Curley-Bates Co. v. United States

39 Cust. Ct. 119
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedSeptember 26, 1957
DocketC. D. 1916
StatusPublished

This text of 39 Cust. Ct. 119 (Curley-Bates 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
Curley-Bates Co. v. United States, 39 Cust. Ct. 119 (cusc 1957).

Opinions

Mollis on, Judge:

The merchandise involved herein consists of tennis-racket frames. Duty was assessed thereon at the rate of 22% per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 409 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Presidential proclamation relating to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 51802, for—

Tennis-racket frames, valued at $1.75 or more each, wholly or partly manufactured of rattan, bamboo, osier or willow * * *.

They are claimed to be properly dutiable at the rate of 10 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 412 of the said act, as modified by the said Presidential proclamation for—

Manufactures of wood or bark, or of which wood or bark is the component material of chief value, not specially provided for:
* * * * * * *
Badminton-racket frames and tennis-racket frames:
****** *
Valued at $1.75 or more each * * *.

At the trial of the issue, it was stipulated between counsel that the merchandise is not partly or wholly manufactured of bamboo, osier, or rattan. There were received in evidence, without objection, a sample of the imported racket frames (plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 1) and a group of eight pieces of wood, composing such racket frames, each being labeled as to the kind of wood of which it is composed (plaintiff’s collective exhibit 2). Two of the pieces are marked “Willow Handle Flakes” and one is marked “Willow Dentre Slip,” and plaintiff’s counsel conceded that those pieces were of willow, as well as a portion of the main frame of the racket, and that plaintiff’s illustrative exhibit 1 is in part of willow.

In the brief filed on behalf of the plaintiff, its counsel relies upon a decision of this court reported in F. L. Slazenger v. United States, 22 Treas. Dec. 1080, T. D. 32641. That case related to cricket bats, which had been assessed with duty under the provision for manufactures of willow in paragraph 212 of the Tariff Act of 1909.

It appeared that the blades of the bats were made of willow wood, i. e., the solid wood of the trunk of the willow tree. It was the con[121]*121tention of the plaintiff, which was upheld by the court, that the provision for “manufactures of osier or willow” in paragraph 212 of the act of 1909 related only to the lighter or twig forms of willow, such as are commonly used for basket making or furniture, and did not relate to articles made from the solid wood of the trunk of that tree.

In this case, plaintiff made no effort to establish the fact, aside from offering the parts labeled as “willow” in collective exhibit 2, that such parts were not made of the lighter or twig forms of willow. However, it does appear from an examination thereof that such' parts were sawn from solid willow wood, rather than from the shoots or twigs of the willow tree.

The provisions of paragraph 212 of the act of 1909, which were construed in the Slazenger case, supra, read as follows:

212. Chair cane or reeds wrought or manufactured from rattans or reeds, ten per centum ad valorem; osier or willow, including chip of and split willow, prepared for basket makers’ use, twenty-five per centum ad valorem; manufactures of osier or willow and willow furniture; forty-five per centum ad valorem.

The reasoning of the court, which led to its conclusion that such language did not include articles made of solid willow wood, was given in its opinion as follows:

* * * Our attention has not been directed to any ease wherein it has been determined either by the board or the courts whether an article manufactured in whole or in chief value of solid willow wood was to be differentiated for the purposes of classification from manufactures of other kinds of wood. We think a careful reading of paragraph 212, supra, leads to the conclusion that in framing the paragraph it was not the purpose of Congress to do more than provide for the lighter or twig forms of willow, such as are commonly used for basket making and other kinds of wickerwork. First, there is the provision for chair cane or reeds; next, that for osier or willow, round or divided into sections by splitting, and the manufactures of these forms of willow, and willow furniture. It is very evident that the terms “osier” and “willow” are used interchangeably and that the provision for “manufactures of osier or willow” was designed only to include articles made of these lighter forms of willow, while it is a matter of common knowledge, we think, that all willow furniture is made from osier willow. It would seem to be clear that under the rule of ejusdem generis articles made from the solid wood of the trunk of the willow tree are excluded from this paragraph. * * *

The foregoing opinion was rendered June 13, 1912, and paragraph 173 of the Tariff Act of 1913 repeated the language of paragraph 212 of the act of 1909.

Paragraph 407 of the Tariff Act of 1922 and paragraph 409 of the present act, as originally enacted,1 were couched in somewhat different [122]*122language from that used in the corresponding paragraphs of the acts of 1909 and 1913. The different language, however, largely relates to an expanded description of the reed and cane provisions and the inclusion of other types of furniture than willow furniture. The association of the terms “osier” and “willow,” which was noted in the decision in the Slazenger case, supra, was continued, but the provision for “manufactures of osier or willow” was changed to “all articles not specially provided for, wholly or partly manufactured of rattan, bamboo, osier or willow.”

We are not, however, able to discern in the changes in the language of paragraph 409 of the present act from the language of paragraph 212 of the act of 1909, which was construed in the Slazenger case, supra, anything which would indicate an intent on the part of Congress that the term “willow” should have a meaning different from that ascribed to it in the opinion in the Slazenger case. In the brief filed on behalf of the defendant, its counsel asserts that the language of the two provisions is “wholly different,” but a careful reading of them does not lead us to that conclusion.

So far as the term “willow” is concerned, the only real change is that the provision for “manufactures of osier or willow” appearing in paragraph 212 of the act of 1909 became “all articles not specially provided for, wholly or partly manufactured of rattan, bamboo, osier or willow” in paragraph 409 of the act of 1930. There is nothing in the latter language which would suggest that, in making the change, Congress intended to cover any willow other than that which had been judicially interpreted to be embraced by the term “osier or willow” as it appeared in paragraph 212 of the act of 1909.

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Bluebook (online)
39 Cust. Ct. 119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/curley-bates-co-v-united-states-cusc-1957.