Cottman v. United States

20 C.C.P.A. 344, 1932 CCPA LEXIS 246
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedDecember 19, 1932
DocketNo. 3513; No. 3520
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 20 C.C.P.A. 344 (Cottman v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cottman v. United States, 20 C.C.P.A. 344, 1932 CCPA LEXIS 246 (ccpa 1932).

Opinions

Graham, Presiding Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

Certain raw phosphate rock was imported by J. H. Cottman & Co. from Casablanca, Morocco, at the port of Baltimore in 1927 and 1928. This merchandise was exported by Office Cherifien des Phosphates, an agency of the Government of Morocco, of Rabat, Morocco, and, except as hereinafter mentioned, was free of duty under paragraph 1640 of the Tariff Act of 1922 as “phosphates, crude.”

Upon importation of these goods the appraiser at the port, suspecting that the purchase price thereof was less than the foreign-market value, under authority of section 201 (b) of the Antidumping Act of 1921, 42 Stat. 11, the relevant portions of which act appear in a marginal note,1 notified the Secretary of the Treasury of such fact and withheld appraisement. Thereafter, on February 9, 1928, the Secretary of the Treasury made a findkig of dumping pursuant to said statute, which finding was duly promulgated. T. D. 42577, 53 Treas. Dec. 141.

[347]*347Following this order the appraiser proceeded to appraise the merchandise in conformity with section 202 of said act, finding the purchase prices of the various importations to range from $4 to $5 per ton and the foreign-market values to range from $7.52 to $7.58 per ton on the date of exportation.

The importer thereupon appealed for reappraisement in each case. A trial of the consolidated reappraisements was had before Justice Sullivan of the United States Customs Court, who found that the merchandise was sold and freely offered for sale to all purchasers in the principal markets of Morocco in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade for home consumption, all as provided by section 205 of said act, and the entered values were sustained. The foreign-market value so found by Judge Sullivan was the price paid by the superphosphate works hereinafter mentioned to Office Cherifien des Phosphates for crude phosphate, namely, $3.98 per ton.

On the hearing before Judge Sullivan certain documentary evidence was offered by the Government, marked as “collective Exhibit C.” This consisted of three documents, namely: A vizerial decree of August 7, 1920, issued by the Cherifien Government of Morocco, creating the Office Cherifien des Phosphates; a decree of said Cherifien Government dated January 27, 1920, assuming governmental control of the phosphate deposits of Morocco'; a vizerial decree of November [348]*34826, 1921, made by sáid Cherifien Government, approving a contract thereto appended, between Mr. Telliére, a manufacturer, as one party, and the Cherifien Government and Office Cherifien des Phosphates as the other parties. Objection to the introduction of this collective exhibit was sustained by the court.

Application for review was made by the Government. The Customs Court, Third Division, affirmed the decision of Judge Sullivan, finding that there was a foreign-market value of the imported merchandise; that this value was $3.98 per ton; that this was less than the American purchase price, and that no dumping duties were assessable.

The Government appealed to this court, and the judgment of the Third Division was reversed because of error in the trial court in refusing to admit in evidence said collective Exhibit C, and the cause was remanded for a new trial by the single justice. United States v. Cottman & Co., 18 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 132, T. D. 44095.

On a retrial by Judge Sullivan collective Exhibit C was admitted in evidence as collective Exhibit 19, an affidavit of Otto Carl Schmidt and the record in the original case were admitted in evidence, and the case was submitted. The court adhered to its former decision, and the cause was again taken on review to the said Third Division. Cline, Judge, held that the evidence in the record showed a controlled market; that there was no foreign-market value established as is provided in said section 205; that there was no cost of production [349]*349shown by the record, and that the appeal to the single judge should have been dismissed for failure to make sufficient proof. The judgment was reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings consistent with the decision. Evans, Judge, concurred in the order but expressed the view that there was no evidence in the record of a foreign value of $7.58 a ton, as found by the appraiser in several of the reappraisements. He was also of the opinion that the cause’ should be remanded to permit the parties to prove cost of production. Judge Young dissented.

The matter is now brought to this court on cross appeals. The importer assigns error in the court below in finding no foreign-market value and in its order of reversal and remand. The Government, in its cross appeal, contends that the court should have found foreign-market value, consisting of the price at which such merchandise was sold at the time of exportation for exportation to countries other than the United States.

The record discloses the following facts: At the time of the various proceedings hereinafter mentioned a zone of the Cherifien Empire of Morocco constituted a French' protectorate. On January 27, 1920, a decree was promulgated by the French resident general commissioner of this zone, reserving to the Government the prospecting and exploitation of phosphates. This decree, as well as the vizerial decrees hereinafter mentioned, are admitted to have had the force and effect of law. The phosphate deposits in issue are in the form of rock, averaging about 75 per centum phosphate of lime content.

On August 7, 1920, by a vizerial decree, the Cherifien Government created a governmental monopoly under the name of “Office Cherifien des Phosphates,” which was given exclusive control of research development and exploitation of phosphates within the French protectorate. This governmental agency was given civil status and had a director general and a board of directors, on which board, among others, were representatives of the Cherifien Government. The operations and organization personnel were all subject to approval by the Government of Morocco, and all were required to be reported to the Government from time to time. The finances of this governmental agency were provided from three sources, namely, a money grant by the Government, a special reserve fund created from profits, and by an issue of bonds, guaranteed by the Government. The profits of the Office Cherifien were to be utilized as follows: To pay the management and staff, to build up a reserve fund, and to transfer the balance to the Cherifien treasury.

In order to develop the phosphate industry the Office Cherifien des Phosphates, on November 26, 1921, entered into a contract with Mr. [350]*350Telliére for the construction of a superphosphate factory, which contract was duly approved by the Cherifien Government. The contract appears in a marginal note.2 At the times of exportation of the merchandise here involved there was but this one factory in Morocco to which the office sold crude phosphate. There had been some steps taken toward establishing others, and the office had offered to make similar terms to those agreed upon with Mr. Telliére, but the factories had not been built.

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20 C.C.P.A. 344, 1932 CCPA LEXIS 246, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cottman-v-united-states-ccpa-1932.