E. J. Littman Co. v. United States

67 Cust. Ct. 136, 1971 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2283
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedSeptember 13, 1971
DocketC.D. 4265
StatusPublished

This text of 67 Cust. Ct. 136 (E. J. Littman 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
E. J. Littman Co. v. United States, 67 Cust. Ct. 136, 1971 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2283 (cusc 1971).

Opinion

Watson, Judge:

This protest places in issue the classification of polystyrene, invoiced as “mixed coloured reground polystyrene scrap and sweepings”. The importation was classified pursuant to item 405.25 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States as “plastics materials” and assessed with duty at the rate of 18 per centum ad valorem and 2.8 cents per pound. Plaintiff claims it should properly be classified pursuant to item 771.15 of said tariff schedules as other “waste and scrap, of rubber or plastics, fit only for remanufacture” and dutiable at the rate of 4 per centum ad valorem.

The relevent statutory provisions read as follows:

Tariff Schedules of the United States:
Schedule 4, Part 1:
SuBPART B. INDUSTRIAL ORGANIC CHEMICALS
‡ ‡
403.10 Styrene_ 2.80 per lb. +18% ad val.
Subpart C headnotes:
1. The provisions of this subpart providing for products obtained, derived, or manufactured in whole or in part from, products described in subparts A or B of this part shall also apply to products of like chemical composition having a benzenoid, quinoid, or modified benzenoid structure artificially produced by synthesis, whether or not obtained, derived, or manufactured in whole or in part from products described in the said subpart A or B.
*******
3. The term “plastics materials” in item 405.25 embraces products formed by the condensation, polymerization, or copolymerization of organic chemicals and to which plasticizers, fillers, colors, or extenders may have been added. The term includes, but is not [138]*138limited to, phenolic and other tar-acid resins, styrene resins, alkyd and polyester resins based on phthalic anhydride, coumarone-indene resins, urethane, epoxy, toluene sulfonamide, maleic, fumaric, aniline, and polyamide resins, and other synthetic resins. The plastic materials may be in solid, semi-solid, or liquid condition, such as flakes, powders, pellets, granules, solutions, emulsions, and other basic forms not further processed.
Classified under
Products obtained, derived, or manufactured in whole or in part from any product provided for in subpart A or B of this part:
* * * * * * *
105.25 Plastics materials_ 2.8$ per lb. +18% ad val.
Schedule 7, Part 12:
Subpart B. Rubber AND Plastics Waste and ScRap; Rubber AND Plastics Film, Strips, Sheets, Plates, Slabs, Block, Filaments, Rods, Tubing and Other Propilb Shapes
Subpart B headnotes:
* ‡ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ *
3. The provisions in this subpart applicable to waste and scrap of rubber or plastics do not apply to waste and rags of man-made fibers (see schedule 3) or to any waste or scrap which has been cleaned, ground, melted, made into pellets, or otherwise processed.
Claimed under
Waste and scrap, of rubber or plastics, fit only for remanufacture:
íJí if: ‡ :J: ífí Hs
771.15 Other_ 4% ad val.

The record in this case consists of the official papers; the testimony of Messrs. Charles S. Geiger, Sr. and Wayne F. Nelson, for the plaintiff and the testimony of Messrs. Anthony Urbas, Donald Seidwand and Irving Sporn, for the defendant, as well as plaintiff’s exhibits 1 to 14 and defendant’s exhibits A and B.

It appears from the testimony that the merchandise in question was imported for the account of A. Schulman, Inc. of Akron, Ohio, a leading compounder of plastics materials. The merchandise proved unsatisfactory for the purposes of Carlon Products Co., a customer of A. Schulman, Inc., and the importation was ultimately utilized entirely by the Schulman company as an ingredient in the amount of 5 to 10 percent in the production of a molding grade, medium impact, utility grade color plastic compound.

[139]*139Mr. Nelson, A. Schulman, Inc.’s director of research, discussed plastic materials in terms of “prime” or “virgin” material and “off-spec” and “scrap” material. He referred to scrap as a material that had to be cross-blended or cleaned up before it could be used in the production of plastic. This is due to the fact that it contains a mixture of viscosities and can also contain floor sweepings, dirt, metal, wood, etc.

Mr. Nelson testified that the importation is usually generated as “outfall” at a producer’s plant in large pieces which are normally then guillotined, ground, packaged and offered for sale subject to examination. He stated that in this case there was more than a normal amount of foreign material contamination present requiring it to be blended in the amount of 5 to 10 percent with other plastic material.

Mr. Urbas, employed as a sampler by the U.S. Bureau of Customs, testified that he drew three samples from three different containers of the importation and gave them to Mr. Seidwand. Portions of these samples were sent by Mr. Seidwand to the Customs Laboratory in Philadelphia together with six additional cans supplied by the Schul-man company and said to contain further samples of the instant merchandise. Mr. Sporn, the assistant chief chemist at the Customs Laboratory at Philadelphia, performed an analysis of the samples and concluded that the material sent in consisted of polystyrene type resin with no evidence of any other resins present.

Defendant’s exhibit A consists of his report concerning the samples obtained by Mr. Urbas and defendant’s exhibit B consists of his report dealing with the six samples supplied by the Schulman company.

Plaintiff’s exhibits 1 to 12 consist of various samples of the instant merchandise introduced solely for the purpose of representing their color and variation.

Plaintiff relies heavily on the testimony by Mr. Nelson that the material in issue was regarded by him and others of similar knowledge and experience in the field, as “scrap”. Plaintiff also emphasizes that the importation could be used only as a 5 to 10 percent component of a blended mixture and could not be used by itself to produce a plastic product. Although we have a high regard for the expertise of plaintiff’s witness, and his familiarity with the usage of the trade in this matter, we find that with regard to the definition of the term “scrap”, the tariff headnoies and legislative history together with the relevant case law, lead to the conclusion that the instant importation does not consist of “scrap”.

The instant importation must be excluded from the scope of the term “scrap” for a number of reasons, any one of which would be disqualifying. Headnote 3 to subpart B of schedule 7, part 12, provides that the provisions for waste and scrap of rubber or plastics do not apply to “any waste or scrap which has been cleaned, ground, melted, [140]*140made into pellets, or otherwise processed.” It is clear from the testimony that the importation herein has been ground in the course of its preparation for export and, hence, is explicitly excluded from the coverage of item 771.15.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 Cust. Ct. 136, 1971 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2283, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/e-j-littman-co-v-united-states-cusc-1971.