Charles Stockheimer Inter-Maritime Fwdg. Co. v. United States

32 Cust. Ct. 553, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2188
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 14, 1954
DocketReap. Dec. 8277; Entry Nos. 888354; 953305
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 32 Cust. Ct. 553 (Charles Stockheimer Inter-Maritime Fwdg. 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
Charles Stockheimer Inter-Maritime Fwdg. Co. v. United States, 32 Cust. Ct. 553, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2188 (cusc 1954).

Opinion

Oliyee, Chief Judge:

These appeals for reappraisement, presenting for determination the value of cashmere sweaters exported from Scotland and imported at the port of New York, have been submitted for decision on an agreed set of facts, setting forth in much detail different phases of market conditions as they relate to the issue raised in the stipulation of submission.

Under the agreed facts, the proper basis for appraisement of the present merchandise is cost of production, defined in section 402 (f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as follows:

(f) Cost of Pbodtjction.- — For the purpose of this title the cost of production of imported merchandise shall be the sum of- — ■
(1) The cost of materials of, and of fabrication, manipulation, or other process employed in manufacturing or producing such or similar merchandise, at a time preceding the date of exportation of the particular merchandise under consideration which would ordinarily permit the manufacture or production of the particular merchandise under consideration in the usual course of business;
(2) The usual general expenses (not less than 10 per centum of such cost) in the case of such or similar merchandise;
(3) The cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature, and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the particular merchandise under consideration in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States; and
(4) An addition for profit (not less than 8 per centum of the sum of the amounts found under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision) equal to the profit which ordinarily is added, in the case of merchandise of the same general character as the particular merchandise under consideration, by manufacturers or producers in the country of manufacture or production who are engaged in the production or manufacture of merchandise of the same class or kind.

All of tbe elements embodied in tbe foregoing statutory definition bave been established within tbe stipulated facts, except tbe cost of “materials” (cashmere yarn). Thus, tbe issue herein involves judicial interpretation of that part of section 402 (f) (1), supra, covering tbe—

[555]*555* * * cost of materials of * * * of such or similar merchandise, at a time preceding the date of exportation of the particular merchandise under consideration which would ordinarily permit the manufacture or production of the particular merchandise under consideration in the usual course of business.

It appears from the undisputed facts that cashmere yarn of the kind used in the production of the sweaters in question “cannot be purchased in the open yarn market for immediate delivery,” that “such cashmere yarn can be purchased only for future delivery,” and that “in the ordinary course of trade and events” 9 months elapse “between the date when the British manufacturer of the specified imported sweaters places his order with the cashmere yarn producer for the yarn of the kind used in the said sweaters, and the date when the said yarn is delivered by the said yarn producer to the said sweater manufacturer.” The stipulated facts further show that the sweater production period in the case of the merchandise covered by reap-praisement 223280-A is 70 days, and, in the case of the articles covered by reappraisement 223281-A, is 3 months, which elapsed periods of time “ordinarily permit the manufacture or production of the said cashmere sweaters from cashmere yarn.”

The appraiser, in his official appraisement, adopted prices at which cashmere yarn producers “were offering cashmere yarn (of the kind used in the production of the specified imported sweaters) for sale for future delivery” on the dates when production of these sweaters commenced. The yarn offered for sale for future delivery on the dates used by the appraiser “could not have been delivered in time to be used in the production of the specified imported sweaters.” Hence, the established facts, with respect to the appraiser’s action, can be viewed as showing only that cashmere yarn, such as that used in these imported sweaters, was being offered on certain dates.

Offers for sale, in the absence of actual sales, have been held to be sufficient in finding value for tariff purposes. Oceanic Trading Co. v. United States, 21 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 146, T. D. 46478. The issue herein, however, is not a determination of value. Instead, the question before me involves a finding of the cost of materials. The terms “value” and “cost” are used frequently in section 402 of the Tariff Act of 1930, covering the statutory definitions for determining value, and in judicial interpretations thereof both terms have been given definite distinct meanings. In the case of United States v. F. W. Woolworth Co., 26 C. C. P. A. 33, T. D. 49576, wherein the controversy concerned the costs of packing charges, etc., the court emphasized the distinction between “value” and “cost” as follows:

Section 402 (d) of the Tariff Act of 1930 includes within the definition of export value (the value with which we are here concerned) — ■
the cost of all containers and coverings of whatever nature, and all other costs, charges and expenses incident to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.
[556]*556It would seem to be clear, therefore, that, in ascertaining or estimating export value of imported merchandise, the appraiser is required to ascertain or estimate the costs of containers, and other costs, charges, and expenses included in the definition of export value, and has no authority to ascertain or estimate the value of such containers, etc. United States v. Richard & Co., 14 Ct. Cust. Appls. 120, T. D. 41646; United States v. F. W. Woolworth Co. et al., supra. [Italics quoted.]

The case of United States v. European Trading Co., 27 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 289, C. A. D. 103, recognized the distinction to be made between “value” and “cost” in determining statutory cost of production. Although that case arose under the Antidumping Act of 1921, the definition of cost of production contained in section 206 thereof is substantially the same as it appears in the present act, section 402 (f), supra. The merchandise involved in the European Trading Co. case was galvanized wire fish trap netting. The court held that the appraiser had erroneously included within the statutory cost of production an amount, characterized as “an export rebate,” granted to the German manufacturer upon the purchase in the foreign market of wire rods used in obtaining wire employed in the manufacture of the imported netting. In reaching its conclusion, the court stated as follows:

The Government insists, in effect, that, while the finished netting had no foreign value, the rods, per se, did have and that the per se foreign value of the rods, instead of their actual cost, must be taken as the element in determining the cost of production of the finished netting.

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Related

Stockheimer v. United States
34 Cust. Ct. 500 (U.S. Customs Court, 1955)

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Bluebook (online)
32 Cust. Ct. 553, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2188, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/charles-stockheimer-inter-maritime-fwdg-co-v-united-states-cusc-1954.