Decca Radar, Inc. v. United States

57 Cust. Ct. 165, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1808
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedSeptember 6, 1966
DocketC.D. 2755
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 57 Cust. Ct. 165 (Decca Radar, Inc. 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
Decca Radar, Inc. v. United States, 57 Cust. Ct. 165, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1808 (cusc 1966).

Opinion

Watson, Judge:

These protests which were consolidated for trial, relate to certain merchandise described on the invoices as “Magnifiers,” type 4436 A, which was classified under paragraph 228(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the Japanese Protocol of Terms of Accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T.D. 53865, supplemented by T.D. 53877, at the rate of 45 per centum ad valorem as microscopes, finished or unfinished, not specially provided for, valued over $50 each. It was agreed between the parties that the articles are valued each over $50 (R. 4).

Plaintiff herein claims the merchandise in question properly classifiable under paragraph 230(d) of said act, as modified by the Sixth Protocol of Supplementary Concessions to the General Agreement on Tariffs, and Trade, T.D. 54108, at the rate of 21 per centum ad valorem as manufactures in chief value of glass, not specially provided for.

[167]*167Plaintiff introduced and there was received in evidence a photographic illustration of the imported merchandise which appears at page 7 of a brochure entitled “Decca River Radar.” (Plaintiff’s exhibit 1.) The article in question, marked “4436 A,” is shown as used in conjunction with a so-called “Display Unit” which is described in the record as “a unit which presents the master of a vessel with the radar picture” (R. 9). It was stipulated that the component material of chief value of the magnifier 4436 A is glass (R. 6). A complete radar unit consists of six main components: An aerial unit which sends and receives the signal; an aerial turning unit which revolves the aerial; a transceiver; a display unit; a motor alternator; and a magnifier (R. 8-9).

An illustration of the relative size of the “picture” on the radar screen, with and without the use of the imported magnifier, is given at pages 11 and 13 of the above referred to brochure. (Plaintiff’s exhibit 2.)

Plaintiff’s sole witness was Mr. Thomas Guadagno, “commercial supervisor” at Decca, who stated that he was familiar with the merchandise under consideration, the magnifier unit, typo 4436 A. He testified that the imported magnifier is specially designed for use with a Decca Radar set, having a display unit of a particular size. There are three studs protruding from the top of the display unit, and there are three holes with a spring in each at the bottom part of the magnifier, type 4436 A, which are spaced in such a manner that the magnifier fits over the studs, permitting the magnifier to be locked into the display unit (R. 9-10). Mr. Guadagno testified that there is no other radar unit known to him than the Decca Radar display unit on which the imported magnifier will fit (R. 10).

Plaintiff’s witness further testified that the imported magnifier unit magnifies the picture on the display unit from 9 to 15 inches, or a ratio of 1 to 1.7. The witness explained that the magnification “is taken from the display unit on the picture tube that is in the display unit” (R. 10). Mr. Guadagno stated that the picture as it appears under magnifier unit contributes to the use of the radar set, that is, “the more complicated the picture on the display unit, the more-necessity for the magnifier” (R. 11). He further stated that the 4436 A magnifier unit is sold as standard equipment with the Decca Radar 215 or 216 models.

On cross-examination, plaintiff’s witness testified that the 4436 A magnifying unit is always sold with the particular radar units above mentioned, but that it may be purchased separately for use with other Decca Radar sets. He further testified that, if the owner of a 215 or 216 model radar set wished to buy a new or another 4436 A magnifying unit, he could do so — and that his firm would sell it separately, “as a magnifying unit” (R. 12). The witness then stated that the [168]*168magnifying unit is designed “in order to obtain a magnified image of the objects ■which would be seen more distinctly with the use of Plaintiff’s Exhibit 1 than through the naked eye” (R. 12). On page 11 of the brochure “Decca Eiver Radar,” above referred to (plaintiff’s exhibit 2), the middle picture illustrates what can be normally seen on the display unit and another copy of the middle picture at “page 13” of the brochure illustrates the enlarged “picture” which is presented in greater detail by reason of the use of a magnifying unit such as here in question (R. 13-14).

The issue in the case at bar is whether the imported magnifying units were properly classified under paragraph 228 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, as “microscopes.” We are here concerned with the common meaning of the term “microscope,” a commercial meaning different from the common meaning not having been advanced or established in the record herein.

The question as to what constitutes a “microscope” for tariff purposes was passed upon by this and our appellate court in the case of Laco Trading Co. v. United States, 45 Cust. Ct. 336, Abstract 64769, affirmed in Loco Trading Co. v. United States, 51 CCPA 30, C.A.D. 833. The merchandise there involved consisted of certain “viewers” designed and exclusively used for viewing color photographs fitted in a cardboard frame, the overall dimensions of which were 2 by 2 inches. The so-called color transparencies were iy2 inches long by 1 inch wide, which were securely fitted into the cardboard frame, 2 inches square. Essential to the functioning of the viewer in question was an'optical component and an electrical system, which were enclosed in a conveniently shaped housing. The optical component consisted of two lenses of 2-power magnification, whose sole purpose was to enlarge or magnify the color photograph on the slide being viewed. The electrical system included two contacts, an upper and a lower, which went to a small electric bulb which spread the light evenly throughout the viewing surface. The viewer functioned by inserting the slide in a slot at the top thereof, the slide being then pressed down to make electrical contact for viewing purposes. This court in the Laco Trading Co. case, supra, held that the viewer in question was not a “microscope” within the common meaning of the term. In so holding, the court, page 337, cited certain dictionary definitions of “microscope” as follows:

Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary defines “microscope” as “An optical instrument by which objects too small to be viewed by the naked eye may be seen and examined.”
In Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary, “microscope” is defined as “An instrument for assisting the eye in the vision of minute objects or features of objects that would be invisible without such aid.”

[169]*169Discussion, of the term “microscope” in the Encyclopaedia Britannica includes the following:

MICROSCOPE, an optical instrument for examining small objects or the fine detail or structure of objects (Gr. * * * small * * * to view); it acts in such a way that in the eye a clearly focussed image is formed which is larger than the unaided eye could produce. * * *

Webster’s Hew International Dictionary defines “microscope” as “An optical instrument, consisting of a lens, or combination of lenses, for making enlarged or magnified images ox minute objects.”

The court in the Laco Trading Co. case, supra, thereupon stated:

All of the foregoing definitions emphasize the basic design of a microscope as an instrument which serves to aid the naked eye in

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Bluebook (online)
57 Cust. Ct. 165, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/decca-radar-inc-v-united-states-cusc-1966.