C. S. Emery & Co. v. United States

41 Cust. Ct. 7
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJune 26, 1958
DocketC. D. 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 41 Cust. Ct. 7 (C. S. Emery & Co. 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. S. Emery & Co. v. United States, 41 Cust. Ct. 7 (cusc 1958).

Opinion

Mollison, Judge:

The merchandise the subject of this protest is described on the invoice as “White Pine Lumber D2S & M.” It was assessed with duty at the rate of 16% per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 412 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Presidential proclamations reported in T. D.’s 52373 and 52476, for manufactures of wood, not specially provided for.

The plaintiff contends that the merchandise at bar is not a manufacture of wood, but is wood or lumber material. The protest as originally filed claimed that the merchandise was properly classifiable under the provision in paragraph 401 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as "sawed lumber * * * not specially provided for; * * * 0f * * * pine.” This provision contains the statement that “in estimating board measure for the purposes of this paragraph no deduction shall be made on account of planing, tonguing, and grooving,” so that, implicitly, the sawed lumber covered by the provision may have [8]*8had performed on it processes of planing, tonguing, and/or grooving without taking the lumber out of the provision for sawed lumber. The rate claimed is 25 cents per thousand feet under the said paragraph 401, as modified by the Presidential proclamation reported in T. D. 51802.

By amendment of the protest, claims for duty at the rate of 10 per centum ad valorem were added under the provision for wood, unmanufactured, not specially provided for, in paragraph 405 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Presidential proclamation reported in T. D. 51802, or for nonenumerated manufactured articles in paragraph 1558, as modified by the Presidential proclamations reported in T. D.’s 52739 and 52827.

The merchandise involved is what is called “knotty pine paneling” and was produced by using sawed boards of the requisite width and kiln-drying the same. The boards were then cut off square at each end, and then put through a planing machine which had multiple knives so adjusted as to plane two sides of the board, place a tongue on one edge and a groove in the other edge, and bevel both edges.

It appears that the knives in the planing machine used in producing the merchandise involved in this importation were not in good order, and, as a result, left both planed sides with marks which would have caused rejection of the same if delivered in that condition. The paneling was, therefore, put through a drum sanding machine which, according to the testimony of one of plaintiff’s witnesses, sanded one face of the paneling. There is evidence offered on behalf of the plaintiff to the effect that the sanding was only sufficient to remove the marks left by the dull planer knives and was not sufficient to bring the merchandise to the condition known in the trade as “sanded,” which seems to refer to a satin-smooth effect when properly carried out. There is, however, testimony on the part of a witness for the defendant, who saw the merchandise at the time it was imported, who testified that the sanded face was “very smooth” and, in his opinion, was satin smooth.

Unfortunately, there does not appear to be available a sample of the merchandise in its imported condition, or one representative thereof — at least none was offered at the trial. The court is, consequently, in the position of having to depend upon verbal descriptions of witnesses as to whether or not the merchandise in issue responded to that condition of wood known as “sanded,” which, without question, is a condition beyond the planed, tongued, and/or grooved condition provided for by the statute, paragraph 401, supra, with reference to lumber.

The burden of proving the fact, under its claim under paragraph 401, supra, was upon the plaintiff, and we are unable, on the record [9]*9presented, to bold tbat it bas sustained tbat burden by a preponderance in weight of tbe evidence offered.

Tbe foregoing bolding disposes of tbe plaintiff’s claim, under paragraph 401. Alternatively, plaintiff, in effect, contends tbat, even if sanded, tbe merchandise at bar consisted of no more than lumber, planed, tongued, grooved, and sanded, and, as such, did not constitute a manufacture of wood. One of plaintiff’s contentions is that tbe merchandise consists of wood, unmanufactured, dutiable under tbe provision therefor in paragraph 405 of tbe tariff act. In view of tbe undisputed fact tbat tbe merchandise at bar bad been subjected to processes of planing, tonguing, and grooving, it is difficult to see bow a claim tbat it is “unmanufactured” could be sustained. We bold tbe claim under paragraph 405 to be untenable.

This leaves for consideration only tbe claim tbat tbe merchandise at bar is properly classifiable as a nonenumerated manufactured article under paragraph 1558. In essence, this is a claim tbat tbe merchandise consists of lumber or wood, further manufactured than planed and tongued or grooved, but not made into any article classifiable as a manufacture of wood — in other words, a situation requiring tbat tbe distinction be made between a material (wood), manufactured, and a manufacture of tbat material.

In support of plaintiff’s contention, there is evidence in tbe record indicating tbat in order to use tbe imported paneling it bad to be cut to fit tbe wall on which it was to be used — in other words, tbat it consisted of material from which manufactures or articles of wood— pine paneled walls — -could be made. In support of tbe defendant’s contention, there is evidence in tbe record indicating tbat tbe imported merchandise is known by a specific and distinct name — -knotty pine panebng — different from tbe material — wood—from which it was made.

We are of the opinion tbat a case very much in point was decided by tbe United States Supreme Court in 1899, being United States v. Frank Dudley, 174 U. S. 670, 43 L. ed. 1129. Tbe merchandise there involved consisted of sawed lumber or wood, which bad been planed on one side and tongued and grooved with tbe use of what is known as a “flooring machine.” After being so prepared, tbe boards were adaptable for flooring, ceiling, sheathing, etc., and were known by tbe specific designation of “flooring,” “ceiling,” or “sheathing.” They bad been assessed with duty under a provision in tbe 1894 tariff act for “manufactures of wood” and were claimed to be entitled to classification under a provision for “sawed boards, plank, deals, and other lumber, rough or dressed.”

In disposing of tbe issue, tbe Supreme Court said:

Ordinarily, the fact that an article in the process of manufacture takes a new name is indicative of a distinct manufacture, as was intimated in Tide Water Oil [10]*10Co. v. United States, 171 U. S. 210, but we do not think it important in this case that “dressed lumber” is divisible into flooring, sheathing and ceiling, since sawed lumber is none the less sawed lumber, though in its different forms and uses it goes under the names of beams, rafters, joists, clapboards, fence boards, bam boards and the like. In other words, a new manufacture is usually accompanied by a change of name, but a change of name does not always indicate a new manufacture. Where a manufactured article, such as sawed lumber, is usable for a dozen different purposes, it does not ordinarily become a new manufacture until reduced to a condition where it is used for one thing only.

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Bluebook (online)
41 Cust. Ct. 7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/c-s-emery-co-v-united-states-cusc-1958.