E. Dillingham, Inc. v. United States

490 F.2d 967, 61 C.C.P.A. 34, 1974 CCPA LEXIS 201
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedFebruary 7, 1974
DocketNo. 5538, C.A.D. 1114
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 490 F.2d 967 (E. Dillingham, Inc. 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
E. Dillingham, Inc. v. United States, 490 F.2d 967, 61 C.C.P.A. 34, 1974 CCPA LEXIS 201 (ccpa 1974).

Opinion

MilleR, Judge.

This appeal is from the judgment of the United States Customs Court, 70 Cust. Ct. 141, C.D. 4420,358 F. Supp. 1295 (1973), dismissing appellant’s claim for refund of duty and affirming the classification by the Customs Service under item 100.53 TSUS of nine imported female Holstein-Friesian bovines, each weighing 700 pounds or more and pregnant for the first time. We affirm.

The pertinent statutory provisions are as follows:

Tariff Schedules of the United States Schedule 1.
Part 1. — LIVE ANIMALS
Part 1 headnotes:
2. Unless the context of requires otherwise, each provision for named or described animals applies to such animals regardless of their size or age, e.g., “sheep” includes lambs.
Live animals other than birds:
Cattle:
[36]*36Weighing 700 pounds or more each:
100.50 Cows imported specially for dairy purposes_ 10 per lb. Other:
100.53 For not over 400,000 head entered in the 12-month period beginning April 1 in any year, of which not over 120,000 shall be entered in any quarter beginning April 1, July 1, October 1, or January 1_ 1.50 per lb.

Appellant argues that each of the animals in question was a “young •cow” imported specially for dairy purposes; that a young cow carrying :a calf is just as “suitable” for dairy purposes as one which has just given birth to a calf; and that paragraph 2 of the headnotes makes •clear the Congressional intent that any cow, imported specially for ■dairy purposes, is to be classified under item 100.50 if it weighs 700 pounds or more regardless of its age or size.

Appellee agrees with the opinion of the trial court that a heifer does not attain the status of a “cow” until parturition takes place for the first time. It contends that the trial court properly found that appellant’s animals were not “cows”; also that, even if they should be determined to be “cows,” they were incapable of being milked for commercial purposes at the time of importation and could not be classified •as “cows imported specially for dairy purposes” under item 100.50 TSTJS.

The basic issue is whether appellant has sustained its burden of proving that the animals in question were “Cows imported specially for dairy purposes” within the meaning of item 100.50. As the trial ■court correctly observed, the language involved in the TSTJS appears for the first time in any tariff act of the United States. No definition is provided for “Cows imported specially for dairy purposes,” so the trial court determined the common meaning of “cow..” While we do not disagree with such determination, we believe the qualifying language “imported specially for dairy purposes” requires a determination of the meaning of “cow” in the dairying trade.

Both parties have cited various dictionary and lexicographic definitions, which support appellant’s contention that a heifer is a young ■cow and appellee’s contention that a cow is a female bovine which has produced a calf. However, since we are seeking the meaning of “cow” in the dairying trade for purposes of the tariff schedules, we do not regard these sources as particularly helpful — with the exception of the cited Dictionary of Agriculture and Allied Terminology,1 which contains this definition: “Cow — a marhet term for designating a female bovine which has produced a calf.” (Emphasis supplied.) ¡See United States v. The Spiegel Bros., Corp., 51 CCPA 69, C.A.D., 839 (1964).

[37]*37Appellee points out that Corpus Juris Sectmdum, BlacWs Baño Dictionary, and Words and Phrases which appellant cites derive their definitions from cases concerned with state laws relating to theft or exemption from levy which are not, in the absence of evidence to the-contrary, relevant to the purposes of the TSUS.

Appellant cites the First Reciprocal Trade Agreement with Canada. (T.D. 48033), which became effective January 1, 1936, and the Digest-of Trade Data published by the U.S. Tariff Commission in 1936 as the-source of the provision for “Cows imported specially for dairy purposes,” and contends that “cow” was used in lieu of, and in the same-sense as, female cattle. This contention is based on a Customs Regulation (T.D. 48057), issued by the Secretary of the Treasury following-the Canadian Trade Agreement, which directs that the Customs officer “shall satisfy himself that the animal is suitable for dairy purposes.”' Appellant further claims that “A young cow, heifer, which is carrying a calf, is clearly just as suitable for dairy purposes as a young-cow, first-calf heifer, which has just given birth to a calf, and is beginning her first lactation.”

We have concluded that these arguments must fail. The direction to-the Customs officer in the quoted portion of the Customs Regulation could as well have been intended to prevent a reduction in duty from being applied to cows of a breed suitable for beef cattle production as to permit such reduction to be applied to all females of a dairy-breed. Moreover, appellee has called attention to tables published by the Tariff Commission which appear in the above-referred to Digest-of Trade Data. These tables list “Cows and heifers 2 years old ancL over,” showing recognition of a distinction between “cows” and “heifers.” Appellant has not shown that the Digest of Trade Data was-considered by the Congress. Assuming that it was, there is nothing in the legislative history of the TSUS to indicate other than tacit acceptance of this distinction. Finally, appellant appears to equate the-phrase “suitable for dairy purposes” in the referenced Customs Regulation with “specially for dairy purposes” in the statute with which we are here concerned. The later phrase denotes an exclusivity of purpose, which the animals in question did not possess because, at the time of importation, each had to first produce a calf before becoming marketable for dairy purposes. This is substantiated by the testimony of appellant’s witness, Philip R. Goldberg, who stated that “ninety-nine per cent” — -“a good many each day” — of the heifers imported by the partnership calved while in possession of the partnership after importation and prior to sale; that “most of the people that we sell cattle to in Connecticut are primarily in the business of producing: [38]*38milk. . . . they are interested in buying an animal that is ready to produce milk today.” He also testified 'that pregnant heifers are valued the same as a cow in preparing financial statements for the partnership for commercial bank loan purposes. While no evidence was submitted that the lending agencies regarded such heifers as “cows,” the testimony serves to show that the impending calf crop from such animals was a commercial consideration for such valuation purposes.

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490 F.2d 967, 61 C.C.P.A. 34, 1974 CCPA LEXIS 201, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/e-dillingham-inc-v-united-states-ccpa-1974.