Consolidated International Equipment & Supply Co. v. United States

58 Cust. Ct. 329, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2433
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 20, 1967
DocketC.D. 2978
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 58 Cust. Ct. 329 (Consolidated International Equipment & Supply 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
Consolidated International Equipment & Supply Co. v. United States, 58 Cust. Ct. 329, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2433 (cusc 1967).

Opinion

Donlon, Judge:

The issue in litigation has to do with the tariff concept of machinery, as distinguished from the tariff concept of a machine. Involved are a machine, described below, and also a rectifier for use in that machine.

The mechanism, or device, at bar is one in which a negative (produced by a protographic camera) is placed in contact with a sensitized plate, to make a positive image of the negative. What differentiates this particular mechanism is that through a system of precise measurements and controls it will automatically produce on the plate, not just one image, but repeated images covering the entire plate, through what is called a step-and-repeat process. As the plate emerges from the device when this operation is completed, the plate is ready to be inserted in a photo-offset machine which will do a print job from this plate. The sheet which comes from the photo-offset machine will, therefore, be roughly comparable to a sheet of stamps, in that it shows many identical prints. It is the automatic step-and-repeat function used in preparing the plate for use in the photo-offset machine that distinguishes the device at bar, which is called a Multineg.

Plaintiff does not claim that Multineg is, itself, a machine which prints. The claim is that it is used with a printing machine, that is,, the photo-offset machine, so that together they create a finished printed' item, and that such utilization of the Multineg makes it printing machinery, or a part thereof, in the tariff sense.

Plaintiff’s brief makes much of the point that Multineg is an invention new since 1930 and, therefore, unknown to Congress when the Tariff Act of 1930 was enacted. That fact presents no problem' to us; for we agree that tariff acts are written for the future.

The tariff enumeration for printing machinery (and parts) is as. follows:

Paragraph 372, as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T.D. 54108: [331]*331rinting machinery (except printing presses and except printing machinery for textiles) :

Other-11%% ad val.
arts, not specially provided for, wholly or in chief value of metal or porcelain, of any article provided for in any item 372 in this Part_The
rate for the article of which they are parts.

The distinction between the terms “machine” and “machinery” is ably summarized by Chief Judge Rao in his opinion in John V. Carr & Son, Inc., et al. v. United States, 40 Cust. Ct. 292, C.D. 1996, as follows:

It needs no elaborate discussion to arrive at the conclusion that an essential difference exists between the terms “machine” and “machinery,” or that the latter is a broader and more comprehensive concept. As stated in Johnson Iron Works, Dry Dock & S. B. Co. v. United States, 48 Treas. Dec. 237, T.D. 41132, “The word ‘machinery’ includes appurtenances necessary to the working of a machine.” That Congress appreciated the distinction in the terms and intended to perpetuate it, seems particularly evident from the language employed by it in setting forth the items covered by paragraph 372. To mention some of the articles provided for, there are sewing machines and printing machinery, embroidery machines and bookbinding machinery, lace-making machines and textile machinery.
To acknowledge the distinction is not, however, to resolve the question of what the provision for “printing machinery” was intended to encompass. Clearly, it does not include every mechanism which may be used in a printing establishment. United States v. Charles Bashwiner Lunham & Reeve, Inc., 28 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 100, C.A.D. 131. It has been held that for a device to fall within the classification of printing machinery, it must print something. United States v. Perry Ryer & Co., 41 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 18, C.A.D. 524. Under that construction, an automatic feeder which plays no direct role in producing printed matter is not yer se printing machinery.

Is it then, as alternatively claimed by plaintiffs, a part of printing machinery ?

The question of what constitutes a part of an article for tariff purposes has many perplexities, notwithstanding that it has frequently occupied the attention of our courts. A most comprehensive analysis of the leading authorities on the subject may be found in the recent case of United States v. Cody Manufacturing Co., Inc., Rohner Gehrig & Co., Inc., 44 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 67, C.A.D. 639, wherein it was observed:

[332]*332The foregoing authorities are uniform in applying the rule that an element which is not essential to the operation of an article for its intended purpose is not a part of that article.

In determining that which is “essential,” consideration must, of course, be given to factors which contribute to the normal, efficient, and proper use of the parent entity. And an element which serves to amplify the functions of a device may appropriately be considered to be a part thereof, notwithstanding the ability of the device to perform ordinary operations without it. United States v. Bosch Magneto Co., 13 Ct. Cust. Appls. 569, T.D. 41434, Peter J. Schweitzer (Inc.) v. United States, 16 Ct. Cust. Appls. 285, T.D. 42872.

Furthermore, we are persuaded to the view that whereas a part. of a machine is that which directly contributes to the function for which the machine is designed, a somewhat less rigid rule should apply in determining what constitutes parts of machinery. Implicit in the definition of machinery is an aggregate of means and appliances to accomplish an overall purpose, and every device which promotes that purpose is a part of the entire machinery. [Pp. 296,297.J

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Bluebook (online)
58 Cust. Ct. 329, 1967 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2433, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/consolidated-international-equipment-supply-co-v-united-states-cusc-1967.