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

55 Cust. Ct. 586
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedAugust 16, 1965
DocketReap. Dec. 11058; Entry No. 2134
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 55 Cust. Ct. 586 (C. J. Tower & Sons of Buffalo 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 v. United States, 55 Cust. Ct. 586 (cusc 1965).

Opinion

Richardson, Judge:

The importation in issue is a machine described on the invoice as a 4-cubic yard spindle mixer model No. 112S-2A which is, in fact, a spindle-type tilt concrete mixer, exported from Canada April 30,1960, by Koehring-Waterous, Ltd., Brantford, Ontario, to its sole United States purchaser, C. S. Johnson Co., Cham-paign, Ill., a division of Koehring-Waterous Corp. of Milwaukee, Wis., which owns the exporter corporation; invoiced and entered at $8,690, Canadian dollars. The machine was appraised 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, at $16,468, Canadian dollars, less 7% per centum and 1 per centum, less sales tax included (at list, less 7% per centum level), packed.

The plaintiff has appealed for reappraisement, contending that the proper basis of valuation of the merchandise should be export value under section 402(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and that the correct export value is the invoice unit value; and, alternatively, if the court should find constructed value under section 402(d) to be the correct basis of value, the invoiced unit price and entered value should prevail.

The defendant contends that the entered value does not fairly reflect the market value of the merchandise, and to do so requires a consideration of the selling price in the domestic market of Canada.

It is conceded that the merchandise does not appear on the Secretary of the Treasury’s final list and that it is governed by the Customs Simplification Act of 1956.

The evidence consists of the testimony of one witness for the plaintiff, Kagnar W. Anderson, of Brantford, Ontario, vice president and controller of the exporter, Koehring-Waterous, Ltd.; and three documentary exhibits by the plaintiff and one by the defendant: (1) a pamphlet illustrating the spindle mixer in issue, (2) cost-of-production figures for the mixer, (3) list of all of the sales of spindle mixers [588]*588to C. S. Johnson Co. during the years 1959 and 1960, and (A) a letter, dated November 6, 1958, addressed to plaintiff’s broker, C. J. Tower & Sons of Niagara, Inc., signed by B. E. Murat, works accountant of Koehring-Waterous, Ltd., setting forth the Canadian selling price of $16,000 for the concrete mixer in effect September 27,1958.

Mr. Anderson testified that there was no other producer of heavy construction concrete mixers in Canada in 1960, and that it takes about 2 months to produce a mixer. Exhibit 2 showed that the selling price of $8,690 was arrived at by adding a profit of 11.38 per centum ($989.11) to the total factory cost of $7,700.89. The factory cost of $7,700.89 was divided as follows:

Material _$4, 045. 52
Labour _ 1, 363.46
Burden _ 1> 866.10
Selling and General Expense- 425. 81
Total cost_$7,700. 89

The witness explained that the term “burden” in the costs summary referred to manufacturing overhead, including depreciation of building, costs of heat, supervision, and various kinds of indirect labor, such as shop clerks, people who sweep the floor, people who move material around, and others who do work in the shop but do not work directly on a piece. He testified that he was familiar with the sale in question, which was made without any restrictions of any kind on the purchase and that the price did not vary with the quantity sold.

The facts in this case are somewhat analogous to those in the case of United States v. Acme Steel Company, 51 CCPA 81, C.A.D. 841. In the Acme Steel Company case, the exporter in Canada sold steel strapping to its affiliate parent body in Chicago, Ill., which was its only distributor in the United States. The merchandise was appraised at the entered values, plus 27.40 per centum Canadian dollars, packed, upon the basis of constructed value, as defined in section 402(d) of the tariff act, as amended. The court held export value, as defined in section 402(b) of the act, to be the proper basis for the determination of value of the merchandise, and that such values are the entered values. There was no other Canadian exporter of merchandise of the same general class or kind during the period covered by the importation in the Acme case.

The statutory definitions of the values in issue in the Acme Steel Company case are the same as those placed in issue in this case and read 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 [589]*589or 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) Constructed Value. — For the 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 remitted 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 merchandise of the same general class or kind as the merchandise undergoing apraisement 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
(8) 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.
[Sec. 402] (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)
55 Cust. Ct. 586, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/c-j-tower-sons-of-buffalo-v-united-states-cusc-1965.