of imported merchandise shall be the sum of—
(1) the cost of materials (exclusive of any internal tax applicable in the country of exportation directly to such materials or their disposition, but l’emitted or refunded upon the exportation of the article in the production of which such materials are used) and of fabrication or other processing of any kind employed in producing such or similar merchandise, at a time preceding the date of exportation of the merchandise undergoing appraisement which would ordinarily permit the production of that particular merchandise in the ordinary course of business;
(2) an amount for general expenses and profit equal to that usually reflected in sales of the merchandise of the same general class or kind as the merchandise undergoing appraisement which are made by producers in the country of exportation, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, for shipment to the United States; and
(3) the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature, and all other expenses incidental to placing the merchandise undergoing appraisement in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.
[837]*837(f) Definitions. — For the purposes of this section—
(1) The term “freely sold or, in the absence of sales, offered for sale” means sold or, in the absence of sales, offered—
(A) to all purchasers at wholesale, or
(B) in the ordinary course of trade to one or more selected purchasers at wholesale at a price which fairly reflects the market value of the merchandise
without restrictions as to the disposition or use of the merchandise by the purchaser, except * * *.

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Bluebook (online)
58 Cust. Ct. 834, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/c-j-tower-sons-of-buffalo-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1967.