Corrigan v. United States

32 Cust. Ct. 561, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2189
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 14, 1954
DocketReap. Dec. 8278; Entry Nos. 3009; 3770
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 32 Cust. Ct. 561 (Corrigan 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
Corrigan v. United States, 32 Cust. Ct. 561, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2189 (cusc 1954).

Opinion

Eicwall, Judge:

These cases, now before me on remand, are appeals for reappraisement of dehydrated garlic powder exported from Mexico on December 2, 1943, and January 6, 1944.

When these cases were originally before the trial court (Cline, J.), it was held that there was no foreign or export value for the merchandise and that the plaintiff had not sustained the burden of proving United States value or any other value for - the merchandise. Therefore, the appraised values were affirmed. E. H. Corrigan v. United States, 25 Cust. Ct. 424, Reap. Dec. 7879. The grounds for holding that-no United States value had been established were (1) that offers and sales of the imported merchandise made prior to the arrival of the goods in the United States could not be used as a basis for determining that value and (2) that the evidence in regard to certain trial lots previously imported was insufficient since the price at [562]*562which, they were sold was not shown and the quantities were not wholesale quantities.

This decision was affirmed by the first division of this court. E. H. Corrigan v. United States, 27 Cust. Ct. 436, Reap. Dec. 8046.

On appeal to the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, the decision of the appellate division was reversed and the cases remanded for restudy of the evidence in conformity with the court’s holding on the law. E. H. Corrigan v. United States, 40 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 171, C. A. D. 514.

Accordingly, the first division of this court has remanded the cases to me for further proceedings consistent with the opinion of the court of appeals.

After affirming the findings of the appellate division in connection with trial lots received prior to the within importations, the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals stated in its decision (p. 182):

Returning now to the importations immediately involved, we feel constrained to hold that offers of sale and sales for future delivery properly may be taken into consideration in determining United States value as defined in section 402 (e), supra, in cases where the facts and circumstances show that such procedure is followed in the ordinary course of trade, and the other requisite statutory elements are present.

In a clarification of its decision written after a petition for rehearing, the court held that, as to the first shipment, imported on December 2, 1943, the sales and offers of sale made prior to the importation should have been taken into consideration in determining United States value, and, that, as to the second shipment, imported on January 6, 1944, sales and offers of sale of merchandise from either importation should have been considered.

As to the first shipment, plaintiff’s witness Lloyd M. Trafford testified that a portion of it was sold to H. C. Brill & Co., Newark, N. J., on September 24, 1943, and the balance to McCormick & Co. of Baltimore on October 5 and October 19, 1943. According to the witness, the sales had been based on samples, and the price in each instance had been 55 cents per pound, delivered, packed, the O. P. A. ceiling price. The merchandise had also been offered to other purchasers without restriction.

Mr. Trafford listed the following expenses which were incurred in connection with this shipment:

Transportation from Laredo to purchasers’ respective places of business. $596. 13
Customs entry and forwarding_ 60. 00
Weighing, sampling, and recoopering_ 12. 50
Telegraphic charges_ 11. 45
Brokerage_ 4:54. 70

The witness stated that the profit on the shipment amounted to $2,267.71, or more than 8 per centum; that overhead and general [563]*563expenses were between 15 and 18 per centum, and were never less than 15 per centum.

A portion of the second shipment, according to Mr. Trafford, had been sold on December 3, 1943, to Stickney & Poor, Boston, Mass., for 55 cents per pound, delivered. The balance was sold at the same price to the following purchasers: H. C. Brill, Newark, N. J., on January 27, 1944; M. Bussler, New York City, on February 5, 1944; and Jacobus Frank, New York City, on April 20, 1944. The following expenses were incurred:

Transportation from Laredo to purchasers’ respective places of business. $260. 36
Customs entry_ 24. 50
Weighing, sampling, and recoopering_ 22. 50
Storage and labor charges_ 26. 75
Brokerage_ 194. 15

The witness stated that the profit on the shipment was more than 8 per centum and that the general expenses were the same as those in connection with the first shipment.

It appears from the record that the merchandise was freely offered to all purchasers for future delivery and that the offers and sales were made at times near enough to the respective dates of exportation and under such circumstances as to reflect the price of the goods on those dates. In view of the holding of the court of appeals in this case, I find that the offers and sales of the within merchandise for future delivery must be considered in determining the United States value thereof.

Section 402 (e) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, defines United States value as follows:

(e) United States Value. — The United States value of imported merchandise shall be the price at which such or similar imported merchandise is freely offered for sale for domestic consumption, packed ready for delivery, in the principal market of the United States to all purchasers, at the time of exportation of the imported merchandise, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, with allowance made for duty, cost of transportation and insurance, and other necessary expenses from the place of shipment to the place of delivery, a commission not exceeding 6 per centum, if any has been paid or contracted to be paid on goods secured otherwise than by purchase, or profits not to exceed 8 per centum and a reasonable allowance for general expenses, not to exceed 8 per centum on purchased goods.

In the instant case, it appears that the price at which the merchandise was freely offered for sale to all purchasers, packed ready for delivery during the period from September 24, 1943, to April 20, 1944, was 55 cents per pound. It is this price, therefore, less the deductions permitted by the statute, that constitutes United States value.

Since it has been established that the actual profits made on the sale of the merchandise were more than 8 per centum of the selling [564]*564price and that the general expenses were more than 8 per centum thereof, allowance of 8 per centum for each of these items is proper. United States v. Beer & Co., 15 Ct. Cust. Appls. 140, T. D. 42215; United States v. American Aniline Products, Inc., 22 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 380, T. D. 47399.

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Related

Samuel Shapiro & Co. v. United States
51 C.C.P.A. 89 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1964)
Corrigan v. United States
33 Cust. Ct. 540 (U.S. Customs Court, 1954)

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Bluebook (online)
32 Cust. Ct. 561, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2189, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corrigan-v-united-states-cusc-1954.